What’s the Problem?

In 2024, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and Ofgem published a notice setting out decisions to establish the National Energy System Operator (NESO) and to transfer the electricity system operator function into public ownership. NESO itself acts as an independent organisation responsible for planning and operating GB’s electricity system, including the management of the transmission connections process.

In recent years, NESO has reformed the connections framework, which is the process used to decide who, when and where is connected to the electricity network. As part of these reforms, a two-gate approach was introduced to prioritise projects that are genuinely progressing and to support the technologies and locations required for the government’s Clean Power 2030 objectives. This framework includes a requirement for applicants to provide evidence demonstrating connection ‘readiness’, resulting in increasing pressure on networks to ensure applications meet the required standard before submission.

Since 2024, Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN) have managed around 100 generation applications across the SPM, SPD and ENW license areas. However, there is no unified approach to manage evidence, with current methods relying on:

• Separate mailboxes and Microsoft OneDrive Instances across the three license areas
• Numerous spreadsheets and offline workarounds
• Distributed PDFs
• Manually updated internal trackers
• Manual implementation of submissions into NESO formats.

Preferred Output

The first stage of this project will need to be an NIA-T feasibility and proof-of-concept study challenge focused on unresolved technical and operational questions, not as procurement of an established system.

The feasibility study will need to explore ways of reducing submission errors, manual handling and resubmission effort, while ensuring the approach remains adaptable to changing NESO requirements and preserves human accountability.

It will need to produce an evidence-led roadmap and investment decision, rather than committing directly to full portal delivery.

The study should explore:

• Mapping the end-to-end evidence journey across SPM, SPD and ENW licence areas
• Establishing a verified baseline covering:
  Volumes
  Effort
  Defects
  Resubmissions
  Customer pain points.
• Comparing existing systems with:
  Enhanced digital forms
  Configurable workflow
  Dedicated portal options.
• Developing and testing a bounded proof-of-concept for AI-assisted:
  Completeness checking
  Evidence extraction
  Technology mapping
  Reviewer decision supporrt
• Assessing customer
  Usability
  Governance
  Explainability
  Cybersecurity
  Data protection
  Architecture
  Scalability
  Integration.

Deadline

The deadline for this opportunity us 11.59pm on 29 October 2026.

Any Questions?

The Q&A for this opportunity will take place on 21 October 2026 at 9am; you can register to attend below. Please email your questions by 5pm on 19 October 2026, marking your message with the name of this opportunity.