New infrastructure, new business models, new partnerships, new energy markets, unknown costs – this complex terrain is uncharted. So, given the industry’s net zero aspirations and goals to decarbonise, how can business decision-makers make the most of today’s unique opportunities, while mitigating the accompanying risks?

Together with Avanade and Accenture, we’ve created a five-pillar approach to decarbonise the energy sector. It incorporates targets for reducing system costs and goals for boosting and balancing the national energy supply. It also advocates that stakeholders adopt open data principles, new skill sets and a shift in organisational culture. This will support innovation and new business models.  

1.      Decarbonise energy supply

A 25 percent reduction in the levelised* cost per megawatt-hour of grid-scale renewable revenue streams, maximise renewables and optimise nuclear energy value.

*Lifetime costs divided by energy produced.

Core to the government’s aims to reach net zero by 2050 is the goal to decarbonise the energy sector. The government expects emissions need to be reduced by at least two-thirds by 2035 and by at least 90 percent by 2050.

The sector has already significantly cut the levelised cost of wind. However, we believe more can be done with the help of data analytics. For example, Danish renewable energy supplier Ørsted constantly streams data from thousands of turbines. Using Microsoft-powered analytics and AI, it can maximise capacity and drive down operational costs by predicting and pre-empting usage. As a result, they’ve been able to reduce coal consumption by 82 percent in the last decade. They’re planning to fully phase it out by 2025.

2.      Balance the system

Operate a zero carbon electricity system by 2025 and cut the cost of connecting generation, storage and load by 20 percent.

By balancing hydrogen storage through the production of green hydrogen when there is excess wind power and flexible thermal generation with carbon capture and storage, organisations can build more cost-effective systems.

Along with Accenture, we’ve proposed an industry target to cut the cost of connecting energy generation, storage and load by 20 percent in three to five years.

To achieve this, the energy sector needs to take new approaches to system planning and operations. They can achieve this by using smart technology, such as digital twins. With smart grid solutions to increase visibility and control, the network could also work at higher levels of utilisation. As a result, they can more effectively balance power flows as demand rises.

For example, bp uses Azure digital twins to help their sustainability goals and make the transition to net zero carbon by 2050 or sooner. By looking at past and real time data, they can predict future data and improve the efficiency of their facilities.

3.      Electrify demand

Enable 50 percent of new electrification load (transportation and heating) to contribute to system balancing.

If an integrated digital approach is adopted across the energy system, it will help optimise generation and supply. It will also create a grid in which system balancing can be fine-tuned. In the future, this will enable at least half of new electrification load growth to flexibly contribute to system balancing and/or the overcoming of network constraints.

Additionally, hydrogen has a key role to play. Both to store energy and to help balance the system and decarbonise high-temperature industrial processes where electrification is not viable.

Centrica Storage is working with Net Zero Technology Centre and mixed reality specialist VISR Dynamics with support from Microsoft to grow new ways of working. They use HoloLens 2 to support frontline workers and streamline processes on the way to net zero.

4.      Trusted data

Make industry data trusted, open, secure, consistent, accessible and usable to drive efficiency and innovation.

When an organisation creates or adopts an open data standard, it can ensure consistency and predictability for data users. The data also becomes easier to compare and link up, which encourages interoperability between systems and ways of working. This is a powerful asset in business partnerships. In addition, as data becomes easier to access, open innovation often follows. New ways of working help accelerate development processes, enabling smarter solutions and reducing costs

For example, stakeholders can better assess the feasibility, location and operation of projects, as well as practical questions, such as where to connect to the system.

We already have direct examples of sharing trusted information, with Centrica Storage building cross-industry partners and even tech partners in Microsoft. Our partnership with Accenture, Avanade is also helping UK’s transition to net-zero carbon emissions by empowering energy companies with the tech to reach their goals.

5.      Enable the digital workforce

“A technology-powered workforce which is diverse, inclusive and effective.

