Delivering the impossible: building the infrastructure for CP30
Is the energy ecosystem equipped to meet the challenge of a generation and deliver the huge swathe of new power infrastructure needed to realise government’s Clean Power 2030 vision?
This is the overarching question explored in a new research report from Utility Week, created in association with global design and build software giant Autodesk and backed by GB’s three transmission operators (TOs) as part of their collective commitment to the Infrastructure Delivery Forum.
By Adam John and Rob Horgan
Delivering the impossible: building the infrastructure for CP30
Is the energy ecosystem equipped to meet the challenge of a generation and deliver the huge swathe of new power infrastructure needed to realise government’s Clean Power 2030 vision?
This is the overarching question explored in a new research report from Utility Week, created in association with global design and build software giant Autodesk and backed by GB’s three transmission operators (TOs) as part of their collective commitment to the Infrastructure Delivery Forum.
It is well documented that the drive for CP30 is putting the power sector under pressure to deliver capital programmes at a scale and pace never previously experienced.
Before the end of the decade, around 1,000km of onshore and over 4,500km of offshore transmission lines will be built, along with accompanying works to renew and expand the transmission system. Sector leaders have become fond of noting at conferences and other industry events that the race for decarbonisation now expects them to deliver more infrastructure in the next few years than has been delivered in the past three decades.
And the challenge does not only exist at transmission level. A booming distributed energy revolution and growing expectations for distribution networks to become facilitators of local economic growth mean the ED3 period is also set to be characterised by an historic uptick in capital spend.
The explosion in infrastructure delivery is welcome and exciting for the sector to be part of. But it comes with risks. The new scale and pace of work has rendered outmoded ways of contracting, procuring materials, designing and building infrastructure all but irrelevant. Can the sector come together to modernise and transform the processes, systems and cultures which underpin delivery quick enough to keep the national decarbonisation objective on track?
New onshore transmission needed by 2030
New offshore transmission needed by 2030
In an online survey of professionals working for both asset-owning organisations and supply chain partners across the power transmission and distribution sectors, Utility Week recently explored sentiment about the overall deliverability of the CP30 objective. We also asked survey respondents to highlight the issues which – in their view – are currently driving the highest levels of inefficiency in delivery of capital programmes, and therefore present the highest risks to hitting the mark.
Findings from our survey were supplemented with qualitative insights in a range of interviews with senior sector leaders and used to create the narrative for our report – Net Zero Infrastructure Delivery: Is the power sector ecosystem equipped to meet the challenge of a generation? This is now available to download in full from Utility Week’s website. A preview of key findings is set out below:
Key findings at a glance:
- Confidence in the sector’s ability to deliver on clean power targets is low, with just three in 10 saying they believe the ambition will be met. (Confidence is especially low among supply chain organisations).
- But confidence in organisational readiness to deliver planned capital programmes out to 2030 is higher. Six in 10 believe their organisation will achieve its delivery goals.
- The biggest barrier to achieving clean power targets is seen to be a lack of skilled workforce (selected by 60% of respondents).
- Collaboration between asset owners and supply chain is in need of improvement. Only four in 10 rate collaboration as good. Ratings for collaboration were lower among supply chain respondents versus asset owners.
- Inconsistent information-sharing and outdated contracting arrangements are seen as the major barriers to improved collaboration. They were identified as barriers by 40% and 32% of respondents respectively.
- The biggest sources of inefficiency around infrastructure projects today are identified as “resistance to change” (37%) and “poor or slow communication between project partners” (36%).
- Better data management (39%) and digitalisation (37%) have the biggest potential to eliminate inefficiency.
- Many fear that organisational resistance to change (35%) and lack of relevant skills for implementation (33%) will hold back important progress in standardisation of data management around infrastructure projects.
- When it comes to delivering infrastructure which will be resilient against future needs, there is high confidence that cybersecurity needs are being designed-in but lower confidence that infrastructure will live up to future environmental and social expectations.
- Half (50%) of respondents said the biggest positive contribution they expect from increased use of AI in infrastructure projects is the freeing up of human talent through execution of lower value tasks.
