Five contractors and two design teams will work with National Grid to connect renewable energy to homes and business throughout England and Wales by 2030.
The Great Grid Partnership programme forms part of a £9bn supply chain framework that is designed will also support infrastructure projects beyond 2030.
The two design and consenting service partners are Aecom Arup Joint Venture and WSP.
The five construction partners:
- Laing O’Rourke
- Morgan Sindall Infrastructure
- Morrison Energy Services
- Murphy
- Omexom / Taylor Woodrow (OTW)
Over the next six years, the major grid modernisation programme will entail building five times more electricity infrastructure than constructed over the past 30 years. This will be achieved through nine projects, sitting within the Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) framework.
The nine ASTI projects are:
- Norwich to Tilbury North
- Norwich to Tilbury South
- North Humber to High Marnham
- Grimsby to Walpole
- Chesterfield to Willington
- Brinsworth to High Marnham
- Tilbury to Grain and Tilbury to Kingsnorth
- Pentir to Trawsfynydd (cable replacement)
- Pentir to Trawsfynydd (second circuit)
Carl Trowell, president for strategic infrastructure at National Grid, said: “The scale and pace of this upgrade requires us to unite as an industry and to think and act differently. This Great Grid Partnership is a ground-breaking initiative from National Grid that places our supply chain partners at the heart of our infrastructure upgrade programme. All our chosen partners have an established history of successful collaboration in delivering major projects and enabling innovation to thrive.
“By sharing best practice and collaborating across nine of our critical major ASTI infrastructure projects, we will set the gold-standard for future infrastructure projects in terms of driving innovation, shoring up capacity across the skills base, operating responsibly and sustainably and ultimately in getting the best value for consumers.”
Aecom Arup JV’s work will include securing development consent orders for individual schemes within the programme.
Kate Hall, enterprise director for the Aecom Arup JV, said: “Our joint expertise in design, engineering, environmental assessments, and stakeholder engagement means we have a critical role to play delivering infrastructure that facilitates the UK’s transition to net zero, enables a move away from fossil fuels and tackles climate change. We look forward to working collaboratively with National Grid, the wider enterprise partners and communities across England and Wales to enable the delivery of the Great Grid Upgrade.”
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