APD Global won the 2026 Bentley Systems Year in Infrastructure (YII) Award in the Transmission and Distribution category, announced on 7 October 2026 at the Year in Infrastructure event in Singapore, for the entry Clean Energy Link–North: Accelerating the renewable transition through AI-enabled digital delivery. It is the first time an Australian entry has won the Transmission and Distribution category in the awards' history.
The YII Awards are the global benchmark for digital delivery in infrastructure. For more than 20 years they have honoured infrastructure professionals for innovative use of Bentley software in how infrastructure is designed, built and operated. In 2026, more than 300 projects were nominated by organisations in 53 countries; winners were selected across 12 categories spanning the infrastructure lifecycle by a panel of independent judges, with 36 finalists presenting their projects at the Singapore event on 6–7 October. APD Global's entry went in as one of three category finalists worldwide - and came out on top.
The project behind the win
Clean Energy Link - North is an AUD 600 million renewable transmission program at Eneabba, Western Australia, delivered for Western Power on the South West Interconnected System - one of WA's defining transmission augmentations for the renewable transition. APD Global's scope is the detail design of two 330 kV and three 132 kV terminals, twelve line packages, and the protection and communications that tie them together. The substation team carries the terminal design; the full portfolio sits on the projects page.
The delivery challenge Bentley's judges recognised: coordinating multidiscipline design packages for complex energy assets while maintaining speed, quality and data continuity. Using Bentley applications - ProjectWise and Bentley Infrastructure Cloud as the connected data environment, MicroStation, OpenBuildings, Promis.e, ProStructures, Raceway and Cable Management and PLS-CADD across the design disciplines, and LumenRT and Cesium for visualisation - APD Global connected design, review, visualisation and delivery workflows into one digital-twin-enabled method.
Why this win matters
Awards season produces a lot of noise; this one is signal. The field was 300-plus nominations from 53 countries, judged by independent panels of global industry experts, and the result was announced by the software company whose tools every major utility designer uses - Bentley has no stake in which consultancy wins. A first-ever Australian win in Transmission and Distribution, on a live Western Power program rather than a showcase pilot, is external validation of the way APD Global delivers: digital first, AI where it earns its place, and engineering rigour underneath all of it. The same methods are published as original research at CIGRE Paris Session 2026 - AI-driven brownfield substation design, digital twins and generative layout optimisation.
What this means for clients
The numbers in the winner citation are the point. A connected digital delivery method that cuts design time, rework and material waste - measured on a real AUD 600 million transmission program, verified through a global independent judging process - is now the standard APD Global brings to every substation, line and secondary systems package. Clients engaging APD on transmission and distribution work get the same toolchain, the same connected data environment and the same AI-enabled workflows that just won the category. For network owners and developers under pressure to connect renewables faster, that is schedule and cost risk taken off the table at the design stage.
From shortlist to trophy: the finalist story covered the field and the method. This is the result.