Defence spend review and data reshuffle for energy sector responsible for apparent reduction
NISTA has confirmed that no projects have been removed from the latest iteration of its infrastructure pipeline despite a drop in the number of schemes listed.
Published earlier this week, the March 2026 pipeline covers 718 schemes, down from 780 last summer.
Jon Loveday, director of infrastructure, Cabinet Office and HM Treasury at NISTA, said the apparent reduction in projects is due to an ongoing spending review for the defence sector and the consolidation of data for energy generation schemes.
A spokesperson for NISTA said: “Much of defence’s spending is still being confirmed. The figures provided in this pipeline are only the 10-year committed capital and resource Infrastructure Plan expenditure at SR25, excluding Aquatrine and Utilities spend, and therefore do not represent our total spend profile.
“We will provide further updates once the Defence Investment Plan is published, and we expect this to be reflected in the next iteration of the pipeline.”
Aquatrine is a public private partnership contract managed by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), providing water and wastewater services across approximately 4,000 MOD sites.
NISTA also confirmed that “no [energy] projects have been scrapped”, stating that the March pipeline lists fewer projects than July “because we have improved how we present energy schemes.”
It added: “Previously, some wind and solar projects were included with only limited detail. We’ve now grouped these into fully costed programmes by technology (e.g. wind, solar) and by region or devolved nation, giving a clearer, higher-quality picture of investment, which reduces the overall project count.”
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