Utility Week

34 | APRIL 2022 | UTILITY WEEK Decarbonisation Roundtable Net zero is everyone's business Utilities should be considering sustainability as an "urgent health and safety issue". That was the sentiment from senior industry delegates convened at a recent roundtable discussion, hosted by Utility Week in association with TCS. T he journey to net zero should be eve- ryone's responsibility, not delegated to one team or one person within the business. "Carbon is in everything so it needs to be in everyone's job description, just as cost and health and safety already are," said one water company executive dur- ing the exclusive roundtable event. The discussion followed the recent publi- cation of the Utility Week/TCS report Beyond Zero Carbon: Lessons in Business Transfor- mation, which explored the potential for net zero to be a catalyst for wider business change across utilities. The intentions of the companies repre- sented at the event were laudable, with high level commitment to achieving net zero, but there was broad acknowledgement that the utilities sector is at the start of a long journey of cultural change. Utilities have pledged to meet ambitious carbon reduction targets, in line with UK government commitments, but there is yet more work to be done to ensure the neces- sary infrastructure is in place to deliver on them. As such, rapid changes at every level of an organisation will be required. Participants acknowledged that collabo- ration must be at the heart of this change – between the energy and water sectors, with regulators, with customers, and across the supply chain. So, in short, collaboration, col- laboration and a bit more collaboration. But while the industry leaders at the event agreed on the importance of working collaboratively, there is scope for utilities to do more – and swi† ly. Crossing sector lines One attendee from an energy company said there is already a willingness to talk across company lines and share insight, but admit- ted that "we just need to do more of it". The group questioned if more could be done to harness the "untapped synergies" between utilities to drive eˆ ciencies in other areas, like improving network resilience, for example. The discussion touched on encouraging examples of water and energy companies successfully partnering to better understand customers' vulnerabilities or sharing infor- mation when a power outage has occurred. "What are our interdependencies and how can we understand that better to make sure we're more resilient to extreme weather, for example. Collaboration in this space is really important," said one water executive. Unfortunately, at present, resilience and sustainability are o† en viewed as two sepa- rate conversations within organisations, and their objectives are sometimes con‰ ict- ing. For example, low carbon materials may be untested and considered a higher risk in extreme weather than less sustainable alternatives. There is a need for utilities to take a more joined-up approach to these discussions. Initiatives like the government's energy innovation fund could help to facilitate this by encouraging more formal cross-sector partnerships where both investment and risk is shared. Despite welcoming interventions like innovation funding, the group agreed that "we can do more to encourage col- laboration between retailers and power net- works, or between energy and water". Tackling innovation blockers Using collaboration to unlock innovative solutions is key to tackling the net-zero Creating a clever solution Digitalisation is fundamental to the net-zero transition, with companies starting to adopt a range of new digital tools to support their carbon objectives. One key priority is tackling scope one emis- sions – which relates to the greenhouse gas emissions that a company makes directly, for example through the use of company vehicles. But understanding the energy footprint and identifying opportunities for conservation is no easy feat – which is where new technologies and data insights can play a crucial role. TCS is no stranger to harnessing digital tools like arti• cial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) to help support its sustainabil- ity objectives, particularly around scope one emissions. The sheer scale of the business, which employs around half a million people and oper- ates in more than 42 countries, makes tackling direct emissions a particularly complex issue. It's a challenge that is further complicated by the varying regulations and approaches to sus- tainability across the di… erent regions in which the company operates. But despite this challenge, TCS has com- mitted to reducing its carbon footprint across the entire group by 70% by 2025, primarily by addressing its scope one and two emissions. The company turned its attention to analysing its real-time energy consumption patterns using an energy digital twin alongside prediction and forecasting models. TCS initially focused on analysis of energy consumption at its flagship oŠ ce in Chennai. The level of detailed insight allowed the business to monitor energy usage and wast- age at the site, and ultimately identify how emissions could be reduced without making signi• cant new investments. From this pilot project at the Chennai oŠ ce and subsequent rollout across the wider business has emerged TCS's Clever Energy plat- form, which allows multiple energy functions to be monitored and controlled. This includes heating and cooling, process energy optimi- sation, demand response, intelligent tari… management, and carbon management. The IoT-enabled platform also supports integration with systems and assets like smart meters, sensors and building management systems, allowing a more joined-up approach to the monitoring and control of emissions.

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