Net zero will be enabled by new business models centred on digital ecosystems and the cloud. To realise this vision, organisations will need new skills in communications, data infrastructure, analytics and data science. Radical innovation and systemic transformation are best supported by highly agile, dynamic teams that specialise in digital and sustainability solutions.

Leaders need to build a growth mindset culture and focus on re- and upskilling their workforce to be digital-ready. Our Digital Skills Hub has lots of resources to help organisations build the skills they need now and in the future.

Decarbonise and deliver a net zero future

We believe that if the energy sector can implement these pillars in the next three-to-five years, it will be in a strong position to drive the government’s 2050 net zero target and help create a sustainable future for all.

Find out more

About the author

Kevin is responsible for developing the UK strategy in energy and utilities, supporting the enterprise commercial team to help clients achieve more. Working as part of the leadership team in Manufacturing and Resources for Microsoft UK, he supports the development of new digitally enabled markets, helping Microsoft continue its transformation from a technology vendor to a trusted partner.

Kevin is an Honorary Research Fellow with Warwick Manufacturing Group, supporting leading academic work to help solve infrastructures challenges in cyber security. He also works across government, academia and industry within the Construction Leadership Council, helping to accelerate digital transformation within the built environment.

The post 5 steps to decarbonise the energy sector and reach net zero appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

Therefore, the water sector requires new thinking and greater collaboration than ever before. Data, and digital technology has the power to unlock this opportunity. It can also unlock new approaches and processes that can support consumers, create a new universal system, and help us reach our collective net-zero goals. At a recent roundtable with Utility Week, we discussed how the water sector can transform sustainably. We talked about how sharing data can transform the water sector. As a result, we created a graphic of our main outcomes from the roundtable discussion.

Open data platforms and data sharing in the water sector

A centralised, accessible universal system can help water organisations better manage demand and unlock new insights. However, to do this we need to get the basics right. Water organisations need to ensure they are collecting the right data and that data needs to be of good quality. You need to reduce silos internally before looking outwards. By taking advantage of apps such as Microsoft Dynamics 365, you can start taking steps to reduce business silos.

We also need unified data standards and governance. This is easier said than done, as there’s no national body leading this and no means of enforcing standards. Also, organisations could risk spending too much time and effort deciding on what standards to use instead of focussing on immediate priorities. A practical approach could be to choose a non-competitive aspect you can collaborate on. This will establish de facto standards that can be adopted further as collaboration progresses. For example, Azure Data Share helps organisations securely share data in a common standard, while taking advantage of AI and machine learning to drive new insights. This data can be used to create a digital twin of the UK’s water network to help plan for the future, run scenarios, and gain even more insight.

Fostering and accelerating water sector partnerships and ecosystems

Sharing data helps drive new partnerships and relationships. It will also help us collectively manage water supply demands, sustainability goals, and support consumers. As previously mentioned, there’s no national body. This means the onus is on organisations to communicate and collaborate with each other and regulators. For example, we’re working with Accenture on a five-point plan for utilities that aims to speed up the UK’s mission to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

A good way to start, is to focus locally. Connect with other organisations who are geographically close and then start building out towards a national approach. By sharing environmental data, water supply information, and other types of data, you can build more resilient systems, react with agility to demand periods, and even identify and support vulnerable customers.

Digital technology in ecosystems and the water supply chain will help deliver insights and data. Using IoT across water networks can help detect leaks, plan predictive maintenance or adapt to demand. For example, Anglian Water introduced smart meters to consumers. This gives consumers the ability to monitor their own water-saving journey. At the same time, it also gives Anglian Water the insights to better plan water supply and respond to demands. As a result, they’ve delivered an eleven percent reduction in demands across households.

Building digital skills in the water sector

The PR19 stresses the importance of ‘resilience in the round’. This focus is not just on infrastructure resilience but operational, financial and corporate resilience. This means as water organisations look to use digital technology such as AI, IoT, and machine learning to optimise and support operations, they need to ensure their employees can use these technologies effectively.

