National Grid launched the Great Grid Partnership at the start of May as part of its Great Grid Upgrade. It is a collaborative enterprise delivery model responding to UK supply chain and skills shortages, aiming to coordinate project planning and execution.
The Great Grid Upgrade is set to build new infrastructure across England and Wales to enable more clean energy to be transported from their generation sites at sea. It is billed by National Grid as “the largest overhaul of the electricity grid in generations”.
In what it called a “huge boost” to the UK supply chain, National Grid named seven supply chain partners to support the delivery of nine Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) projects across England and Wales.
The ASTI projects form a key part of the Great Grid Upgrade: building the new electricity network infrastructure required to connect 50GW of offshore wind by 2030.
Once established, the grid upgrade model will deliver opportunities and benefits beyond the initial ASTI framework. For now, the Great Grid Partnership is focused on network design and construction work and is part of a £9 billion supply chain framework.
To that end, the supply chain partners consist of two design and consenting services, AECOM and WSP, and five construction partners: Laing O’Rourke; Morgan Sindall Infrastructure; Morrison Energy Services; Murphy; Omexom Taylor Woodrow.
Laing O’Rourke’s project leader, Adam Rawling, told Current±: “The project will create the essential infrastructure needed to provide low carbon power to businesses and homes, and in doing so will support the UK’s journey to net zero. It is another significant win for our UK business in one of our priority sectors, energy and green power.”
Rawling explained that the company will deliver the project by combining its experience of mega-project delivery, knowledge of a manufacturing-led approach to construction, and the specialist skills of the selected supply chain partners.
“The UK construction sector needs to attract more people from a more diverse range of backgrounds, and we believe adopting modern methods of construction can help achieve this.
“To support this, we are creating the first dedicated training facility and course to provide people with the assembly skills required to support modern methods of construction. This will equip more people, including more of our directly employed workforce, with the skills required to make modern methods of construction (MMC) the norm.”
Providing job security
James Rowntree, the partnership director for the Great Grid Upgrade at WSP, spoke with Current± about the design and consenting company’s involvement in the project.
WSP provides design, engineering, technical support and project management for infrastructure and the built environment.
Rowntree says that WSP is a “very ethical” organisation that only gets involved in “meaningful projects that make a difference to society” and that the Great Grid Partnership is “absolutely worthwhile.”
The timing of the Great Grid Partnership announcement has been positive for the company, given the decline in investments in the HS2 and highways portfolio, as elements of the HS2 are being slowed down.
Rowntree says that by working with National Grid, WSP is in a strong position; up to 12 years’ contracted work and a portion of that £9 billion capital investment will provide not only job security but also potential investment in skills and growth.
“This is a programme that’s going to ramp up with National Grid over the next two or three years. From our point of view, it reaches a peak around 2027-28, and what we’re doing right now is understanding what that ramp-up profile looks like and the resources we need to support it.”
The partnership will take an alternative approach to the UK’s supply chain and skills issues, bringing together National Grid’s partners to work collectively. Rowntree reiterated this emphasis on cooperation, saying the “whole purpose” of the project is collaboration.
He says the enterprise model is based on Project 13, an alliance delivery model promoted by the Institution of Civil Engineers as a best practice approach for major programme delivery.
By joining the Great Grid Partnership, each supplier will be able to pool resources, skills, insights, and experience for faster, more economical delivery. The creation of long-term strategic relationships means National Grid partners will work collectively—as an enterprise—to drive value and innovation.
Great Grid Partnership targets the skills shortage
Given that the sector is relatively new, renewables companies face a skills deficit, with many roles in the industry requiring specialist training. As the industry works to bridge the skills gap, upskilling and reskilling the existing energy workforce is just as important as training new entrants into the job market.
Understanding that the partnership with the National Grid is a long-term programme, WSP can respond to the skills barrier, ensuring that green jobs are created and filled. Rowntree says: “We’ve absolutely got the baseload of skills and resources both in terms of capacity and capability for where we are right now.”
A lot of the skills deployed at WSP are transferable across different disciplines, and the company can move people in an ‘agile’ way. Looking to the future, and in terms of building technical skills, the company already works with universities recruiting generally on the market.
It will be able to create apprenticeships and graduate career opportunities within the partnership, too. At the moment, WSP’s energy business employs about 450 people, with 200 specifically assigned to transmission distribution.
“Not just about building infrastructure”
Not only does the partnership present a growth opportunity for the companies involved, but it also demonstrates National Grid’s focus on social value and sustainability.
As much as the Great Grid Upgrade will benefit the transition to renewable energy sources, the Great Grid Partnership will be dedicated to low-carbon construction and bringing value to the local communities that are impacted by new infrastructure.
According to Rowntree, an example of this might be providing local jobs using SMEs in the supply chain. WSP will also help its partners deliver biodiversity net gain; sustainability enhancements across the process will be woven into the whole design process.
Ultimately, he says: “This isn’t just about building infrastructure—there is so much more around it.”
