Centrica Publishes New Report Showing How New Energy Technology Could Meet More than Half of 2030 Carbon Reduction Targets

LONDON, October 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Centrica plc has today released a new report which shows that new energy technology could meet more than half of the 20% carbon reduction target by 2030 for the healthcare, industry and hospitality sectors, as set out by the Clean Growth Strategy.

Published following the IPCC's report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C, the 'Powering Sustainability' report highlights the opportunity for distributed energy technologies such as battery storage, onsite generation and energy efficiency to deliver an 11% saving across the sectors, which together represent over a quarter (27%) of emissions.

The report also recommends that a full assessment be completed across all sectors of business and the public sector to identify the opportunities posed by distributed energy technology for the UK.

Jorge Pikunic, Managing Director of Centrica Business Solutions, said: "The UK has made a big contribution to the fight against global warming. Much of this has been due to the shift away from coal-fired generation and the deployment of solar and wind energy. But things get more difficult from here, as we strive to hit our goal of an 80% reduction in UK carbon emissions by 2050.

"The good news is that business and the public sector can play a central role over the next decade in our path to decarbonisation. This report shows how by adopting distributed energy technologies, we can significantly reduce emissions and make a positive impact to the economy at the same time."

It is estimated that the deployment of distributed energy solutions in just 50% of organisations could achieve annual savings of 9 MtCO₂e, culminating in a total of 137 MtCO₂e by 2030. For each sector that would mean:

• Healthcare: An annual emissions reduction equivalent to 16% of the NHS's current carbon footprint;
• Industry: An annual emissions reduction equivalent to 11% of the industrial sector's current carbon footprint;
• Hospitality and leisure: An annual emissions reduction equivalent to 14% of the hospitality and leisure sector's current carbon footprint.

The report has been published by Centrica's international Distributed Energy and Power business, which provides energy insight, asset optimisation and energy solutions to large energy users under the Centrica Business Solutions brand.

To read the report in full click here.

Notes to editors 

• The 'Powering sustainability' report builds on economic research produced by Centrica in November 2017, which identified that these sectors could achieve almost £1bn of savings on annual energy spend, while delivering an £18.5bn boost to the country's overall economic growth.
• Find out more about Powering Britain's Economic Future:  http://www.centrica.com/economicfuture
• A full methodology on the carbon reduction savings can be found in the report.

About Centrica 

Centrica plc is an international energy and services company. Our purpose is to provide energy and services to satisfy the changing needs of our customers. We've been serving customers for over 200 years and aim to be at the centre of their daily lives - central to helping them run their world.

Our two global divisions, Centrica Consumer and Centrica Business, supply energy and energy-related services to over 26 million customer accounts in the UK, Ireland and North America, through strong brands such as British Gas, Direct Energy and Bord Gáis Energy. They do this with the support of 12,000 engineers and technicians.

We're also developing new and innovative products, offers and services for customers through our five growth businesses: Energy Supply, Services, Connected Home, Distributed Energy & Power (DE&P), and Energy Marketing & Trading. Our Connected Home business has developed the Hive product range, including the smart thermostat, which allows customers to control their energy usage from their phone, while DE&P offers integrated energy solutions for commercial and industrial customers, providing customers with end-to-end services - from insight to optimisation and solutions.

Innovation underpins everything we do, which is why we're investing £100m in Centrica Innovations, a new venture to identify, incubate and accelerate new technologies and innovations that can help provide the right offers, products and services for our customers.