This can also help them attract new talent and retain current talent. According to Energy and Utility Skills, English/Welsh water organisations will have needed to replace (by volume) their entire workforce by 2024. Despite that, the water industry had the lowest number of utility apprenticeship starts and completions in 2013/14.

By ensuring you have a culture that focusses on learning, you can open up innovation and new value chains, become more resilient, and empower the next generation of employees.

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Accelerating sustainability in the water sector

The water sector relies on a healthy environment. Therefore, it’s important for water organisations to have robust plans on how they are supporting and improving the ecosystem. PR19 commits water companies to reduce water leakage by 16 percent and empower customers to use 13 percent less water by 2025. At the same time, Microsoft has committed to reach net-zero.

Data and digital tech will help us build sustainability. By sharing data across the industry, introducing smart meters and even connecting with other industries such as energy, we can better manage demand, fix leaks, and support the maintenance of water treatment centres.

Building sustainable water systems

The time is now for water organisations to start working together, with regulators and other industries to build cross-collaboration. By creating an open data system, organisations will be in the right spot to help support the UK’s transition to net-zero. At the same time, they will build resilience, agility and innovation. Also important to this is ensuring your employees have the digital skills and tools to support this move.

Find out more

The role of data sharing in water transformation

Discover how to harness the power of data

Accenture and Microsoft collaborate to help accelerate UK’s transition to net-zero carbon emissions

Learn how to drive innovation with data and analytics

Build digital skills with these resources

About the author

Rik leads Microsoft’s industry strategy across manufacturing, energy and resources in the UK. Responsibilities include working with the government and regulators, industry bodies, industry partners, and largest customers to ensure Microsoft enables sectoral needs. Rik is a board member in techUK’s Smart Energy & Utilities working group, techUK’s Digital Twin steering board, UK Research & Innovation Manufacturing Made Smarter, and a member of the BIM4Water Digital Skills steering group. His focus areas are the energy transition, cyber security and digital technologies for operational environments. He is also an independent technology strategy advisor to a super major.

Read more blogs from Rik.

Carrie works with Energy and Utilities customers and partners in the UK. She aligns industry needs to digital capabilities to drive innovation with business leaders. Passionate about learning, she has spent the last four years at Microsoft empowering organisations to upskill employees to adapt to new ways of working with digital technology. In order to inspire the next generation, Carrie volunteers as a STEM Ambassador and has guided others to realise and exceed their potential through mentoring schemes.

The post How to innovate and transform the water sector appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

The English regulator has stated that “the solutions of the past will not be enough to continue to deliver the services of the future.” Amid this, there is also uncertainty about levels of demand, changing weather patterns, population growth, lifestyle and demographic shifts. For the current regulatory period, the Water Industry Commission for Scotland has already adopted the principles of Ethical Business Regulation.

As we work to build back better and reduce our impact on the world, the water sector must not wait to act. It must find better ways of doing things and must start looking for solutions now. Here we review the broader landscape of opportunity for insight-led sustainability in the water sector and five areas of consideration.

Water companies need to build technology partnerships

Last month, we discussed how the water industry could learn from oil and gas as it reinvents itself. Emerging technology such as analytics, AI, IoT, machine learning and smart metering have enormous potential to reduce utilities’ water footprint. Additionally, these technologies can improve productivity, cost-effectiveness and deliver remote solutions to hybrid and frontline workers.  Fundamental to building sustainable approaches is the need to increase the use of digital technology, the alignment of water industry domain expertise with cross sector collaborations and the pursuit of a comprehensive internal reskilling/upskilling programme.

Partnering with transformation companies allows for collaborative innovation ecosystems to harness these emerging technologies and drive the sustainability agenda forward.

