IN Brief:
- TSG has acquired Worcester based Independent Connection Provider Network Power Connections.
- NPC delivers grid connections and electrical infrastructure projects at voltages up to 11kV for commercial, industrial, grid and EV charging developments.
- TSG plans to combine NPC with existing UK electrical teams including Skerritt Electrical, spanning connections, HV and LV infrastructure, charging, solar and batteries.
Network Power Connections has been acquired by European technical services group TSG, adding a UK Independent Connection Provider to a business expanding its electrical infrastructure operation around grid connections, EV charging, solar and battery storage. Worcester based NPC delivers connection and infrastructure projects at voltages up to 11kV across commercial, industrial and grid developments.
The acquisition gives TSG additional design, project management, civil engineering and electrical jointing capability at the interface between new customer assets and the electricity distribution network. NPC is accredited under the National Electricity Registration Scheme, allowing it to design and construct qualifying infrastructure for adoption by distribution and independent network operators.
Unlike an electrical contractor working only behind a customer’s meter, an Independent Connection Provider can undertake contestable elements of the network connection itself. Those works can include design, cable installation, substations and associated civil engineering before the infrastructure is inspected and adopted under the relevant network arrangements.
A new warehouse, factory, battery site or EV charging hub may require a substation, transformer, high voltage cable route and protection equipment before downstream equipment can be energised. Bringing more of those connection activities into one delivery team can reduce contractual interfaces, although it does not remove the technical approvals required from the network operator.
NPC’s project base spans commercial and industrial developments, warehousing, grid schemes and EV charging infrastructure. It combines network design with construction and jointing rather than stopping at consultancy, giving TSG a delivery route from the initial connection design into physical installation.
The business was founded in 2019 and operates nationally from Worcester. The KBS Corporate announcement places its principal project capability at voltages up to 11kV, with the transaction presented around the additional connection capability being added to TSG.
TSG intends NPC to work closely with its existing UK electrical businesses, particularly Birmingham based Skerritt Electrical. The combination brings network side connection expertise and customer side electrical installation into the same corporate group.
Commercial energy projects are increasing the electrical scale of that interface. A large EV charging hub can require several megawatts, while batteries and solar plants need import and export arrangements, protection settings and metering that allow power to move safely in both directions.
Connections for those projects require more than a cable with adequate current capacity. Fault levels, transformer impedance, protection discrimination, earthing, voltage control and upstream network capacity can all influence the design, while changes requested by the distribution operator can affect equipment selection and construction further downstream.
NERS accreditation provides a framework through which approved contractors can deliver contestable connection work to standards accepted by network operators. Adoption still depends on the finished infrastructure meeting technical requirements, making design assurance, testing, installation records and commissioning central to handover.
TSG has been widening its UK electrical operation beyond its historic mobility and forecourt activities, including earlier acquisitions of Skerritt Electrical and multi utility specialist Powertek. Network Power Connections is the second business sold to TSG through KBS Corporate within six months, following Powertek.
No purchase price has been disclosed. TSG chief executive Jean-Marc Bianchi said NPC adds grid connection expertise, NERS accredited capability and teams able to deliver complex projects nationally, with the group targeting integrated work across connections, electrical infrastructure, EV charging, solar generation and storage.
Bringing those activities together still leaves external network capacity as a hard limit. If an upstream circuit or substation cannot support the requested demand or generation, the distribution operator may have to reinforce its own assets before a customer connection can proceed.
Equipment supply remains another constraint, with transformers, switchgear and high voltage cable exposed to procurement lead times while planning and civil work can delay delivery even after the electrical design has been accepted.
NPC therefore adds engineering and project delivery capability rather than a route around the physical limitations of the electricity network. Its acquisition gives TSG greater control over the section between an available distribution circuit and the equipment that ultimately consumes, stores or generates the power.
