National Grid calls for regulation changes as profits jump to £4.6bn

Company responds to criticism of delays of more than a decade to connect low-carbon projects

National Grid has called for a bold overhaul of the UK's electricity grid regulation to shorten the decade-long delays in connecting green projects to the energy system after reporting a jump in annual profits to almost 4.6bn.

The FTSE 100 monopoly, charged with running most of the UK's power grids, said its underlying operating profits climbed by 15% to 4.58bn for the financial year ending in March compared with the 12 months before.