Blog: Building Faster, Smarter and More Efficient Energy Networks
19 October 2026
A blog by Paul Cooley, Director of Onshore Capital Delivery
The scale of transformation required across the energy industry over the next decade is unlike anything we've seen before. At SSEN Transmission alone, our £29bn RIIO-T3 investment programme represents the largest investment in the transmission network in our history.
New infrastructure must be planned, consented, built and maintained at a rate that supports growing electricity demand and strengthens energy security, while continuing to provide value for consumers. This challenge is not unique to our network but one facing the entire industry.
If we're to meet these ambitions, we need to think differently about how we plan, build and maintain our networks to deliver this at the pace required. Through Ofgem's Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, a series of Challenges has been established to focus industry innovation on some of the biggest issues facing Britain's energy system. I am proud to chair the Innovation Delivery Group for Challenge 2: Faster Build and Maintenance, which is focused on accelerating the delivery and maintenance of essential network infrastructure.
The ambition of the challenge is bold but essential - enable network infrastructure to be built and maintained 50% faster and 20% cheaper by 2035. It sits within a wider set of strategic innovation priorities developed through the Energy Networks Innovation Taskforce, which will help shape innovation activity across the sector and guide the direction of the SIF over the next five to seven years.
Leading the delivery of major transmission projects across the north of Scotland, I can see first-hand that infrastructure projects are becoming more technically complex and increasingly interconnected. Delays or inefficiencies at any stage, from planning and consenting through to design, construction, commissioning and maintenance, can have significant impacts on delivery timescales and costs.
Challenge 2 offers huge potential for us to change this and requires a coordinated approach across the industry in how we’re delivering across the entire lifecycle of projects. Innovation will be crucial to deploying the right solutions to enable us accelerate infrastructure delivery and maintenance more efficiently.
At SSEN Transmission we’re already seeing the impact innovation is having in enabling smarter maintenance decisions and continuous monitoring across our critical assets by deploying autonomous HVDC robots. We’re also committed to modernising the delivery of infrastructure, such as through the rollout of our modular substation programme offering smaller site footprint and reduces costs for connections. We have also recently been awarded £450,000 through the SIF to take forward the Routing and Planning through Interoperable Data (RAPID) project, bringing together transmission operators, NESO and engineering consultancy Arup to help cut the development of new transmission routes through better use and sharing of industry data.
If we can remove any delivery barriers through identifying, testing and adopting new solutions together as an industry, we have an opportunity to fundamentally transform how network infrastructure is delivered and maintained for decades to come.
Working alongside me in delivering this challenge will be Vice Chair, Katie Petherbridge from National Gas. This will help bring together expertise from across both the electricity and gas sectors to tackle Challenge 2, forming a shared understanding of the challenges, identifying common priorities and allow us to establish a coordinated pathway for innovation delivery in this space.
We have already taken an important first step on this journey through the inaugural Challenge 2 Innovation Delivery Group meeting, bringing together expertise from across electricity and gas networks, Ofgem, Innovate UK, government, academia, research, innovators and the wider supply chain. The quality of discussion and constructive challenge reinforced why collaboration at this scale is so important. Over the next few months, the Challenge 2 Innovation Delivery group’s immediate focus is on delivering an Innovation Charter to establish an evidence-based roadmap. It will identify the challenges facing network delivery and maintenance, where the innovation opportunities sit that have the greatest potential impact, and laying out the actions required to accelerate progress over the coming years.
Through this process, we have an opportunity to build a shared vision for how network infrastructure can be delivered faster, smarter and more effectively in the years ahead.
I look forward to working closely with partners across the industry, academia and the supply chain to turn this challenge ambition into reality.