Jon Taylor, commercial director at Fusion Utilities, looks at the changes to the UK national grid.
The most significant overhaul of the UK electricity grid in generations, The Great Grid Upgrade encompasses a vast array of major projects nationwide with the aim of supplying homes and business with clean, affordable and sustainable energy.
The projects themselves entail both the creation of new infrastructure and the upgrade to existing facilities to deliver the quality and quantity of energy in a safe and reliable manner. Some 80 projects are scheduled to be delivered by 2030 and while some may end up going beyond this date, the scale of transformation is still set to be vast, with an estimated 130,000 jobs set to be created.
The first tranche of contracts – nine Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) schemes stretching from the Thames Estuary to the River Humber and West Wales - have already been awarded to five major contractors, but the process for managing the supply chain for the products involved is still to some degree shrouded in mystery.
Some of the higher-voltage aspects may be manufacturer-specified and supplied direct to the customer, while other projects may see the main contractor directed to the sources from where they can purchase specialist product, likely leading to a combination of direct supply and supply through merchants.
However, many projects at voltages below 11kV are on privately or independently owned networks. On projects of this kind, contractors may have far more freedom as to where they can source their requirements.
This means that these projects can potentially represent a significant business opportunity for forward-looking contractors who are willing and able to offer true added-value solutions based on the supply of high-quality product at the best possible cost.
One way in which they can seek to secure their share of the action by working in collaboration with knowledgeable, independent specialist supply partners from the earliest stage of tendering.
It goes without saying that the leading players in this sector, operating nationwide to supply the needs of major contractors, have unrivalled buying power and can guarantee the broadest possible product range, with rapid and guaranteed availability.
Any supply partners operating on this scale will have a nationwide network and can support projects in even the most remote locations. The flexibility to offer frequent smaller deliveries, rather than having to supply every item at the same time, will be beneficial to projects being undertaken in locations with limited space. Electronic trading will also make the purchasing experience much easier for customers.
However, the greatest benefit which emanate from working in partnership with a leading supplier is the independent expertise and technical knowledge they can bring to the table.
This additional resource allows contractors working on projects below 11kV to interrogate project briefs in detail, challenge them and come up with the most efficient and cost-effective solution for the specific task at hand, rather than simply duplicating what may have been done in a uniform way across multiple previous projects.
Adding value in this way will then position these contractors ideally to win further projects as the Great Grid Upgrade continues to gather pace across the UK.