Talking Point

ENERGY-SAVING STRATEGIES FOR THE PUBLIC SECTOR

With pressure only mounting for businesses and the wider public sector to look at new strategies to make their day-to-day operations more sustainable, Sharon Sage of EDF Energy takes a look at the measures public sector organisations can adopt in order to hit their net-zero goals.

It’s no secret that the past few months have been a challenging time for the UK, from dealing with the energy crisis to the political uncertainty that is dominating the daily headlines. One facet that both of these – and many other aspects of our day-to-day lives – have in common, is that climate change is playing an ever-increasing role.

Organisations are under growing pressure from both peers and consumers alike to put in place robust sustainability strategies to ensure their operations are having as little impact as possible on the natural world.

Despite this, towards the end of last year, Veulio1 released some research revealing that less than a third of UK businesses and organisations actually had a net-zero strategy in place. Rising bills and soaring inflation have forced the industry to prioritise keeping costs down, but organisations must now look at net zero as a priority. There is a real need for organisations to balance their environmental impact with the current financial challenges, which are certainly not mutually exclusive outcomes, with sustainable practices enabling both cost and carbon savings opportunities in the long term.

This is no less important for the public sector – a group that the public looks to as a leader in responsible, forward-thinking practices. If sustainability leads have not begun to put in place a strategy, now is the time to start.

There are a whole host of factors that need to be included in a public sector sustainability strategy, but there are three big priorities that not only make operations a lot greener, but can also save money; utilising metering data, investing in zero-carbon electricity and energy solutions.

Utilising metering data

The first and most important step in your journey is being able to access and understand your energy data. Like any project, decision makers need to know what they’re working with and where they’re starting from so they can understand where to make improvements. The more granularity in your data, the more you can do with it – such as understanding the busiest times of the day, where waste is happening and identify opportunities.

Not only that, you’ll have access to the data you need to measure the success or return on investment (ROI) of any efficiency measures you’ve put in place – helping you to justify budgets, demonstrate cost or carbon savings, and make future investment cases.

Improving energy efficiency can be as simple as monitoring consumption more closely and cutting back, or can be a little more ambitious in installing new features to improve capabilities.

Sharon Sagehas worked at EDF for 16 years. She now manages the team that look after the largest electricity contract in the UK. She is a member of the Woman’s Utility Network, and loves the way that it helps women to connect with other women, to share learnings, build confidence and develop passion for the fast-moving utilities space.

Investing in zero-carbon electricity

This is one of the biggest ways that public sector organisations can make operations greener and reduce their carbon footprint.

Whether as simple as selecting your energy contract to be backed by a renewable or zero-carbon nuclear energy source from the grid, saving 182g of CO2 per kWh (based on UK average fuel mix April 2020 to March 2021).

Or by introducing onsite renewable generation, allowing you to produce some of the energy required to run your operations. This was the case for SFRS, which worked with EDF to install solar PVs at its sites. So far, the solar PVs that have been installed are expected to save the SFRS around £90,000 per year and 150 tonnes of carbon.

Investing in energy solutions

In addition to improvements within facilities, such as insulation and lighting, there are a great number of energy solutions available that can reduce your organisation’s carbon impact.

For SFRS, EDF supported the business by aiding its transition to an EV fleet and installing charging stations across its network of sites. This allowed SFRS to make significant headway in achieving its long-term goal to transition 50% of its 755-strong ‘light fleet’ of cars and vans to EVs by 2025, increasing to all light vehicles by 2030.

By focusing on these three pillars and continually striving to embed begin looking for guidance on how to reduce their carbon footprints and play their part, no matter their size or journey to date. 

them in a wider business strategy, public sector organisations will put themselves in a strong position to hit their sustainability goals and contribute to our collective efforts to achieve net zero.

The public sector has the opportunity to lead from the front and set an example for others to follow. For suppliers, like EDF, it’s the hope that more and more businesses and organisations

www.edfenergy.com

Source: 1https://www.veolia.co.uk/insight/less-thirdbusinesses-have-net-zero-strategy