Reducing the leak lifecycle in water companies

For the current regulatory period, Ofwat has tasked water companies to cut leakage rates by 16 percent and reduce mains bursts by 12 percent. When comparing to the improvements demanded over the last decade, this is a quantum leap. Water companies cannot simply continue to pursue strategies that have struggled to deliver typically single-digit improvements in recent years. Harnessing data and analytics is key to meet these targets. Microsoft’s cloud technology provides the foundations for organisations like EY to analyse and visualise massive quantities of data collected by sensors and pumps. Combining that data with historical information enables proactive, predictive and even prescriptive maintenance scenarios.

We believe there are five key data and analytics capabilities water companies must establish to enable effective leakage management, and step-change operational performance:

1.     Leak detection – accelerated awareness

By combining existing and long-standing data from SCADA sources with IoT and other distributed assets such as bulk meters and critical pressure points, water companies can analyse and understand pressure and flow anomalies in the supply network. Add in machine learning, and organisations can quickly identify and validate leak events. They can do this at a pace that is unrecognisable in comparison with enduring net nigh-time flow methods, which commonly require days or even weeks to elapse before catalysing on-the-ground investigations.

2.     Leak location – increased accuracy

Knowing you have a leak is only part of the problem. To fix it you must first find it. Here, the opportunity is to extend the data landscape to incorporate operational maintenance, network asset and other open and acquired datasets such as weather, soil type, council works registers, CCTV networks, utility groundworks datasets and even satellite image data. Additionally, there is substantial value and insight in establishing a segmented view of network ‘leak propensity’. In our experience, this vastly accelerates the ability of on-the-ground leakage teams to pin-point leaks up to 70 percent faster and significantly reduce the number of interventions resulting in dry holes.

3.     Intervention optimisation – enabling a digital workforce

With faster leak detection and more accurate leak location, you can rapidly make risk and priority-based decisions for human or automated job ticketing and allocation. Coupled with field-force digital enablement that combines engineers with location and asset information, the latest information is placed directly in the hands of on-the-ground teams for faster, smarter and better-informed decisions and outcomes.

4.     Network pressure – limiting collateral damage

With a focus on reducing service interruption and improving customer service, the rapid post-repair re-pressurisation of the network can often lead to destabilisation of other vulnerable assets in the area. This can create a domino-effect of leak repairs causing further outbreaks. Automated pressure balancing is increasingly common. However, to reduce destabilisation, the speed and level of recommissioning a post-repair segment of the network plays a significant role. Taking an insight-led approach over an extended period can provide support in post-repair decision making; further reducing unwanted additional leak events.

5.      Network renewal – better targeting capital investment

Traditional water and wastewater utility systems are not built for the dramatically changing stresses of climate change and rapid urbanisation. Typically, less than half of one percent of the underground asset network is replaced annually. Putting that into context, it’ll be around 200 years before the current network is refreshed in full. Yet the average pipe lifespan is considered to be around 30 years. The risk that this aging infrastructure brings – both in terms of potential failure and poor environmental compliance – is a key concern for water utilities and highlights the opportunity to embrace digital modernisation.

Therefore, an effective asset replacement strategy is informed by clearly understanding network condition and weak points. The insights common to leak detection and location can be applied with equal success to drive condition-based network replacement priorities and associated value for operational KPIs.

EY has worked with several UK water companies and have extended practical experience creating and implementing analytics-driven solutions including leak detection. In our experience, organisations pursuing an analytics-led augmentation of leak management processes can achieve:

• 25-50 percent reduction in leak awareness lead times
• Up to 70 percent precision in identifying DMA leak locations
• Up to 75 percent reduction in leak location duration
• Over 10 percent reduction in severity of I2S leakage impacts

Adapting operations and demand for efficiency and energy cost reductions

Approximately half of typical water companies’ energy spend relates to pumping clean and wastewater. Yet, many pumping head operations continue to run at fixed and highly conservative schedules aligned to peak demand.

