Telco giant announces major new deal that guarantees the supply of 100 per cent renewable power
BT has become one of the largest companies in the world to switch to 100 per cent renewable power, after inking a landmark deal with npower that commits the energy giant to only providing the firm with electricity from renewable sources.
The telco is one of the UK's largest uses of electricity, last year consuming 2.3 GWh of power to run its national networks, data centres, and offices - equivalent to 0.76 per cent of all the electricity used in the UK.
The company said that switching from standard power to renewables on this scale would result in carbon emission savings equivalent to one million tons.
The move was welcomed by Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey, who urged other companies to follow BT's lead and commit to sourcing renewable power. "I am delighted that BT is taking this approach to sourcing their electricity," he said in a statement. "I hope many other corporates will follow the lead of BT and others, in taking their electricity from renewable and low carbon sources."
The contract, financial details for which were not disclosed, will run until 2016, when it will be reviewed.
It commits npower to providing quarterly certificates, which show an A-G rating for the power's carbon intensity, with A representing 100 per cent renewable power.
The deal has in fact been in place since last summer, with the first certificate delivered in December showing that the July to September period was A-rated.
BT confirmed npower will also verify that each unit of power it uses is matched by a unit of renewable energy coming onto the grid by redeeming Levy Exemption Certificates (LECs) and retaining associated Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin Certificates (REGO's) equal to the amount of electricity consumed by BT.
A spokesman for the company said that it hoped that increasing corporate demand for renewable power will send a signal to energy firms and encourage them to develop more clean energy capacity.
Richard Tarboton, BT's director of energy and carbon, said the commitment highlighted the company's commitment to the environment. "BT strives to help society live within the constraints of our planet's resources through our products and services," he said. "This is an example of BT's commitment to be a responsible and sustainable business leader."
His comments were echoed by Paul Massara, chief executive of RWE npower, who said the deal provided further evidence "that renewables are important to the UK and to British business".
"We've worked in partnership with BT for many years and are delighted to have created this bespoke contract as part of the targets set out in BT's sustainability plan," he said. "We look forward to continuing to working with BT in the future to help them strive to achieve their aims."
The move comes a few months after BT announced it would work with renewable energy developer RES Group to invest in a new wind farm in Northumberland that it also hopes to use to generate its own renewable power. A spokesman for the company said that the new renewable energy contract would not impact its plans to also develop its own renewable power capacity.
The announcement builds on BT's new "Net Good" strategy, which commits it to helping customers reduce emissions by at least three times the full carbon impact of the company's direct operations by 2020. As a result it is working to reduce its own carbon footprint through wide ranging energy efficiency initiatives, co-operating with suppliers to encourage the development of more efficient technologies, and developing new services such as conferencing functionality that helps customers reduce emissions from travel.
BT has become one of the largest companies in the world to switch to 100 per cent renewable power, after inking a landmark deal with npower that commits the energy giant to only providing the firm with electricity from renewable sources.
The telco is one of the UK's largest uses of electricity, last year consuming 2.3 GWh of power to run its national networks, data centres, and offices - equivalent to 0.76 per cent of all the electricity used in the UK.
The company said that switching from standard power to renewables on this scale would result in carbon emission savings equivalent to one million tons.
The move was welcomed by Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey, who urged other companies to follow BT's lead and commit to sourcing renewable power. "I am delighted that BT is taking this approach to sourcing their electricity," he said in a statement. "I hope many other corporates will follow the lead of BT and others, in taking their electricity from renewable and low carbon sources."
The contract, financial details for which were not disclosed, will run until 2016, when it will be reviewed.
It commits npower to providing quarterly certificates, which show an A-G rating for the power's carbon intensity, with A representing 100 per cent renewable power.
The deal has in fact been in place since last summer, with the first certificate delivered in December showing that the July to September period was A-rated.
BT confirmed npower will also verify that each unit of power it uses is matched by a unit of renewable energy coming onto the grid by redeeming Levy Exemption Certificates (LECs) and retaining associated Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin Certificates (REGO's) equal to the amount of electricity consumed by BT.
A spokesman for the company said that it hoped that increasing corporate demand for renewable power will send a signal to energy firms and encourage them to develop more clean energy capacity.
Richard Tarboton, BT's director of energy and carbon, said the commitment highlighted the company's commitment to the environment. "BT strives to help society live within the constraints of our planet's resources through our products and services," he said. "This is an example of BT's commitment to be a responsible and sustainable business leader."
His comments were echoed by Paul Massara, chief executive of RWE npower, who said the deal provided further evidence "that renewables are important to the UK and to British business".
"We've worked in partnership with BT for many years and are delighted to have created this bespoke contract as part of the targets set out in BT's sustainability plan," he said. "We look forward to continuing to working with BT in the future to help them strive to achieve their aims."
The move comes a few months after BT announced it would work with renewable energy developer RES Group to invest in a new wind farm in Northumberland that it also hopes to use to generate its own renewable power. A spokesman for the company said that the new renewable energy contract would not impact its plans to also develop its own renewable power capacity.
The announcement builds on BT's new "Net Good" strategy, which commits it to helping customers reduce emissions by at least three times the full carbon impact of the company's direct operations by 2020. As a result it is working to reduce its own carbon footprint through wide ranging energy efficiency initiatives, co-operating with suppliers to encourage the development of more efficient technologies, and developing new services such as conferencing functionality that helps customers reduce emissions from travel.
No comments:
Post a Comment