Decarbonizing national utility distribution.

The strategic challenge

Solis Infrastructure held long-term concessions across legacy gas pipelines and regional power distribution networks. As EU net-zero directives tightened, it faced potential regulatory penalties and credit-rating downgrades. The business needed to accelerate decarbonization across a large, capital-intensive portfolio without breaching existing debt covenants. The board therefore had to weigh regulatory expectations against financing commitments and decide which assets could support the transition most effectively. Long operating horizons made timing especially important, while the covenant structure limited how quickly capital could be redirected. The mandate called for a clear view of priorities that connected transition goals with the financial conditions already shaping the business.

Our advisory approach

Alder & Co. embedded with the investment steering committee to review capital needs asset by asset. Forty-eight major capital expenditure programmes were stress-tested against long-term carbon-abatement curves, giving leaders a comparable way to assess proposed spend against emissions-reduction value. The team also renegotiated debt syndication with green-infrastructure bond providers and established an independent capital-allocation governance board to review major commitments. Together, the audit and governance work gave the board a clearer basis for sequencing investment. It brought technical decarbonization options and financial constraints into the same review, helping decision-makers compare commitments over time and assess how each could contribute to the transition.

The measurable outcome

The board redeployed £1.2B from low-yield maintenance capital toward grid modernization and renewable interconnections, while keeping the transition within existing debt covenants. Multi-decade tariff guarantees were secured, and two major rating agencies upgraded their assessments. These results combined a significant change in capital allocation with stronger long-term certainty for the infrastructure programme. They also gave the board several ways to assess progress: where investment was directed, how the financing framework held, and how external confidence responded. Taken together, the outcomes show how portfolio choices, tariff certainty and credit assessments supported a more durable path for the network transition.

Sustaining the transition

The new governance board gave major commitments a continuing review point, while the asset-level audit helped leaders compare future proposals against a shared set of priorities. That structure connected investment decisions to long-term carbon-abatement potential and the financing conditions already in place. It also gave the steering committee a way to revisit sequencing as requirements and opportunities changed. Rather than treating decarbonization as a single funding decision, Solis could use the capital-allocation framework to guide subsequent choices across its concessions. The result was a clearer basis for carrying the transition forward while maintaining attention to debt covenants and long-term infrastructure needs.