AECOM appoints grid upgrade lead: HVDC and T&D priorities for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
AECOM has appointed Liam Feeney as transmission and distribution lead for Europe and India, tasking him with steering grid upgrade and expansion programmes to support the energy transition and rising electricity demand. Feeney previously served as general manager for power networks and HVDC at PSC, leading teams across Europe and North America and working on high-voltage direct current interconnector strategies. His earlier roles at National Grid and SSE included shaping HVDC interconnector asset strategy and overseeing operation of 2 GW of onshore wind across Great Britain and Ireland, signalling a strong focus on integrating large-scale renewables into transmission networks.
Technical Brief
- Role remit explicitly spans both transmission and distribution networks across Europe and India.
- Mandate includes enhancing capacity, resilience and reliability of “future power grids” for client utilities.
- Scope covers network upgrades and expansions rather than greenfield-only schemes, implying complex brownfield interfaces.
- Previous PSC position centred on power networks and HVDC, indicating strong interconnector and converter-station experience.
- Early National Grid work involved asset strategy for an HVDC interconnector portfolio, i.e. lifecycle and reliability planning.
- SSE role included operational management of 2 GW onshore wind, linking grid design to variable generation performance.
- AECOM intends to “grow” its transmission and distribution team, signalling upcoming recruitment across design and delivery roles.
- Emphasis on giving junior staff real-world project delivery exposure suggests more site-based and commissioning involvement.
Our Take
AECOM’s new grid upgrade role in Great Britain and Ireland sits alongside its recent transport megaproject work such as Dublin’s MetroLink, signalling that it is positioning itself as a cross-sector systems integrator for both power and transport networks in Europe.
The 2 GW of onshore wind referenced for Great Britain and Ireland will require substantial transmission reinforcement and grid connection design, an area where AECOM’s existing relationships with National Grid and SSE give it practical leverage on consenting and delivery bottlenecks.
Within our 912-item Infrastructure corpus, AECOM appears frequently in UK and Ireland transport commissions, so this move into a defined grid upgrade leadership role suggests the firm expects power network constraints to become as central to project risk as rail and metro capacity issues in those markets.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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