How to seize the opportunities of a green recovery

Fortunately, doing the right thing for the planet is also good for profits. Sustainable energy leaders also tend to run the most resilient and commercially successful businesses, as demonstrated by many of the inspirational case studies in edie’s recent Green Recovery Business Roadmap report.

But amid the current turmoil and harsh economic conditions, how can you justify diverting capital from core business recovery projects to invest in distributed energy? How do you navigate the complexity and keep the net-zero momentum going across your entire supply chain?

Zero CAPEX options

It’s time to change our relationship with energy and transform it from a fixed cost into a source of value. Distributed energy innovation can unlock value and yield positive, predictable returns on investment via the cost savings, operational efficiencies and business resiliency benefits delivered. Sustainable energy transformation can thus be delivered with zero CAPEX. By shifting to innovative financing methods, such as energy as a service model, businesses can accelerate their sustainability ambitions. Recovery planning can thus be aligned with carbon reduction to immediately improve both financial and environmental performance.

For example, by generating, storing and optimising onsite renewable energy and monetising the flexibility in your processes, you can transform energy into a valuable output. This can offset capital costs and allow you to take the finance off the balance sheet.

By moving to an operating cost model, you can share in the cost and carbon saving benefits without the risk, upfront investment or ongoing asset responsibility. You simply pay for the power/cooling/heat or other guaranteed outputs, such as carbon savings, over an agreed contract term.

If you’re not in a position to install solar onsite, or don’t have space for battery storage, you can use renewable Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to support additional new off-site renewable generation. This provides immediate, low-cost, certifiable emissions savings. Covid-19 has unleashed a rapid shift to business digitalisation, which has revealed new ways of working and efficiency benefits that will enhance future performance. The digitalisation of energy, leveraging Internet of things (IoT) technology and artificial intelligence, is a similar gamechanger. For example, our AI-enabled virtual power plants can aggregate multi-site distributed energy resources to maximise flexibility revenues. IoT energy insights bring the intelligence and visibility you need to understand and analyse your entire energy estate and understand inefficiencies and opportunities.

The transition to net-zero might feel long and arduous, but Centrica Business Solutions can provide the expert guidance you need at all stages of your sustainable energy pathway. We can provide the zero CAPEX distributed energy innovation and constructive partnership you require to ease and accelerate the journey and support your business goals.

Examining corporate spending for the green recovery

How businesses examine their own approaches to spending is one of the eight key principles listed in edie’s new Green Recovery Business Roadmap.

Much has been said about the need to deliver a green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. But what new ways of working should businesses be exploring to assist with a just and low-carbon transition? This new report outlines EIGHT key considerations.

This Roadmap report is brought to you in association with edie’s headline Green Recovery partner Centrica Business Solutions. The report maps out eight key principles for businesses to tackle
the climate and nature emergencies whilst driving economic recovery in 2020-21.

Download the report here.