Network Services
Expert services for
complex energy networks
From initial connection strategy through to long-term ownership, day-to-day operation, and asset optimisation, Arcform provides specialist network services across the full infrastructure lifecycle. Our focus is extra-high voltage: the connections that matter most.
Connections Support
Strategic, technical, and regulatory guidance for developers, investors, and asset owners pursuing new or upgraded electricity connections at extra-high voltage.
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The challenge of EHV connections
Extra-high voltage connections — typically 33kV and above — are among the most technically and commercially complex transactions in UK energy infrastructure. They sit at the intersection of Ofgem regulation, National Grid policy, DNO/TO commercial frameworks, and increasingly congested connection queues. A poorly structured application can cost years of delay.
Arcform's connections practice exists to prevent that. We bring together deep regulatory knowledge, hands-on technical expertise, and a commercial perspective that comes from having originated, invested in, and operated these assets — not just advised on them.
What we cover
Queue reform expertise. The NESO connections reform programme is restructuring how projects enter and progress through the national queue. Arcform's team understands the new framework in detail and can advise on how to position your project for the best possible outcome under the revised rules.
Our approach
Project assessment
We start with a thorough review of your project parameters — location, technology, capacity, timeline, and commercial structure — to understand what you need and when.
Options analysis
We model available connection routes, network configurations, and commercial structures to identify the approach that best meets your technical and investment requirements.
Application and negotiation
We manage the formal process on your behalf — preparing applications, engaging with DNOs and National Grid, reviewing connection offers, and negotiating terms.
Handover and ongoing support
We support transition into construction and, where appropriate, into our ownership and operation services — ensuring continuity from development through to energisation.
Who this is for
Our connections support serves a broad range of clients: renewable energy developers at early-stage feasibility, infrastructure investors conducting technical due diligence, asset owners reviewing their existing connection arrangements, and contractors seeking specialist EHV input to live projects. If your project involves a significant electricity connection, we can help.
Network Ownership
Independent, specialist ownership of large-scale electricity networks — providing regulatory standing, long-term asset stewardship, and commercial discipline on behalf of developers and investors.
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A different kind of network owner
Many energy projects — particularly large-scale renewables, industrial estates, and multi-tenant campuses — require a dedicated entity to own the on-site or connection network. The choice of who takes on that role has significant long-term commercial and regulatory consequences.
Arcform is built for this. We are an independent, specialist network owner. We are not a DNO with competing priorities, a construction contractor managing assets as a side business, or a fund deploying capital at arm's length. We are owners who take pride in how networks are structured — and who have the regulatory standing, technical capability, and commercial discipline to do it properly.
Ownership services
IDNO licence in progress. Arcform is actively pursuing its IDNO distribution licence with Ofgem, with a specific focus on EHV-connected industrial and commercial networks. We are engaging with prospective clients now — if you have an upcoming IDNO ownership requirement, early conversations are welcome and will position your project well for when the licence is awarded.
Long-term asset stewardship
Network ownership is a long-duration relationship. We approach every project accordingly — investing in the governance, systems, and processes needed to hold assets responsibly over their full operational life. Our clients choose Arcform because they want an owner who will still be doing this well in twenty years.
Network Operation
Reliable, safe, and compliant day-to-day operation of EHV electricity networks — so asset owners and connected parties can focus on what they do best.
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Operations built around reliability
For high-demand industrial and commercial users, network reliability is not a nice-to-have — it is a commercial imperative. Downtime at a data centre, a manufacturing plant, or a generation asset can cost millions. The network operator bears direct responsibility for avoiding it.
Arcform's operational model is designed for the demands of EHV infrastructure. We bring together experienced engineers, rigorous safety processes, and modern monitoring capability to keep networks running — and to respond fast when they don't.
Operational services
EHV-specialist operations. Most network operators deal primarily with low-voltage distribution. Arcform is focused exclusively on extra-high voltage — the technical standards, protection schemes, and regulatory requirements are different, and our operational team is built around that specialism.
Operational models
Fully managed operation
Arcform takes full operational responsibility for the network — monitoring, maintenance, emergency response, and regulatory compliance — under a long-term operations agreement.
Transitional operation
For networks moving between owners or undergoing significant change, we can provide interim operational management to maintain continuity and safety during the transition period.
Technical support services
Where clients have in-house operational resource, we can provide specialist EHV technical support, protection engineering, or emergency cover to complement existing capability.
Network Optimisation
Unlocking value from existing network assets through rigorous analysis, intelligent risk management, and targeted operational improvements.
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The optimisation opportunity
Electricity networks are capital-intensive assets with long operational lives. Many were designed, built, or contracted under conditions that no longer reflect today's market — including changed load profiles, evolved regulatory frameworks, and new commercial structures in ancillary services and flexibility markets. The result is latent value that can be recovered with the right expertise.
Arcform's optimisation practice identifies and captures that value. We work with existing asset owners and operators to improve network performance, reduce costs, and position assets to benefit from evolving market opportunities.
What optimisation looks like in practice
Risk management at the core. Optimisation without proper risk management is just cost-cutting. We build a complete picture of each asset's risk profile — technical, regulatory, and commercial — before recommending any changes. The goal is durable improvement, not short-term gains that create future problems.
Ongoing monitoring and reporting
For clients who retain us on an ongoing basis, we provide regular performance reporting against agreed benchmarks, early warning of emerging issues, and continuous identification of further improvement opportunities. Networks and markets evolve; our optimisation work evolves with them.
Who engages us for optimisation
Asset owners who suspect their network is underperforming. Infrastructure funds managing portfolios of energy assets. Developers who have built and now want to extract maximum long-term value. Industrial and commercial businesses with significant electricity costs who believe their network arrangements could be structured more favourably. If you have a large-scale electricity connection, there is almost certainly optimisation value to be found.
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