HSL – Project History
A Project History Measured in Delivery
HSL is the trusted management partner for complex energy and infrastructure projects. Our track record covers more than £8 billion of capital works across three continents, from the world’s largest purpose-built biomass power station to LNG, gas, coal, energy-from-waste and critical-minerals projects. We review and negotiate our clients’ contracts, manage them commercially from signature to final account, and manage the relationships that keep projects moving. We work at every tier of the construction chain, and we keep the records that win the argument when it matters.
£8bn+
combined value of projects delivered on
9,279MW
of generating capacity across the portfolio
7
countries, across three continents
$400m
largest claims package prepared
300+
site personnel led on major projects
15+
years in major capital projects
What We Do
Services proven on live projects, not promised in brochures
Every service below is described by what it has actually achieved for a client. Names and figures for the flagship projects appear in the case studies; work for other clients is summarised in confidence.
Commercial management
The full commercial function for contractors, subcontractors and owners. Valuations and applications for payment, cost value reconciliations, cash flow, procurement control, performance bonds, retentions and final accounts.
Proven: When an owner terminated its EPC contractor on a £650m power project, HSL was engaged to commercially manage completion of the works through to commercial operation.
Contract reviews and negotiation
Pre-signature reviews and negotiation of NEC3/NEC4, JCT and bespoke forms under both English and Scots law. Amendments argued line by line, so risk is priced, capped or handed back before work starts.
Proven: Conditions of purchase, bespoke subcontracts and bond terms negotiated and redlined for specialist contractors on live UK energy projects, from first mark-up to signed agreement.
Claims and dispute resolution
Extension of time and delay cost claims built on critical-path evidence. Adjudication under the Construction Act, from case preparation to representation through the process, arbitration support, and claims strategy at owner and contractor level.
Proven: A $400m claims package built and substantiated for an EPC contractor in Saudi Arabia, witness-of-fact evidence on quantum given in an international arbitration, and multiple adjudications prepared and represented for a variety of clients.
Procurement and operations readiness
Bid package compilation, tender analysis, supplier selection and negotiation through to signed contracts. For owners approaching handover, we draft the operations and maintenance agreements that carry a plant from construction into its operating life.
Proven: Engaged by the owner of a new UK energy plant to draft its operations and maintenance agreements and steer the team to operations readiness ahead of commercial operation.
Planning and programme controls
Primavera P6 programmes, baseline acceptance, earned value and productivity tracking, and early warning and change registers kept current so entitlement never goes stale.
Proven: Programme, roadblock and release registers run on live UK energy projects and used as the evidential spine of successful extension of time claims.
Proactive approach to commercial management
Four pillars of Commercial Management:
- Manage the project – Set the meeting rhythm, keep communication clear, steer the project manager.
- Manage the client – Build the relationship that everything else rests on.
- Manage the contract – Submit notifications on time.
- Manage the finance – Report to site and HQ.
Flagship Projects
Case Studies
Projects delivered by HSL and, before HSL’s formation in 2021, by our founder in senior commercial roles with Shanahan Engineering. We act as our clients’ strategic commercial partner at every tier of the construction chain, from owner and principal contractor to specialist subcontractor. Client-confidential matters are described in outline only; every figure is taken from project records.
Energy from waste · 45MWe · Glasgow, UK
South Clyde Energy Centre: contracts ready for the operations phase
HSL for Fortum • 2026 – Ongoing • Live
The Situation
Fortum’s South Clyde Energy Centre in Glasgow will process up to 350,000 tonnes of residual waste a year and generate up to 45MWe, with commercial operations expected from late 2026. A plant is only as strong as the contracts that run it. Fortum engaged HSL at the start of 2026 as its strategic partner to put the operations and maintenance agreements in place before the plant enters service.
What HSL does
- Drafts the operations and maintenance agreements that will govern the plant through its operating life.
- Compiles the bid packages, runs the tender analysis and manages supplier selection across the operations supply chain.
- Negotiates each contract through to award.
- Steers the wider team strategically so that every agreement is ready for the operations phase.
Outcome: Ongoing. The contractual foundations of the plant’s operating life are being put in place ahead of commercial operations, not after them.
LNG · Kent · UK
Isle of Grain LNG: end-to-end commercial management of a specialist package on a terminal expansion
HSL for Powertherm • 2025 – 2026 • Complete
The Situation
National Grid’s Isle of Grain LNG terminal in Kent was expanded under the ‘Capacity 25’ programme, lifting storage to 1.2 million m³ and adding submerged combustion vaporisers, boil-off gas compression and associated plant. Powertherm Contract Services held the specialist thermal insulation package and engaged HSL as its commercial partner for the full life of the contract.
