Overhead Lines, Eastern Electricity Alliance

Eastern Electricity Alliance set out to futureproof a major part of the UK’s electricity transmission network.

Delivering this £750 million programme required a consistent, efficient approach to managing complex infrastructure upgrades across the UK.

Building a smarter approach to planning

The Eastern Electricity Alliance is a critical infrastructure effort to enhance the UK’s transmission network, unlocking renewable energy reserves and increasing network resilience. Our civil engineering team were brought onto this £750 million programme to provide design expertise, programme management, construction support and technical guidance for ongoing maintenance, repairs and upgrades.

One of the biggest challenges was balancing the programme’s scale and complexity with the need for repeatable, high‑quality outcomes. Traditional planning methods often vary between teams, with schedules frequently rebuilt from scratch. This makes it harder to benchmark performance and adds unnecessary pressure on time and resources. As utilities work is often repetitive with predictable variations, we saw an opportunity to adopt a knowledge‑based approach to planning.

Creating more time for the work that matters

We developed an integrated scheduling system, FLOW, and embedded it within our technology suite. It enables teams to plan complex but largely similar workflows using a set of knowledge‑based variables, creating repeatable and consistent schedules.

This was embedded across engineering and operations teams and later extended to support underground cabling works. It enabled teams to challenge assumptions, enhance workflows and drive continuous improvement from one project to the next.

Faster approvals and stronger forecasting

Our new approach reduced the time needed to produce early draft schedules from 10 days to just one, creating valuable breathing space for teams across the programme. Instead of rebuilding schedules, they could focus on shaping plans around each project’s requirements and reviewing potential risks in greater detail.

The process also encouraged closer collaboration between the client, engineering teams and delivery partners. By working through challenges earlier and sharing knowledge more openly, teams were able to identify pinch‑points sooner and resolve issues before they affected progress.

Our support also improved the acceptance process for NEC Clause 32 schedules, reducing approval times by around 50%. As the programme progressed, actual delivery timescales were fed back into the scheduling templates, creating a continuous learning loop and enabling future projects to be planned using delivery data rather than assumptions.

Supporting long-term network resilience

The Eastern Electricity Alliance programme plays a vital role in maintaining and upgrading infrastructure that millions of people rely on every day. While much of the work happens quietly in the background, its impact reaches far beyond individual sites.

By improving consistency, reducing wasted time and helping teams work together more effectively, we supported a programme designed to strengthen the resilience of the UK’s overhead transmission network for the long term.