EY found that using demand insights to optimise pumping head operation can reduce the volume and cost of energy. At the same time, it negates the impact of Triad and other punitive tariffs. Software running on Microsoft Azure’s highly scalable Platform as a Service (PaaS) optimises pumping head daily schedules. This allows them to meet customer demand while aligned to operational, safety, regulatory and water quality constraints. As a result, there were significant energy cost reductions for optimised pumping stations enabled by the integration of demand insights across seasonality, weather and external events, using advanced analytics and AI.

In our experience, organisations pursuing an analytics-led approach to clean water pumping optimisation can achieve on average:

• 1-5 percent reduction in energy consumption
• 20 percent average reduction in energy costs

These digital solutions for improved sustainability outcomes are a result of innovation ecosystems and collaborative approaches. For instance, a team from Microsoft, alongside data experts, conducted a water leakage hackathon as part of Northumbrian Water’s Innovation Festival. Analysts worked on data relating to leaks, soil types, water pressure, pipe materials and other elements that impact the likelihood and location of leaks.

Business sustainability in water companies

Sustainability is not just a subject for now. It also means investing for the future and beyond. Today, water companies have spent the bulk of sustainability investment on ODI targets and carbon reduction. They’ve focussed on the operational efficiency of assets and the workforce, leakage, and reducing environmental impact. However, we are already seeing many organisations seriously look to the future. These organisations are developing new business models that drive new revenue streams and business diversification. This is in addition to broader factors around process lifecycle emissions, operational and supply chain circularity, and community engagement.

Historically sustainability innovation initiatives have been more science projects or POCs. This is changing with a transition targeting new profitable sustainable business models and business diversification.

For example:

• Sewage sludge extraction can provide a large part of the nitrogen and phosphorous for crop production.
• Recovering ammonia from wastewater and turning it into green hydrogen fuel.
• Turning heat recovery from purification process into energy.
• Making fertiliser products from production carbon exhaust.
• Creating oxygen for commercial sale from sustainable hydrogen electrolysis.
• Extracting cellulose from the waste stream.

In addition, newer technologies such as AI and digital twins provide more efficient and sustainable ways for the industry to plan, model, simulate, and operate.

Building collaborative innovation ecosystems in water companies

As Ofwat increased sustainability standards in PR19, so did the estimation that the UK will need an extra 3.4 billion litres of water daily between 2035 and 2050.

Human-managed water systems degrade as they’re used. Circularity has the potential to achieve resource efficiency, reduce waste production and to improve environmental, economic and social sustainability. This can be achieved in the transition of wastewater treatment plants to resource recovery facilities, to recover materials and energy. Additionally, circularity can enhance resources via the use of alternative water sources such as rainwater or stormwater harvesting.

This restructuring is an opportunity for UK water companies to be a beacon for sustainability. They can drive progress in the water sector worldwide as we collectively push towards UN Sustainable Development Goals. However, for there to truly be a sustainability revolution in the water sector, we need to collaborate. This is not just between utilities, but regulators, transformation companies and other stakeholders as well. By working together, water companies can improve environmental performance, keep their assets safer, reduce costs, and deliver greater efficiencies.

Therefore, collaboration with transformation companies can play a key role. The right insights at the right time can put utilities on a path to reduce water usage and reach their customer service and sustainability goals. At the same time, technology has become more accessible, with the cost of tools like AI, IoT and smart devices decreasing. There has never been a better time to take a great leap forward to achieve a true digital transformation. Together, we can create a resilient, digital water utility for the future that embraces sustainability.

Find out more

Intelligent Energy Management Systems

Microsoft’s commitment to sustainability

Resources to empower your development teams

Sustainable software engineering

About the authors

Rik joined Microsoft at the start of 2020, with responsibility for Microsoft’s strategy across manufacturing, energy and resources in the UK. He is Microsoft’s lead when working with regulators, industry bodies, industry partners, and our largest customers to ensure Microsoft enables the needs of industry. Since joining, Rik has become a board member in techUK’s Smart Energy & Utilities working group, techUK’s Digital Twin steering board, UK Research & Innovation Manufacturing Made Smarter board, and the BIM4Water Digital Skills steering group. Prior to Microsoft, Rik worked at Cisco for 13 years, with global lead roles in energy and resource industries, IoT and security, and digital transformation.