What HSL did
- Set the commercial strategy for the package before works began, covering payment, performance security, retention and billing.
- Ran a proactive early warning and change control regime, so nothing was missed and no entitlement was lost to a deadline.
- Governed the programme from baseline acceptance through recovery planning.
- Ran monthly cost reporting, KPIs and forecasting through to final account and close-out, managing the relationship with the contractor above throughout.
Outcome: The package ran its full course without dispute and completed with the client’s commercial position protected from first valuation to final account.
Process · Scotland
DSM Dalry: proactive commercial management of a specialist package on a process plant
HSL for Powertherm • 2025 – Ongoing • Live
The Situation
DSM’s Dalry site in North Ayrshire, Scotland is building a large-scale plant to produce Bovaer, its methane-reducing feed additive for cattle. Powertherm Contract Services holds the specialist insulation package and engaged HSL to manage it commercially from before signature through to completion.
What HSL does
- Reviewed and negotiated the contract terms and clarifications before award, so risk was priced, capped or handed back before work started.
- Set the commercial strategy for the package, covering payment, performance security and retention.
- Runs the package commercially through delivery, covering valuations and applications for payment, cost reporting, change control and contractual correspondence.
- Tracks the programme and commercial entitlement as the works proceed on site, keeping the relationship with the contractor above constructive.
Outcome: Ongoing. A live package managed proactively, so issues are resolved commercially before they harden into disputes.
Lithium Refinery · Teesside, UK
Green Lithium: commercial groundwork for the UK’s first lithium refinery
HSL for Green Lithium • 2023 – 2025 • Complete
The Situation
Green Lithium is developing the UK’s first hard-rock lithium refinery in Teesside, a critical-minerals project for Europe’s battery and EV supply chain. In the project’s development phase, ahead of its financial investment decision, Green Lithium engaged HSL to put the commercial building blocks of the project in place. The engagement ran from January 2023 to January 2025.
What HSL did
- Set up the contracts with the providers of the refinery’s OEM equipment.
- Helped negotiate the land leases for the project site.
- Assisted in providing the information required to secure funding ahead of the financial investment decision.
Outcome: Two years of commercial groundwork delivered across equipment contracts, land and funding support, carrying the project towards its financial investment decision.
Energy from waste · Leeds, UK
Skelton Grange: start-to-finish commercial management of an EfW insulation package
HSL for Powertherm • 2023 – 2024 • Complete
The Situation
Enfinium’s £500m Skelton Grange energy-from-waste facility in Leeds processes around 410,000 tonnes of waste a year to generate up to 49MW. Powertherm Contract Services, a specialist insulation contractor, held the insulation package and engaged HSL across the whole contract, from negotiation to close-out.
What HSL did
- Negotiated the contract on our client’s behalf before signature.
- Provided a senior quantity surveyor on site, delivering the on-site commercial strategy: valuations, cost reports, change orders, claims and contractual correspondence.
- Provided strategic commercial leadership remotely, keeping oversight of the package and leading negotiations with our client’s customer on contentious issues.
- Spared our client’s senior management the need for day-to-day engagement, escalating only where it counted.
Outcome: The package was managed commercially from negotiation to close-out and concluded successfully for the client.
Biomass · 299MW · UK
Tees REP: completing a £650m power station after EPC termination
HSL for MGT • 2021 – 2024 • £650m Project
Following termination of the EPC contractor, the owner (MGT) engaged HSL as its strategic partner to commercially and operationally manage completion of the Tees Renewable Energy Plant, a 299MW biomass power station and the largest of its kind ever purpose-built.
What HSL did
- Advised on claims strategy arising from the termination.
- Quantified the remaining works and established the critical works required for commercial operation.
- Let and negotiated the new contracts needed to complete the works.
- Acted as construction director during the step-in phase.
Outcome: A stalled £650m asset brought through an exceptionally challenging completion phase. The plant was operational by the time HSL’s commission ended.
gas · 360MW · israel
Zomet: commercial leadership of a $270m gas plant build
Shanahan Engineering • 2020 – 2021 • $270m Project
The Situation
The Zomet power plant near Plugot Junction in southern Israel is a 360MW open cycle natural gas power plant. HSL’s founder was asked to join the project at the height of Covid and deliver it on the EPC contractor’s behalf, navigating an ever-changing and restrictive diplomatic landscape throughout.
What HSL did
- Set and ran the complete commercial management strategy to construct, commission and hand over the project.
- Established the budgets, contracts and programmes, and directly managed the contractors delivering the works.
- Held regular risk review meetings and managed the upstream client’s expectations throughout delivery.
