Energy & Utilities Consulting & Advisory

Hydrogen and CCUS are central to decarbonising industry, heat and heavy transport, but the business models are still forming. We advise on subsidy design and support mechanisms, commercial structuring, and the valuation of pre-FID projects where conventional approaches struggle. Our work helps clients test whether a project stacks up commercially and how it can be financed. 

Government has entrusted Grant Thornton to author its financial guidance on heat networks. We support clients across the full development cycle: feasibility studies, business cases, financial modelling, due diligence, Green Heat Network Fund applications, and negotiations with equity and debt investors. Our experience sits on both sides of the table, advising local authorities developing schemes and the investors funding them. 

We advised The Crown Estate on the design and delivery of Floating Offshore Wind Leasing Round 5, which allocated 3GW of capacity in the Celtic Sea. Our work spans auction and tender design, commercial models for emerging technologies including tidal stream, economic assessment for government, and the regulatory frameworks governing transmission and interconnection. We combine market design expertise with the financial rigour to model what any given policy choice is actually worth. 

Charging infrastructure is a market where public funding, grid constraints and commercial return have to be reconciled. We advise local authorities and government on LEVI and rapid charging programmes, and support chargepoint operators and investors on commercial structuring and business cases. Our focus is on the funding and delivery models that make schemes viable where the pure commercial case is marginal. 

We supported Milton Keynes City Council through a 15-month procurement for its integrated waste, street cleansing and green spaces contract, awarded at around £300 million. Our work covers financial evaluation of bids, payment mechanism design and review, contract and commercial advisory, and support through the reprocurement of ageing energy-from-waste and PFI arrangements as they approach expiry. 

Data centre growth is now a material driver of electricity demand and a live question for grid planning, siting and connection policy. We advise on the energy implications of data centre development, including power procurement strategy, grid connection routes, and the interaction between digital infrastructure investment and network capacity. For public sector clients, we help assess the local economic and infrastructure consequences of proposed developments. 

Onshore wind, solar and co-located storage are being built out at pace, with revenue models shifting from subsidy towards merchant exposure, PPAs and capture rate risk. We advise developers, investors and funds on valuation, transaction support and financial modelling across the asset lifecycle, from development-stage portfolios through to operational assets. 

We are one of only a few professional services firms with an integrated valuations and modelling team, with market-leading capability across the global renewable energy sector. We value projects, portfolios and platforms for investors, funds and corporates, and build the models that sit behind investment committee decisions, financial close and quarterly reporting. Our published work covers CAPM for renewables, green hydrogen, PPAs and capture rates. 

We help government, regulators, investors and developers turn energy transition ambition into deliverable projects. Our work spans policy design and market reform, funding and financing strategy, procurement and transaction support, and the financial modelling that underpins investment decisions. Led by a team combining former senior civil servants with corporate finance and modelling specialists, we understand both how government thinks and what investors need to see. 

We advise founders, corporates and investors buying and selling businesses across the energy transition supply chain, from solar and battery installers to heat pumps, retrofit and metering. Recent mandates include Contact Solar to EDF Energy, Solfex to Travis Perkins and Utility Funding to Foresight Metering. We work with more than 70 private equity firms a year and have corporate finance teams in every UK region. 

Energy and utilities projects carry tax questions that can move the investment case, from capital allowances on renewable assets to the treatment of pre-development costs following the Gunfleet Sands decision. Our capital allowances team works on large-scale infrastructure and renewable assets, supported by Jigsaw, our proprietary claims tool. We also advise on transaction tax, real estate tax and the indirect tax treatment of energy supply. 

Related insights: The Gunfleet Sands decision on capital allowances: implications for businesses insight

Investors, lenders and regulators increasingly want independent comfort over more than the financial statements. Alongside statutory audit, we provide controls and service auditor reporting, and assurance over sustainability and non-financial information as UK reporting standards develop. Readiness reviews before a formal engagement reduce the risk of surprises, which matters where data has not previously been subject to assurance. 

Energy and water regulation is being rewritten, from Ofgem's growth duty and price control reform to the Independent Water Commission's proposals for a new regulator. Our economic consulting team advises departments, regulators and regulated businesses on market design, price controls, cost assessment and impact evaluation. Team members have been embedded with Ofwat on PR24 and have assessed the economic value of offshore renewables for DESNZ. 

Related insights: Independent Water Commission: Writing the future of the UK water sector

Reporting obligations are tightening as the UK consults on sustainability reporting standards, assurance and transition plans. We help you set an ESG strategy, identify the right metrics, and prepare disclosures against frameworks including ISSB, TCFD and GRI. For energy and utilities clients this connects directly to financing, since lenders and investors increasingly price ESG performance into the cost of capital. 

Environmental, social and governance (ESG)

ESG metrics, targets and disclosures