UK Power Networks targets wayleave delays with digital consent platform

Wayleaves are not usually the most visible part of a grid upgrade, but they can become a very visible problem when they hold one up. Electricity network operators need appropriate rights to install and retain infrastructure on private land, and the Government has already identified long processing times and increasing workloads around necessary wayleaves as a barrier to timely network delivery.

UK Power Networks’ answer is Wayl-Ease, a secure digital platform now progressing through its Beta phase. Landowners will be able to provide information digitally, including photographs of network equipment, while AI-based asset assessment, interactive mapping and digital contracting are intended to help network teams identify equipment and manage consent activity through one system. UK Power Networks is developing the next stage with Digital Catapult, Community Energy Pathways and Tata Consultancy Services.

Earlier project work identified manual communication, limited visibility of agreements and changes in land ownership as problems within the existing process. UK Power Networks says the platform is intended to introduce self-service contracting, automated payments, asset recognition and automatically generated maps.

This is where the project becomes interesting. Better asset identification may avoid some verification visits, but the bigger prize would be making the consent status of a site visible early enough for it to be managed alongside design, procurement and connection programme milestones. A land-rights problem discovered after equipment has been ordered is considerably harder to accommodate than one identified during programme planning.

There is a limit to what digitisation can solve, however. Wayl-Ease does not remove the underlying requirement for networks to secure appropriate land rights, nor does it make disputes over access disappear. The test during Beta will therefore be whether the platform can demonstrably shorten consent cycles, reduce repeat administration and site visits, maintain reliable asset and ownership information, and give project teams better warning when land access is becoming a programme risk.

Chris Lawrence, Consent Manager at UK Power Networks, believes it will. He noted, “Wayl-Ease represents exactly the kind of innovation that moves the electricity system forward. By giving landowners clear, accessible information at their fingertips, we’re removing friction from a process that has traditionally been complex and time consuming. This tool will not only strengthen relationships with the people who host our infrastructure, it will also help us manage the network more efficiently as we transition to a low carbon future.”

Luke Sperrin, Senior Practice Lead for Energy and Sustainability at Digital Catapult, added, “As the energy system evolves, there is now an exciting opportunity to further enhance this experience by making access to information even clearer and the journey even easier for customers. We look forward to working alongside UK Power Networks in developing a user-friendly digital solution that helps prepare the electricity sector for the future."