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Some supermarket operators get energy rebates by turning off their freezers at peak times
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Energy Energy is top of the agenda for two major reasons – cost and decarbonisation. With these two on a collision course, our experts share their views
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alk of parents putting their children in wetsuits for swimming lessons is highlighting the challenges being faced by some operators as volatility hits the global energy markets. Many believe this is an opportune time to decarbonise, but although investing in renewables can lead to lower levels of emissions, counterintuitively, it can also increase costs if green power is not generated on-site and needs to be bought on the market, as electricity is typically more expensive than fossil fuels. So although governments have been funding decarbonisation schemes and reducing emissions, they can put up energy bills and until
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Issue 5 2022 ©Cybertrek 2022
this situation is resolved, energy costs and the environment will remain on a collision course. The ultimate goal is to move all our energy infrastructure over to electricity, so we can then feed power into this network that has been sourced from renewables, rather than burning fossil fuels on site with gas boilers and so forth. When it comes to reducing bills, some suggest the sector should organise the purchasing of energy collectively – within the law of buying cartels. There’s sense in this idea, as other industry sectors with suitable levels of scale are able to negotiate directly with energy suppliers to reduce their energy costs.
Some supermarket chains, for example, transact with the national grid to turn their freezers off right across their network for short periods of time during peak demand, in exchange for cash rebates – with this being done in line with health and safety best practice. The Carbon Trust estimates that if all leisure centres reduced their energy consumption by 10 per cent, this would lead to savings of over £70m, a potentially strong negotiating position if operators could put aside their competitive instincts. So where does this leave operators when it comes to solutions? We ask our experts…
