Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 4TH - 10TH MAY 2018 | 25 Operations & Assets Winner's comments "Alliancing has been recognised as best practice by the World Economic Forum's report on construction and through the IPA's Infrastructure Client Group, and now also Utility Week. This true model of collaboration, a total alignment of goals and leadership and focus throughout the business, has achieved great results which we're proud of, but we're far from complacent. The journey continues. We've extended the collaborative alliancing model to all areas of our business and have set even more stretching tar- gets in carbon reduction." CHRIS NEWSOME, DIRECTOR OF ASSET MANAGEMENT, ANGLIAN WATER The judges' verdict The judges said the winning entry was about more than a single project – it demonstrated an industry-leading way of working strategi- cally with the supply chain. Anglian Water on awards night For AMP6, the company has set even more stretching targets, including a 60 per cent reduction in carbon by 2020, and the alliance is on course to exceed these. Other KPIs include halving time in construction, and 75 per cent ontime delivery – for which the industry benchmark is 60 per cent. Longer term, Anglian is working to become carbon neutral by 2050. This is a huge challenge, not least because deliver ing water and sewerage services makes the company one of the biggest energy users in the East. Nevertheless, it intends to achieve its goal by reducing its own emissions rather than carbon offsetting. How was creativity demonstrated? Total incentivisation Aer proving the success an alliancing model could bring, Anglian launched 15year contracts with its @one partners and intro duced a completely new system of incentiv ising them for their work. Partners in @one now only make a return when they outper form. If they underperform, the opposite is true. This "total incentivisation" model is unique and means the @one partners need and want to invest and innovate – they have a vested interest in finding new, more effi cient ways of working. Innovation The fact the @one alliance is delivering half of Anglian's £2 billion capital invest ment programme means learning is not lost between construction projects. Halving carbon in construction demanded a fundamental stepchange in the company's approach. The challenge inspired engineers within the @one alliance and across the business and led to an explo sion of innovation in digital technologies, construction techniques, the development of standard products and new ways of working. For example, below ground – the company adopted technologies to repair and replace pipes and equipment without needing to dig, and above ground – it avoids building new assets by maintaining and reusing existing ones wherever possible. Landmark schemes Thanks to landmark schemes such as Raithby water treatment works and the Graf ham resilience scheme, the @one alliance is setting new industry standards. Anglian's water treatment works at Raithby, Lincolnshire, signified a step change when the company challenged the project team to build a new works for the same embodied carbon as a refurbishment of the existing one. It resulted in a radical rethink of the way sites are designed, built and operated. Anglian claims Raithby is one of the most ecofriendly water treatment works built in the UK. Its carbon footprint was reduced by 55 per cent, and it sailed through local planning, despite it being in an Area of Out standing Natural Beauty, thanks to its strong ecocredentials and beautiful design. The company says it has achieved simi lar savings at many other sites, including the huge new extension to Cambridge water recycling centre, where the project's carbon was reduced by 64 per cent. What has been the impact on the company? In 2008, Anglian made a commitment to halve embodied carbon. By 2010 it had begun to work on this target through the @one alliance, and in 2015 achieved it. Having proved the success an allianc ing model could bring, Anglian now has an array of different alliances covering its entire supply chain and business, from water and water recycling maintenance to IT. The company has also set its sights on solving more altruistic problems through the @one alliance. Together, the company's partners are helping benefit deprived parts of its region, donating to WaterAid and tak ing their expertise overseas to countries like Nepal to help deliver safe drinking water to millions more people.

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