Outcome: A safe and successful project, delivered through the height of Covid from construction to handover.
biomass · 299MW · UK
Tees REP construction: £50m contract inside a £650m project
Shanahan Engineering • 2018 – 2020 • £50m contract
The Situation
Project management for the construction of the air cooled condenser, steam turbine and electrical installation at the Tees Renewable Energy Plant, with a site team of more than 300 conducting civil, mechanical and electrical works.
What HSL did
- Project financial management and responsibility for a £50m contract.
- Commercial claims consultancy and client negotiation.
- Project optimisation across a 300-strong multidiscipline team.
Outcome: The mechanical and electrical heart of the plant delivered under a single commercial lead, on a project later completed under HSL’s step-in commission above.
Coal · 4,800MW · South Africa
Kusile: structural steel on one of the world’s largest construction sites
Shanahan Engineering • 2017 – 2018 • $7bn Project
The Situation
Shanahan Engineering delivered steel erection packages at Eskom’s Kusile power station, a 4,800MW coal-fired plant that was, at the time, among the largest construction projects in the world, with more than 18,000 personnel on site.
What HSL did
- Ran the steel erection package, with responsibility for a $60m contract and a team of more than 300.
- Co-ordination and logistics across one of the most congested sites in world construction.
- Schedule maintenance and timely delivery of the erected product.
Outcome: Schedule held and product delivered on a site of extreme logistical complexity.
Gas · 2,175MW · Saudi Arabia
PP12: commissioning a 2,175MW plant against a summer-peak deadline
Shanahan Engineering • 2016 – 2017 • $1.2bn Project
The Situation
Specialist commissioning services on PP12, a 2,175MW combined cycle gas turbine power station at Al Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, built in two blocks of GE Frame 7F 5-series gas turbines. The client needed first synchronisation with the grid before the summer peak, on a restricted schedule working seven days a week.
What HSL did
- Established the site and built a stand-alone commissioning team with the right specialist disciplines to commission the plant.
- Held daily meetings with the client and supporting subcontractors to keep delivery on course.
- Maintained the schedule, highlighted risks and mitigated them as they arose, with responsibility for a $20m contract.
Outcome: Combined-cycle operation reached by the summer months, on time and within budget.
Power & Desalination · Saudi Arabia
Yanbu: a $400m claims package for an EPC contractor
Shanahan Engineering • 2015 – 2016 • $1.6bn Project
The Situation
Commercial claims consultancy for a multinational EPC contractor on a new-build 800MW power and desalination plant serving the Yanbu industrial zone.
What HSL did
- Built and substantiated the contractor’s claims package.
- Established the grounds of claim and assessed quantum.
- Responsible for a claim value of $400m.
- Worked within the commissioning team that brought the plant online.
Outcome: A substantiated $400m claims position, grounds and quantum evidenced from project records.
Gas · 800MW · Israel
Dorad: project delivery for the EPC and evidence in an international arbitration
Shanahan Engineering • 2014 – 2018 • $800m Project
The Situation
Shanahan Engineering delivered the Dorad power station at Ashkelon as EPC contractor, the first privately owned power plant in Israel, an 800MW combined cycle plant with twelve GE LM6000 gas turbines feeding two steam turbines, for Dorad Energy. HSL’s founder managed the project on the EPC’s behalf and, when a dispute with a subcontractor went to international arbitration, represented the EPC through the proceedings.
What HSL did
- Established budgets, let and administered the subcontracts, and directly managed contractors, programmes and risk reviews on the EPC’s behalf.
- Managed the upstream client’s expectations throughout delivery, closing out civil and mechanical subcontractors on budget.
- Prepared the case information for the arbitration, liaised with legal counsel throughout and held every deadline imposed by the arbitral tribunal.
- Acted as witness of fact, establishing quantum for costs to complete and liquidated damages, the primary claims in the case.
Outcome: The quantum evidence at the centre of the case prepared, substantiated and delivered to the tribunal’s timetable.
Foundations · UK
Earlier roles: quantity surveying and cost engineering
Early Career • 2009 – 2014 • UK
The Roles
Before the projects above, HSL’s founder built a career in UK quantity surveying and cost engineering:
- Turner & Townsend and Balfour Beatty – quantity surveying, 2009 to 2010.
- TAG Energy Solutions, Hartlepool – quantity surveying, 2011 to 2012.
- Reef Subsea – cost engineering, 2012 to 2014, on £35m of offshore power umbilical installation projects for clients including Centrica, RWE and Technip, covering vessel mobilisation, subcontract valuation and negotiation, cost reporting and cash flow forecasting.
Credentials
Chartered, qualified and current
MRICS
Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
MCIArb
Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
LLM
Construction Law and Arbitration, Robert Gordon University
BSc (Hons)
Quantity Surveying, Northumbria University
NEBOSH
National General Certificate
Your Project’s Success Starts Here
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