He has an MBA in international leadership and is currently studying for a Masters in Green Economy.

Mark is a director of Ernst & Young’s insight-led transformation services in the UK. He also leads business development for the UK data and analytics practice and is an analytics subject-matter expert for the UK power and utilities sector. He works across all sectors with a focus on UK power and utility clients providing services in support of insight-led operational optimisation.

The post How water companies can reach their sustainability goals through digital modernisation appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

SSE Renewables and Microsoft have established a strategic partnership focused on sustainability, to identify, develop and deploy innovation activities aligned to the zero-carbon ambitions. This partnership will look to address new ways of working, with the aspiration of adoption across the SSE group. Together we will collaborate across key themes to promote the awareness of business challenges and opportunities around sustainability, technology and digital innovation. We have a view to share knowledge and develop potential solutions to drive operational efficiency through accelerated renewable energy, decarbonisation and digital solutions.

SSE has a goal of trebling their green energy output by 2030. And while tech helps drive us to this goal, a growth mindset culture and open partnerships will help us achieve this. Let’s take a look at the key takeaways we’ve learnt over our 18-month partnership.

Focus on the end goal of sustainability

We started our partnership in envisioning workshops. This gave us the space to explore the possibilities and opportunities we had and how we could use technology to help. What became immediately clear was that we need to focus on our end goal.

Your values are the key that unlocks your innovation. It’s not a case of shoehorning in a piece of tech just for the sake of it. Ask yourself “How can we do what we need to do?” This will help you start on the right path. And remember to continually ask yourself that question throughout your journey to ensure that goal stays at the top of your mind.

We made sure our workshops had people from different areas of SSE, external organisations and our partners like Microsoft. This meant we got a diverse range of ideas and opinions. What was most important was we all came with open minds, which then grew into a space of growth mindset.

Put the tech in front of your people

We wanted to put digital technology in front of our people in the business and see if we could apply that to our problems. Once people saw what it could do, they became passionate to share the knowledge with the rest of the business.

While it’s important to know that technology isn’t the only part of the journey. It’s the thing that helps unlock our innovation, and allows us to work in a hybrid and agile way. As part of our next step, we brought people in to try out our ideas. We listened to their feedback. With a holistic view of your journey – and always remembering your end goal – you can ensure you’re creating the most resilient path.

Coming with this is the need to re- or up-skill your employees. As we introduce new technology or new ways of working, we need to ensure they are confident to use it in their best way. This can be done though virtual training sessions, or even on-demand learning paths. At Microsoft we have some great resources that we were able to share, such as Microsoft Learn.

Don’t be afraid of innovation to drive sustainability

In the Digital Ventures team, we created an innovation space where we could work quite aggressively to bring SSE’s goals to life. This involves taking risks – which can sound quite frightening, but not when it’s done in a space where it’s safe. We invited people to challenge how we did things. This growth mindset has spread throughout the business, and we’ve found that people are sharing ideas and being more open.

Because we had tools like Microsoft Teams, staying collaborative when we went to 100 percent remote working was easy. It meant that we even had the opportunity to invite more people because there was no commuting or travel to different offices. We did work hard to keep the same energy up that you might experience with in-person ideation sessions.

Get leadership buy-in

Taking action is an important part of getting buy-in from all levels of staff, especially your C-level. By staying transparent with them, they will support your aims. As part of our partnership we had CEO to CEO sessions to help stay open. This helps the leadership team feed down into the team, with appropriate support. At the same time, we encouraged our teams to work with autonomy, giving them the tools, they need to work in their best ways and not be afraid to share ideas and proof of concepts. By working with an agile growth mentality we can avoid process delays to innovation, and subsequent adoption.

