Resources on the pitch

While early engagement with suppliers will help them have the confidence to invest and resource-up for growth, our focus group participants were acutely aware that their own teams are also in urgent need of bolstering to accommodate much higher volumes of work.

One DNO representative frankly admitted that his organisation is “already behind where we would want to be” on RIIO ED2 investment, and that a key reason for this is “we simply don’t have the resources on the pitch”.

Their concerns were echoed around the group, with one TO supply chain expert adding: “There's a lot of focus on capacity in manufacturing, but we think the labour market is equally as constrained.”

It was a given that solving a dearth of engineering, data and other in-demand skills is a long-term play that requires engagement with communities and education outreach. However, more immediate action is also being taken across the board to upskill existing employees and leverage technology to accelerate their training.

There was a general agreement that there is a ready pool of talent in “craft” roles which is ripe for development and progression if the right frameworks and incentives are offered.

But, to make accelerated upskilling and development programmes work effectively, it was agreed there is scope for better or more widespread applications of technology such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI). Most participants had already seen these tools trialled to varying degrees in their organisations. There were positive feelings shared around the potential for AR and VR, for example, to accelerate the delivery of training around entering substations. One participant added that they are actively using VR to support training around how to respond to substation fire incidents.

However, while real optimism was expressed around the potential of these rising technology areas to accelerate upskilling and the filling of skills gaps, there were also some reality checks. Tech maturity, usability, scalability and cost were identified as barriers to large-scale adoption.

But it’s not just technology maturity that is holding the energy industry back from fast-tracking new talent into much-needed roles. It’s also antiquated rules over what experience is required before an individual is authorised to perform certain works on the power grid.

Many such rules were set almost 100 years ago at the time the electricity grid was first established, pointed out participants. There are also quirks across network geographies around how authorisation is approached.

There is a need for a long-overdue review of authorisation policies and procedure with a view to streamlining, modernising and standardising, it was agreed. However there was acknowledgement that this would require coordination between networks and proactive support from unions.

The challenges presented in making this happen are currently causing “inertia on this issue” said several participants. But there was a clear feeling that significant value is waiting to be unlocked if this inertia can be broken. Grasping the nettle on modernising authorisation routes could accelerate upskilling and increase the mobility of skills across the industry, both enormously helpful steps towards averting a crisis in the delivery of net-zero infrastructure.