- The biggest positive impact from digital twins is expected to be seen in improved asset management (39%).
Viewpoint
Autodesk’s Lisa Jones, lead account executive critical infrastructure, reflects on messages from our research and issues a call to arms to the power sector as it faces into an historic challenge.
Delivering the network infrastructure needed for a net-zero future is one of the most pressing challenges of our time.
However, it also presents us with one of the greatest opportunities to rethink how we, as transmission owners, distribution network operators, and their technology and material suppliers, work together.
As we look to the government’s ambitions for Clean Power 2030, we know we must deliver faster, at unprecedented scale, and with greater efficiency.
We believe that the path forward lies in embracing digital transformation to create a more connected, agile power sector. Technologies such as building information modelling (BIM), common data environments (CDEs), digital twins and artificial intelligence (AI) are not future aspirations – they are powerful tools available today, already delivering tangible value to early adopters across the sector.
By taking a digital approach to project delivery, asset owners can improve information management and find efficiencies through standardisation and time savings. Cloud-based collaboration unifies people, data and workflows, unlocking a number of benefits right across the supply chain in a secure common data environment.
Centralising data ensures that stakeholders can access the right information, in the right format, when they need it. By integrating live, multi-discipline data, such as BIM, cost, and schedule tracking in a single source of truth, teams can design and iterate in parallel and manage projects efficiently while protecting intellectual property, controlling versions, and resolving issues. This connected, interoperable environment opens the door to automation, multi-discipline workflows, and global connectivity, leading to better quality, greater productivity, and on-time and on-budget.
Digital project delivery connects people, data, and processes in a shared CDE, enabling teams to aggregate models and centralise data at every project stage.
However, technology adoption alone will not be enough. Real transformation demands a shared commitment across the industry to break down siloes, adopt common standards, and embed digital best practice from the outset of every project.
At Autodesk, we welcome industry-wide commitment to standardise information management approaches, improve collaboration, and learn proactively across projects.
That’s why we are fully behind the creation of IM4Power – the new collaborative best practice community for information management launched by GB’s three transmission operators in union with key supply chain partners – and are committed to working within this initiative to establish best practice standards.
Together, by combining digital innovation with robust change management, we can unlock a faster, more resilient, and more efficient energy transition – delivering the infrastructure that future generations will depend on.
Key bottlenecks, barriers, and solutions are reflected in the sentiments of senior electricity sector leaders consulted in our online survey, which forms the basis of our report – Net Zero Infrastructure Delivery: Is the power ecosystem equipped to meet the challenge of a generation.
The research highlights the wide range of issues that transmission owners, distribution network operators, and their supply chain partners are grappling with as they seek to improve efficiency and productivity in infrastructure delivery.
Key challenges centre around communication between multiple partners working on complex projects and implementing standardisation of processes and standards which could help ‘productionise’ delivery and free up additional capacity in an overstretched ecosystem.
Question marks over the continued relevance of established contracting approaches between asset owners and their delivery partners are also prominent.
Looking for sources of opportunity to overcome key challenges, this research report also reflects the hopes and expectations of industry professionals in relation to key technology fields like artificial intelligence and digital twins in terms of their transformative potential.
“AI has huge potential throughout the whole project lifecycle – we’re already using AI to support early-stage development in routeing and siting to accelerate design,” says Joe Northwood, director of portfolio strategy & development for strategic infrastructure, National Grid.
“It can streamline project planning, improve investment case development and support community engagement by using language translation tools and immersive visualisation. Used well, it should enhance deliverability, reduce risk, and help prioritise projects in a more responsive, data-driven way.”
In our report, we also touch on futureproofing challenges for those making design decisions today in a context of new and emerging expectations for infrastructure to deliver environmental and community benefits.
Thank you to all who gave input into our research study and who helped to shape the report narrative. We hope the insights included provide a timely and helpful spur for focussed, collective action on achieving the improvement to delivery and adoption of technologies needed to keep the CP30 goal in sight.
