November brought a wave of significant announcements across the infrastructure sector, spanning energy, rail, highways, aviation, nuclear and public-sector procurement. Here’s a round-up of the most notable contract wins and developments from the past month.
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SSE has announced a £33bn fully funded five-year investment programme, dubbed “Transformation for Growth”, to modernise the UK’s electricity system.
About 80% of the investment will go into regulated electricity networks - with roughly £22 billion earmarked for transmission, primarily in Scotland, and around £5 billion for distribution. The remainder of the investment will be allocated to renewables and flexible generation technologies, helping unlock economic growth and support thousands of jobs across the supply chain.
Jacobs has been selected by EirGrid for a five-year Engineering Design, Planning and Project Management Framework, with the option to extend for three more years, to support delivery of Ireland’s renewable-energy strategy Shaping Our Electricity Future.
The company will provide end-to-end technical services for high-voltage transmission projects, covering planning, design, project management, and environmental and safety support across both AC and DC infrastructure.
Jacobs will form an integrated design team to help strengthen the long-term resilience of the electricity grid as Ireland works toward sourcing 80% of its electricity from renewables by 2030. The framework reinforces Jacobs’ wider role in major Irish infrastructure programmes as well as its global portfolio of energy-transition projects.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has awarded a contract valued a £7.5m to WSP to act as technical advisor in the UK’s emerging hydrogen sector.
Under the agreement, WSP will support DESNZ in developing policies, regulatory frameworks and business models to accelerate deployment of low-carbon hydrogen production, transport, storage and power applications across the UK.
Kent County Council has awarded a new 21-year highways term maintenance contract worth around £1bn to Ringway starting May 2026. The deal covers annual work valued at around £50m and includes winter gritting, pothole repairs, bridge maintenance and 24/7 emergency response.
Costain has replaced Morgan Sindall on the £800m Eastern Highways Alliance Framework 4. The framework is managed by Central Bedfordshire Council on behalf of 11 local authorities across the East of England and covers major roads work including surfacing, bridges, subways and new cycle routes. Costain’s appointment is to Lot 3 of the framework, which comprises schemes valued at over £30m.
The other firms on this framework were awarded in February (see our February blog for further details).
WSP Canada has been awarded a CAD $9.1 million contract by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to carry out a feasibility study for a proposed tunnel beneath Highway 401, stretching from Mississauga to Markham.
The study will explore whether the three-level tunnel concept - separate levels for eastbound traffic, westbound traffic and transit - can be built, or whether alternative congestion solutions such as elevated roadways or truck-only lanes should be pursued.
Transport for London has launched a preliminary market engagement exercise for the proposed extension of the Docklands Light Railway to Thamesmead, estimated at £1.6bn.
The 3km extension would branch off from Gallions Reach, pass through Beckton Riverside, include a 1.5 km twin-bore tunnel under the Thames, and terminate with a new station at Thamesmead.
TfL is seeking industry input on buildability, contract packaging and sequencing, and plans to hold a Supplier Industry Day on 2 December 2025 for potential contractors.
If funding and approvals proceed as planned, construction could start in 2028 and the extension may open in the early 2030s, unlocking up to 30,000 new homes and around 10,000 jobs in the area.
South Western Railway has awarded Alstom a £66 million contract to provide technical support and spare parts for its new Class 701 Arterio fleet.
The four-and-a-half-year agreement covers 750 train carriages and includes 24/7 engineering support based at Wimbledon Traincare Depot and the Basingstoke Rail Operations Centre. Alstom will supply both heavy and light maintenance spares and use data-driven analysis to enable predictive maintenance and maximise fleet reliability.
This latest award builds on the long-standing partnership between SWR and Alstom, which began in 2017.
Amey has secured a place on Network Rail’s Wales and Western Ecology Framework for a period of three years, where it will provide ecology advisory services to support biodiversity targets across the region’s rail network.
The services include habitat mapping, protected species surveys and assessments, Biodiversity Net Gain metrics, and managing invasive/non-native species and areas of conservation value, combining their in-house ecology consultancy with their knowledge of rail infrastructure.
British Steel has won a £35m contract to supply rail products for Turkey’s high-speed railway network. The agreement builds on a previous contract targeting the southern Turkish line from Mersin to Adana, Osmaniye and Gaziantep.
It forms part of a broader package of the UK government’s export-led deals (over £400m) aimed at promoting UK-based manufacturing.
Birmingham Airport has selected Arup to lead the development of its new Masterplan, charting the airport’s growth and infrastructure transformation through to 2041.
The Masterplan will build on a recent four-year, £300 million investment in modernisation and will focus on accommodating future increases in passenger numbers, enhancing operational efficiency, and delivering a more sustainable, passenger-centric experience.
Work on the plan has already commenced with key stakeholders, and a draft version is expected to go out for public consultation in summer 2026.
Costain has secured a five-year, £75m extension to its long-running framework with EDF Energy, continuing its project controls support across EDF’s eight UK nuclear power stations until 2030.
The deal covers programme management, quality and safety oversight, and resource planning, helping support ongoing operations, life-extension work and decommissioning. Costain will deploy a team of more than 170 project controls specialists as part of the renewed agreement.
AtkinsRéalis has been selected by Hydro One Networks Inc. to serve as owner’s engineer for the expansion of the Bowmanville Switching Station near the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Ontario.
The project will support the grid-connection of four planned small modular reactors at the adjacent Darlington New Nuclear Project site.
Key elements include the construction of a new 500 kV switchyard, doubling the substation’s capacity and expanding its footprint by approximately 30-40 acres.
Wylfa on Anglesey has been confirmed as the site for the UK’s first Small Modular Reactor. The project, to be developed by the Great British Energy-Nuclear with Rolls Royce SMR (subject to contract), will deliver up to 1.5GW of low-carbon power.
Construction is planned to start in 2026, with generation expected in the mid-2030s, and the site has potential for future SMR expansion.
Ministry of Defence
Graham Construction has won a £142m contract to redevelop a defence estate in Edinburgh. The work, commissioned by the Ministry of Defence, involves major refurbishment and new-build works across the site, aiming the modernise the military infrastructure and enhance the living and environment for the personnel.
Procurement company, YORhub, has appointed eight contractors to its new £1 billion YORcivil Major Works 2 framework, which covers major infrastructure projects across Yorkshire and the Humber.
New additions include Esh Construction, Jackson Civil Engineering, Octavius Infrastructure and BAM Nuttall, joining returning firms Galliford Try, Graham, Sisk and Aureos.
The framework, jointly managed by East Riding of Yorkshire Council and Sheffield City Council, covers projects over £10 million and replaces the current version expiring in December 2025.
Cumberland Council has appointed 24 contractors to its new £630m Capital Works Framework, covering three lots – general building works, civil engineering, and combined building & civils – running until the end of 2029.
The framework will support projects throughout the council’s estate, including refurbishments, new builds, highways work, and complex mixed-construction schemes.
Jacobs has been named a supplier on the Crown Commercial Service’s Management Consultancy Framework Four, specifically Lot 8 – Infrastructure. Jacob joins 44 other suppliers on this Lot, who were announced earlier in the year.
Under this appointment, Jacobs will provide advisory services - including consulting, strategy, digital solutions and transformation support - across infrastructure-related markets such as transportation, cities & places, defence and clean energy for UK public-sector clients.
The framework covers access to these services through 2027, positioning Jacobs to build on its previous framework role and continue serving new and existing public-sector clients in the UK.
