Procurement Support for Major Infrastructure Delivery
Accelerating Energy Transition Delivery Through Agile Procurement and Scalable Workforce Mobilisation
Grosvenor partnered with a state government energy infrastructure authority to design and implement an innovative standing offer resource agreement model that enabled rapid mobilisation of over 60 specialist resources across multiple projects, ensuring compliant, scalable and efficient delivery of critical electricity network transformation programs while embedding strong governance, procurement integrity and Aboriginal participation outcomes.
Situation
An Australian state is preparing for the closure of most of its coal-fired power stations over the next 15 years, creating an urgent need to transform the electricity system. To address this, this jurisdiction has outlined a 20-year plan to transform the electricity system into one that is cheap, clean and reliable.
A state government statutory authority (authority) was set-up for planning and delivering the state’s renewable energy, a transformative initiative to modernise the electricity system and accelerate the transition to clean energy. The authority leads the development of transmission, generation, and storage projects, working closely with government, industry, and communities.
The authority faced a critical challenge: rapidly mobilising a large, multi-disciplinary delivery organisation to support the construction phase of its renewable energy project. In parallel, they needed to run a similar procurement for a major logistics and infrastructure precinct, with both initiatives on the critical path of the state’s electricity transformation program.
Task
Recognising the complexity, scale, and urgency, this authority engaged Grosvenor Procurement Advisory (Grosvenor) to help design and deliver a procurement solution that would:
› Enable the engagement of high-quality resources across five professional services categories
› Ensure compliance with state’s procurement frameworks and policies
› Deliver all procurement outcomes within highly aggressive timeframes, including setting up the entire delivery organisation within six months.
Approach
Grosvenor’s engagement began with a rapid diagnostic of the client’s needs, existing market capability, and the limitations of traditional bespoke contracting. To address these, Grosvenor proposed a standing offer/resource agreement model, an innovative approach tailored for high stakes, multi-provider environments.
Key support provided included:
› Initial Discovery Workshops: Facilitated workshops with the client’s stakeholders to identify the full scope of requirements, critical success factors, and delivery risks. These sessions ensured all parties were aligned on objectives and priorities from the outset.
› Procurement Documentation: Developed comprehensive procurement documentation for both the Expression of Interest (EOI) and Request for Quote (RFQ) stages. This included drafting clear specifications, evaluation criteria, response schedules, and contract templates tailored to the resource agreement model
› Market Engagement via SCM0005 Panel: Leveraged an existing government professional services panel, conducting an open EOI followed by a targeted RFQ to shortlisted panel providers. This ensured access to a competitive, pre-qualified pool of suppliers and maintained full compliance with government procurement requirements
› Evaluation Facilitation: Facilitated the evaluation of both EOI and RFQ stages, supporting the client’s evaluation committee with scoring templates, consensus workshops, and probity guidance. Grosvenor ensured the process was robust, transparent, and defensible
› Contract Structuring: Worked closely with the client and external legal advisors to provide input into the contracting structure, ensuring the standing offer/resource agreement model was fit-for-purpose, scalable, and compliant with all relevant policies
› Probity Management: Collaborated with external probity advisors throughout the process, embedding best practice probity protocols and ensuring all market engagement and evaluation activities met the highest ethical standards; and,
› Parallel Delivery: Applied the same contracting model and governance principles to a second major infrastructure initiative, ensuring consistency and efficiency across both projects; and,
› Contract Management Support: Developed a comprehensive resource agreement management guide and an accompanying tracking spreadsheet across both infrastructure programmes, enabling the client to manage contract performance, resource allocation, and compliance throughout the life of the engagement. This framework provided practical tools for day-to-day contract administration and performance monitoring.
Result
Through this innovative procurement approach, the client was able to rapidly mobilise and onboard over 60 expert resources across five critical professional services categories, ensuring the organisation was fully equipped to deliver on the ambitious objectives of the two infrastructure projects. The resource agreement model, underpinned by the government panel, provided the client with the flexibility to scale and adapt its workforce as project needs evolved, all while maintaining strict compliance with the state’s procurement policies and value for money principles.
A particularly notable outcome was the client’s decision, made independently as part of this process, to set the Aboriginal Participation minimum value below the standard thresholds. This pioneering move demonstrated the client’s commitment to advancing Aboriginal participation in major infrastructure projects, setting a new benchmark for similar programs across the state.
The seamless onboarding process and robust contract management framework minimised administrative burden and risk, enabling swift mobilisation and effective oversight throughout the engagement. The same methodology was successfully replicated for the second infrastructure program, demonstrating the scalability and efficiency of the model.
At the conclusion of the engagement, a formal lessons learned session with the client revealed strong client appreciation for the process, with the client highlighting the flexibility and speed of the resource agreement model compared to traditional bespoke contracts. The collaborative approach, transparent governance, and focus on continuous improvement were cited as key factors in enabling the delivery organisation to be established in record time and keeping the program on schedule.