David Coxhead, national sales director of Fusion Utilities and Paul Horton, CEO of the Future Water Association, examine the strategies and actions that partners involved in infrastructure delivery can adopt to provide genuinely integrated systems which meet both current and future commercial need.
Infrastructure in the UK is often discussed and viewed in a siloed way, with water, power, gas and fibre treated as separate parts rather than elements of an integrated whole.
However, the availability of all of these elements is critical for both the growing number of homes, and the many businesses striving to success both domestically and on the international stage – meaning the need for a truly integrated infrastructure which is both fit for purpose now and future-proof.
In particular, as major infrastructure schemes such as the Great Grid Upgrade and AMP8 (and future AMP cycles) take shape, the increasing intersection between these elements means that integrated planning and execution is critical to optimising speed of construction and installation, and reliable, efficient utility delivery.
However, a number of challenges and barriers exist if this is to be achieved and the full benefits of an integrated approach are to be realised.
Firstly, there remain significant variations in how each sector operates in terms of overall governance. Although all sectors must comply to their own industry standards, the water industry, for example, will also need to comply with additional regulations such as Reg31 (DWI) and Reg4 (WRAS) depending upon the product’s intended application.
There are also additional considerations such as water frameworks and the specifications for the construction and maintenance of the assets, as well as the NAV licence that operates in the independent water networks.
Alongside, this, the existence of multiple professional bodies, covering areas such as civil, mechanical, chemical engineering) creates further fragmentation.
The overall situation means regulatory cycles and performance commitment frameworks vary radically between sectors, while asset health standards are very inconsistent between water companies.
A recently published industry Guidance Note on the standards landscape was signed off in March. This does not itself set out standards but clarifies where they apply. However, it is worth remembering that this is guidance – and no more.
Meanwhile, the lead regulators for each area – water, electricity, telecommunications and so on - operate on a largely siloed basis, coming together for meetings under the UK Regulators’ Network, established in 2014 to improve cross-sector cooperation. The structure of UKRN is based on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), rather than a statutory charter, and any member can technically choose to leave should they wish. While it has a stated goal of ‘coherence’, its outputs cannot override the independent statutory duties of any individual member.
This means that, currently there is no legally mandated co-ordination between the different utility sectors despite the significant interdependencies between them.
For example, a cyber-attack on an electrical substation could impact water pumping stations, and other facilities across multiple sectors. There is no clear chain of command, or designated authority to take charge during an incident of this kind, and there is also no clarity around the involvement of COBRA for regional incidents.
However, given critical vulnerabilities within UK infrastructure, the level of integration has once again been put under the spotlight.
Climate events, such as droughts, floods, and extremes of temperature, are now a regular occurrence, rather than being experienced every few years as was traditionally the case.
This highlights the need for more detailed assessment of current infrastructure than is offered by the current reactive approach, in order to allow for a proper understanding of current vulnerabilities, with detailed mapping that can then inform requirements for remedial action and further integration.
This is exemplified by what has happened with the switch-off of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Originally scheduled for 2025, this has been pushed back to 2027 -or even 2028 and beyond - due to challenges around co-ordination and the lack of preparation among some sectors for the transmission timeline, particularly around geographical areas which are still not covered by the mobile network.
As is so often the case, the key to future integration lies at least in part with technology. Some 10 million smart meters are set to be installed across the water sector over the next five years, while there is also the potential for increased monitoring across river systems and sewer networks.
There will be a need for common data compatibility systems across sectors – a further challenge given the different levels of maturity between sectors when it comes to cyber- security.
However, if the current issues with data interoperability – for example, currently the electrical sector connects to WiFi, water uses LoRaWAN/ NB-IoT/ fixed networks – can be overcome, the potential for detailed mapping and more informed planning is enormous.
This in turn will allow better planning among the supply chain to ensure they are best placed to support the needs of every sector. A truly integrated approach will enable all supply chain partners to understand cross-sector requirements and align their operations to best support this by ensuring rapid response and speed of recovery in the event of an incident.
In particular, geographically distributed resilience planning, ensuring stock is close to where it will be needed during a major incident, is critical – with strategies in place to ensure, for example, that any depot holding key stock would not be cut off during a flood and that suitable alternatives are in place.
It is clear that the opportunities for integration are significant and will bring many benefits to every sector, and to all those who rely on the utilities infrastructure across the UK.
For this to happen, we cannot rely solely on the Government. Further impetus will need to come from within each sector and in particular the organisations which represent utility companies and manufacturers, with an understanding of the utility needs of each sector, and a common commitment to joint planning, shared, interoperable data and uniform standards. Projects to prevent and address issues will need to be costed and form part of business plans. Integration will also need to extend into what happens in the event of a major incident, with clarity on where overall responsibility and leadership lie.
We may get a clue as further announcements are made around the future of regulation in the water sector and in particular around asset health, vulnerability and response strategy. This could set the tone for similar strategies in other sectors – and across the board.