Clean power consultancy

Supporting governments, utilities, regulators and developers in preparing, implementing and complying with policy and regulatory frameworks enabling accelerated clean power implementation globally. 

• Market design and implementation: design, market rules, transmission pricing
• Energy planning: IRP, RE integration studies, BESS planning
• Power system analysis: interconnection, power system analysis, contingency analysis
• Provide world-leading strategic energy and economic insights: our energy and economy modellers combine scientific excellence and state-of-the-art tools with extensive knowledge to enable robust strategic decisions.
• Investment review: CAPEX review, CBA, optioneering, blackout root cause analysis, network innovation expertise
• Economic regulation: retail tariff reviews, use of system charging, connection charging, performance incentive regulation
• Technical regulation: Tx/Dx grid code,  interconnection agreements, performance benchmarking

Supporting clean power developers with the development of corporate and procurement strategies enabling the achievement of their decarbonisation targets at least cost:

• Decarbonisation strategy: Identification of the least-cost combination of investments, across technologies and markets to meet long-term decarbonisation goals.
• Portfolio assessment: Market studies and scorecard assessment of specific project opportunities to refine and prioritise portfolio of investments.
• Procurement strategy: Review and comparison of procurement and/or development options across priority projects.
• Power trading & regulatory advisory: Identification of and advice on key regulatory barriers and procedures  to trade and/or develop renewable energy in priority markets

• Site Screening and pre-feasibility: Initial site screening and feasibility assessment based on resource availability and geographic, environmental (PEA), regulatory considerations. 
• Project ideation and scoping (Network innovation): Identify key flexibility needs and constraints on network infrastructure and scope/budget network innovation projects.
• Value engineering and site optimisation.
• Preliminary Environmental Assessment (Red Flag Study): Preliminary studies to assess constraints such as protected areas, wildlife, flood risk, visual assessments
• Preliminary grid capacity analysis: Assess grid availability and the feasibility of connecting to the network. This informs cost assessment and site selection.
• Regulatory assessment: Help ensure alignment with national or regional energy policies

• Environmental impact assessment: Assessments reviewing biodiversity, noise impact, visual impact, and land-use impact considerations.
• Permitting and planning advice: Assist developers with navigating local, regional, and national permitting processes, providing guidance on compliance with environmental, land-use, and construction regulations
• Grid connection support: Assist with technical aspects of grid connection application and technical review of connection offer provided by the DNO.
• Technical Due Diligence: Prepare technical reports for investors or financial institutions, ensuring the project meets technical and regulatory requirements to secure financing.

• Conceptual engineering design: Development or review of initial designs for wind farms, solar panel arrays, or energy storage facilities. This includes layouts for turbines, solar panels, access roads and substations.
• Innovation trial design and implementation: Working with power and network technology developers and power utilities to design innovation trial for new technologies (e.g. smart grids, offshore solar), implement and monitor trials and conclude on effectiveness / decision to proceed.
• Initial stakeholder engagement: Help organise and conduct stakeholder engagements, e.g. DNO, local planning authority, prospective off-taker.
• Financial modelling support: In collaboration with the developer’s financial team,  provide technical inputs necessary for financial models and power purchase agreement (PPA) negotiations.

• PPA negotiations: Provide technical and strategic input into initial power purchase agreement negotiations.
• Permitting and planning applications: Assist in preparing detailed applications for environmental permits, land-use approvals, and construction permits.
• Procurement assistance: Prepare tender documents and provide technical specifications to ensure procurement aligns with project goals.
• Grid connection: Technical support in discussions with DNO / TSO to finalise the design of connection infrastructure. Owner’s Engineering support to ensure compliance with standards.
• Risk management: Help prepare a detailed risk management plan, identifying potential risks during construction and operation and advising on mitigation strategies.

• Construction Supervision: Oversee construction activities, ensuring quality control, payment control (quantities surveying), safety standards, and compliance with design specifications.
• Commission and performance testing: Assist in commissioning the plant, performing tests to ensure the system operates as designed, and verifying grid synchronisation.
• Operations and maintenance strategy development: Provide guidance on long-term O&M strategies, ensuring efficient operation and minimising downtime.

We support power utilities in ensuring their corporate strategies are fit for the future:

• Integrated resource plans – least cost planning for supply, networks and storage
• EV Strategies – co-optimisation of location of future energy infrastructure considering both traffic flows and network constraints
• Life-cycle assessments – understand likely scope emissions from a range of future pathways scenarios
• Supply chain reviews – pre-emptively identify key risks and mitigate

We support and enable utilities and industry associations to develop technical standards and grid codes.

Services include:

• Supporting clients with the development and annual updates of engineering standards (G98, G99 and Distributed Generation Connection Guides)
• Facilitating discussions on key engineering grid code standards that require revision
• Supporting clients with harmonising technical specifications  across power utilities

We support power utilities in accelerating and improving the efficiency of the review of new connection requests, as well as minimising risks and costs emerging from those:

• Network planning: leveraging asset data and metering to optimise nature and location of future investments
• Network Planning and Demand Forecasting: Supporting the integration of electrified loads into power systems to meet future electrical demand
• Customer Connection Applications: supporting Pre-Connection Network Feasibility Studies and Dynamic stability and compliance assessments. 
• Network Connection Compliance Studies for integration of Low Carbon Technologies: conducting EREC G5-5 Power Quality analysis for the connection of non-linear loads
• Project Design and Implementation support: supporting with concept design, trial, due diligence, procurement, owner’s engineering and testing of new infrastructure investments, including conventional and new grid technologies such as specialised power electronic devices. 

We support utilities to assess and implement new technologies and operational methodologies to maximize the value of their assets and investments:

• Design, scoping and implementation of established and innovative approaches to accommodate future demand, whilst optimizing use of existing assets, deploying expertise in: 
  
  • BESS and other storage technologies: application across multiple use cases and customer types
  • Dynamic rating: track record of supporting utility trials and evaluation programs
  • Active network management: expertise in control systems integration delivery, and application of power electronics and algorithmic network switching optimization
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) Applications: Leveraging AI/ML for predictive maintenance, detection of non-technical losses (e.g., energy theft), and replacing periodic maintenance with demand-based approaches. 

We offer evidence-based analysis and tailored advice to help utilities meet the resiliency and reliability challenges of the future, including:

• Climate Resilience and Risk Advisory: Advising utilities on potential adaptation measures to protect assets and operations from the impacts of climate change, for example from the effects of extreme heat
• Asset health assessment and end of life planning: reviewing asset performance data and recommending optimised proactive operation and maintenance practices to enhance asset life
• Outage root cause analysis: reviewing outage data to identify most likely cause and pro-active mitigation plans
• Microgrid applications: providing expertise in utility approaches to islanded-grid and microgrid applications for specific contexts