Openness between partners drives sustainability

During our 18-month partnership we’ve moved beyond just transaction to a real knowledge sharing, collaborative experience. This growth mindset ecosystem is spreading throughout the teams. As a result, we are starting to see how it is pushing out into the rest of the organisation. This type of partnership helps us unlock our potential, reach our goals and create empowered, excited employees. As we continue, we look forward to working together to create a more resilient community for all.

Find out more

Winds of change: how data and analytics are driving renewable power – This video was originally published on The Times

Find out about Microsoft’s collaborations to help accelerate the UK’s sustainability strategy

Create an agile and innovative workplace

About the authors

Ollie joined SSE’s graduate scheme in 2010, having retrained as a Mechanical Engineer. The change was driven by a desire to do something meaningful for society and also leave our planet better than we found it. Ollie is now supporting the Digital (ad)Ventures in SSER, with a mission to help everyone do more with Digital in our business – and keep having fun doing it.

Danielle is experienced in enabling Energy organisations to use digital technologies to achieve industry focussed outcomes. It is such a pivotal time for the industry to transform, with renewable energy, sustainability and decarbonisation being at the heart of many of her customer conversations. She’s excited and fortunate that her role at Microsoft allows her to bring together our digital solutions and net-zero aspirations to help create the future of sustainable energy.

The post How to build innovation and sustainability with partnerships and growth mindset appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

For Microsoft, sustainability has been at the heart of our business for quite some time. We plan to be carbon negative, have zero waste and replenish more water than we consume by 2030. In addition, we are also aiming to use data and AI to help us address biodiversity issues. Mando is a Microsoft partner who uses Azure to help utilities, telecoms, manufacturing and financial services organisations deliver better customer experiences.

In a recent webinar, we discussed the new consumer expectations on utility suppliers around sustainability. Consumers want their suppliers to help them make a difference and create a greener society. It’s no longer about organisations steadily progressing towards meeting sustainability goals. It’s quickly becoming about streamlining and revolutionising your existing processes to ensure you’re positively contributing towards a greener society.

But how can your organisation do this? And how can you support customers on their sustainability journeys? Here we are sharing the five most important points organisations need to consider when building a sustainability strategy.

1.      Streamline and reduce operations

Perhaps the first thing you need to do is to understand your impact on the environment. This is where your data comes into power. You can use data to gain deep insights of how much your organisation relies on carbon, water, and more. We’d recommend starting with the Microsoft Sustainability Calculator, which can help you gain insights and understand your organisation’s carbon emissions. It can help you start the process of improving them and tracking them along your journey. AI for Earth helps organisations solve environmental challenges by harnessing AI and the cloud. You can leverage a range of open source tools that will help accelerate operations, such as analysing land cover or machine learning APIs to spot wildlife.

You can also take advantage of tools like Dynamics 365 to combine your data and reduce organisational silos. Power Platform is a no/low code solution to help streamline operations and reduce paper waste. Machine learning and AI is a great way of reducing paper-based workflows, while improving insights and reducing errors.

Take SSE, for example. They’re deploying analytics, AI and data visualisation capabilities on Microsoft Azure. This means they can scale and gain insights faster, empowering them to generate actionable operational and commercial insights from diverse data sets. They are also using AI to ensure wildlife aren’t negatively affected by new windfarms.

2.      Improve your supply chain

For utilities, sustainability is about more than just providing renewable energy for your customers. It’s about the whole supply chain. Customers expect services that are built with sustainability in mind. The use of circular supply chains are becoming more common, so much so that a 2020 Gartner survey found that 70 percent of supply chain leaders are planning to invest in their circular economy in the next 18 months.

A circular supply chain model encourages organisations to achieve cost efficiencies, facilitate product innovation, create less waste and ultimately, minimise their environmental impact. This is key for your sustainability strategy.

Underpinning this supply chain will be technology. The cloud, IoT, machine learning and automation all have their place to drive transparency while delivering insights. Take Recycleye, for instance. They have goals to improve recycling in the waste management industry. They do this by using machine vision, AI and robotics to detect everything on a waste management facility’s conveyor belt and send it to the right place. For utilities, you can leverage this technology for predictive maintenance and real-time insights to manage customer demand.

