Connected Places diesel-free project: deployment lessons for site engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Innovation agency Connected Places Catapult is inviting UK-registered SMEs with deployment-ready diesel-free construction plant or site power solutions to trial them on live Strategic Pipeline Alliance sites with Costain and Anglian Water. Up to four firms will receive up to £60,000 each for four-month demonstrations, plus access to site data, industry experts and tailored commercial support to build quantified evidence of on-site performance. The initiative targets proven alternatives to conventional diesel excavators, generators and ancillary equipment, aiming to de-risk client procurement and accelerate wider fleet transition.
Technical Brief
- Funding per SME is capped at £60,000 for a defined four‑month deployment window.
- Trials are hosted on live Strategic Pipeline Alliance sites operated by Anglian Water and Costain.
- Programme focus is on generating quantified on-site performance evidence to satisfy infrastructure client procurement teams.
- Connected Places Catapult provides tailored commercial and business support alongside technical site access.
- Geoff Stevens stresses the main barrier is lack of robust evidence and confidence, not lack of technology.
Our Take
Costain’s role here aligns with its presence across multiple UK infrastructure frameworks in our database – from United Utilities’ £200M water contract to TfL’s £700M improvement framework – suggesting any diesel-free solutions proven with Connected Places Catapult could be scaled rapidly across water and transport portfolios.
With trials capped at four successful SMEs over four months, this looks more like a focused testbed than a broad accelerator, which typically favours deployable, near-market products that can be dropped into live programmes such as the Strategic Pipeline Alliance without long integration lead times.
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.
Related Articles
Related Industries & Products
Construction
Quality control software for construction companies with material testing, batch tracking, and compliance management.
Mining
Geotechnical software solutions for mining operations including CMRR analysis, hydrogeological testing, and data management.
QCDB-io
Comprehensive quality control database for manufacturing, tunnelling, and civil construction with UCS testing, PSD analysis, and grout mix design management.