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Strategic report
OCU Group | Annual report and financial statements 2025
Governance
Financial statements
Operational review OCU Energy review
Future strategy and opportunities continued With demand rising for both Energy Programs and Connection Projects, we are investing in new regional delivery capability, expanding our training offer, and continuing to develop integrated tools and digital systems to support growth. Spotlight on acquisitions – McCormack Drilling In October 2024, OCU Energy acquired McCormack Drilling, a leading horizontal directional drilling contractor. McCormack Drilling brings significant capability in trenchless solutions, operating across electricity, water, and fibre installations in urban and topographically constrained environments. The integration of McCormack Drilling expands our in-house HDD fleet and skillset, complementing the work of OCU Trenchless and further enhancing our end‑to‑end delivery offer. This acquisition strengthens our market leadership, reduces delivery risk and increases certainty for clients managing complex infrastructure delivery. Current markets OCU Energy operates across the full spectrum of energy transition infrastructure, supporting clients to deliver the assets needed to power secure a lower-carbon future. Our teams work across both generation and network infrastructure, from grid-scale battery storage and solar to HV connections and private networks. We work closely with developers, utilities, and investors to deliver infrastructure that is technically robust, operationally safe and future-ready. With deep expertise in both regulated and non-regulated interfaces, our focus is on buildable, compliant and scalable solutions that deliver projects or programs from concept to operational reality.
Capabilities Battery energy storage systems (BESS) We deliver grid-connected BESS infrastructure, providing both the HV connection and full balance of plant services. Our experience ranges from enabling works to commissioning of multi-hundred-MW battery sites.
Onshore wind We deliver both primary and secondary electrical infrastructure solutions for power distribution and transmission from onshore wind farms.
Data centres We deliver the energy infrastructure required to support data centre developments. This includes backup generation, civil works and utilities co‑ordination.
Solar We support the civil and electrical balance of plant for large-scale solar projects, including cable installation, trenching, inverter platforms and grid connections.
EV charging infrastructure We build grid capacity and install the infrastructure required for EV charging networks across depots, on‑street, retail and fleet sites. This includes switchgear, civils, cabling, foundations, and mechanical installation of chargers. HVDC onshore We support the civil and electrical delivery of HVDC infrastructure including offshore cable landings, converter station civils, and integration into onshore substations. These works are critical to interconnector, offshore wind and transmission system upgrades. Commissioning Through our internal training and technical teams, we deliver safety, technical, and commissioning support across all OCU Energy projects, ensuring knowledge is embedded across our self-delivery teams.
Microgrid & private networks Our teams design and build microgrid solutions and private HV networks for large-scale industrial, commercial or campus-style clients. This includes integration of renewable energy sources, battery storage and control systems to ensure autonomy and resilience. Long linear cables OCU provides end-to-end cable engineering from LV to EHV, specialising in distribution networks. We offer full EPC services including FEED, design, installation, jointing, and commissioning, supporting DSOs and clients delivering renewable and BESS projects or programs to help meet the UK’s net zero targets. Operations & maintenance We provide planned and reactive maintenance across non-regulated energy networks and connected infrastructure. This includes fault response, asset inspections, compliance testing and upgrades.
Grid connections We deliver connections from LV up to 132kV, both contestable and non-contestable, enabling clients to connect new loads and generation assets to the grid. Our ICP capability includes design, civils, switchgear, cabling and commissioning.
HDD/trenchless OCU Energy benefits from in-house trenchless delivery capability via OCU Trenchless and McCormack Drilling. This enables efficient cable and pipe route installation under roads, rivers and sensitive terrain, reducing impact and timescales.
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