Good News (A Fair Wind, Green Link, Welsh Gas Station,
Another good view, Long life projects);
Not So Good News (Glen Sannox, Horizon Project, Government IT Systems);
Other Project News (HS2, Thames Water, Heathrow Expansion);
Osprey, Nightjars and Fewer sore eyes
REPORT
By Dr. Miles Shepherd
Executive Advisor & International Correspondent
Salisbury, England, UK
INTRODUCTION
The past month has been one of deeply unsettling news all around the globe and for older readers will bring back unpleasant memories of times we all hoped were behind us. We got through those so let’s hope we get through these. In the meantime, Spring has certainly sprung, daffodils are almost over here, and the bluebells are just coming out so let’s get on with the UK News.
GOOD NEWS
As the sun is shining, the clocks have sprung forward it is only fitting to start with better news. This week seems to have brought good news about a Scottish turbine deal and the recommissioning of a Welsh hydrogen plant as well as some other snippets to encourage project people that all is not lost in the projectosphere.
A Fair Wind. Taking it from the top (of the country), we learn that Scotland will benefit from new clean energy jobs as energy firm Vestas have revealed plans for a major wind factory in Scotland, creating up to 500 skilled jobs. The factory, which will produce nacelles and hubs, major components in building a wind turbine, has been made possible following the government’s poorly supported offshore wind auction which we reported last month. The auction, AR7, secured 8.4 GW of new offshore projects.
Green Link. Nothing to do with the many fine golf courses up North, Eastern Green Link 4 (EGL4) is a new High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) electrical link that will connect Fife in Scotland with Norfolk in England. One of many transmission upgrades that are planned in the UK, the project will play a key role in the UK’s transition to Net Zero. The 530 km high-voltage cable will be able to transmit enough electricity to power the equivalent of 1.5 million UK homes.
ScottishPower has secured £600m National Wealth Fund green financing for this strategic UK subsea power link. This transaction builds on the National Wealth Fund’s £600 million loan in May 2025 to support the development of seven of ScottishPower’s priority network initiatives.
Welsh Gas Station. Moving south, to South Wales in fact, we learn that construction is expected to start this year on a £50m hydrogen production plant at Milford Haven. It will be built on the site of a former oil refinery at the Impala terminal, previously Puma Energy in a project supported by UK government’s hydrogen allocation round (HAR). Thus It is one of the first projects of its kind supported by HAR to be given the go-ahead by investors and is being developed by MorGen Energy, a Zurich-based company founded in 2021 to develop large-scale green hydrogen projects.
Once operational the plant is expected to produce about 2,000 tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen annually for uses including industrial heating, manufacturing and de-carbonising the Milford Haven port.
More…
To read entire report, click here
How to cite this report: Shepherd, M. (2026). UK Project Management Roundup, report, PM World Journal, Vol. XV, Issue II, February. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/pmwj163-Apr2026-Shepherd-UK-Regional-project-management-round-up-1.pdf
About the Author
Dr. Miles Shepherd
Salisbury, UK
Dr. Miles Shepherd is an executive editorial advisor and international correspondent for PM World Journal in the United Kingdom. He is also managing director for MS Projects Ltd, a consulting company supporting various UK and overseas Government agencies, nuclear industry organisations and other businesses. Miles has over 30 years’ experience on a variety of projects in UK, Eastern Europe and Russia. His PM experience includes defence, major IT projects, decommissioning of nuclear reactors, nuclear security, rail and business projects for the UK Government and EU. His consulting work has taken him to Japan, Taiwan, USA and Russia. Past Chair and Fellow of the Association for Project Management (APM), Miles is also past president and chair and a Fellow of the International Project Management Association (IPMA). He was, for seven years, a Director for PMI’s Global Accreditation Centre and is immediate past Chair of the ISO committee developing new international standards for Project Management and for Program/Portfolio Management. He is currently Chairman of the British Standards Institute project management committee. He was involved in setting up APM’s team developing guidelines for project management oversight and governance. Miles is based in Salisbury, England and can be contacted at miles.shepherd@msp-ltd.co.uk.
To view other works by Miles Shepherd, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at http://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/miles-shepherd/.