3.      Educate and improve customer experiences

According to a 2020 BCG report, 76 percent of respondents think that environmental issues are just as – or more – concerning than health issues. When you announce or share your sustainability goals, you need to make sure you stick to them and stay accountable. For example, after we shared our ambitions in January 2020, we released a progress report a year later to share our journey and learnings with our customers and partners.

One unique position that utility organisations have is the ability to educate their customers on their own sustainability. Anglian Water provides over six million customers with a vital service. They use Azure to help track and manage water supply services to customers. They also have been trialing a smart metering scheme so customers can track their own water usage. As a result, they’ve seen an 11 percent reduction in demands on households. Customers were able to identify leaks and modify their behaviours. At the same time, Anglian Water have more insights to understand their customer’s needs.

4.      Include cross-industry collaboration in you sustainability strategy

For the world to become more sustainable, everyone needs to work together. This includes collaboration at every touchpoint to improve access to new technologies and renewable energy. This will help us be successful in our collective goals. Part of this means sharing data and looking at co-innovation and investment. It’s also about working with regulators to achieve and surpass goals.

This is why Microsoft is working with Accenture and Avanade. We bring together our collective knowledge in cloud, data, AI, IoT and digital twins to help utility and energy companies support the UK’s low-carbon ambition. SSE Renewables is working with the companies to leverage technology to be more cost effective and increase the reliability and life of its assets.

This is a key opportunity for organisations to consider in their sustainability strategy. Rather than just meeting expectations and new regulations you can become ‘best in class’ and shine. A way to do this is to collaborate with other industry experts and create smart cities. By connecting a city through intelligent cloud technologies, you can build resilience, manage critical infrastructure, and make better and more sustainable decisions.

5.      Build a sustainable culture as part of your sustainability strategy

How can we best embed sustainability goals and values into the organisation? By making it part of the culture. To do this, you need to take a top-down approach. We’ve seen organisations bring Chief Sustainability Officers on to take part in key board meetings. Others have strong programmes that focus on sustainability champions to educate internally.

Talking about education, a key factor in leveraging technology that improves your sustainability is to ensure your employees have the skills and ability to do their best work. A strong digital skills programme will democratise skills across the whole organisation. Tools that make working remotely secure and productive can help reduce on-premises energy strain. For example, Centrica use Windows Virtual Desktop to be more agile, and only use the computing power they need, when they need it.

Build your sustainability strategy with authenticity and integrity

Culturally the mindset to be sustainable is there. And the technology to do it is there. From what we’ve seen in the last year businesses can quickly pivot and learn how to use new technology to help them stay connected and productive. When you look internally at your sustainability strategy and outwardly commit to these goals, you can show your customers your commitment authentically. And by using digital technology, you can meet and exceed these, while innovating, improving processes and meeting evolving customer expectations.

Find out more

Get the Sustainability Executive Playbook

Watch the webinar to learn how to be net zero by 2030

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About the authors

Danielle is experienced in enabling Energy organisations to use digital technologies to achieve industry focussed outcomes. It is such a pivotal time for the industry to transform, with renewable energy, sustainability and decarbonisation being at the heart of many of her customer conversations. She’s excited and fortunate that her role at Microsoft allows her to bring together our digital solutions and net-zero aspirations to help create the future of sustainable energy.

Luke helps companies to understand and realise the value that digital services can bring in improving their customers’ experience, reducing costs within their business, and simplifying the lives of their customers and employees.

Mando is a digital agency and Microsoft Gold Partner based in Liverpool. They work with ambitious leaders who need big ideas to create change in a digital world, whilst simultaneously taking care of people and the planet. With a specific focus on getting customers doing more online, they use Microsoft’s .NET, Azure and Cognitive Services platforms to deliver seamless customer experiences. This helps their clients to increase their agility and digital maturity and build value in their business using digital technology.

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