Accenture and Microsoft are teaming to help speed up the U.K.’s low-carbon transition. The companies, in conjunction with their joint venture, Avanade, will work together to help utility and energy companies transform the energy system and lower the cost of decarbonizing the supply and demand of electricity in the U.K., underpinned by open data, artificial intelligence (AI) and a digital workforce.
The U.K. is the first G7 country to legislate for a net-zero target for carbon emissions by 2050. Accenture, Microsoft and Avanade will combine their unique capabilities across cloud, data and AI, coupled with their experience with internet of things, digital twins and industry transformation, to help utility and energy companies support the UK’s low-carbon ambition.
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SSE Renewables, a leading developer and operator of renewable energy across the UK and Ireland, is working with the companies to apply technology to reimagine its operations. Analytics, AI and data visualization capabilities are being deployed on Microsoft Azure for scalability and speed, empowering the company to generate actionable operational and commercial insights from diverse data sets. This helps SSE Renewables to be more cost effective and increase the reliability and life of its renewable generation assets. The company is also using AI to ensure wildlife is not adversely affected by its new windfarms.
Rachel McEwen, chief sustainability officer at SSE Renewables, said, “The scale of the net-zero challenge is so great and the significance of achieving it so important, we need all hands-on deck. The energy system — electricity in particular — must be completely decarbonized very quickly, so that trickier sectors like heat and transport can reach zero carbon emissions. The answer to all the technological, market and regulatory challenges that result cannot possibly come from a single organization or sector. Partnerships, like the one between Microsoft and Accenture, are essential in bringing together an electricity utility like SSE with business and digital technology transformation specialists.”
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Accenture, Microsoft and Avanade’s integrated approach to U.K. decarbonization focuses on the following goals:
1. Help utility and energy clients decarbonize the supply of energy by reducing the cost of renewable generation by up to 25% and increasing its role in system balancing — managing fluctuations in the production of electricity — while ensuring nuclear plays its role effectively as a continuous supplier of base-load electricity. The lifetime costs of offshore assets can be reduced, for example, by implementing remote inspection using drones and AI.
2. Support the cost-effective electrification of energy demand. This includes enabling 50% of the new electricity demand for transportation and heating to contribute to balancing a system where more than 70% of the power generated is from renewable sources. For example, this could involve incentivizing the charging of electric vehicles when the wind is blowing.
3. Efficiently match supply and demand for an electricity system that is zero-carbon by 2025 and help clients realize a 20% reduction in the cost of meeting increasing electricity demand through innovative approaches to network design, construction and operation — for instance, by creating digital twins of physical assets.
These efforts will be supported through the use of open industry data to provide more secure, consistent and accessible information that will drive efficiency, support cross-industry innovation around new markets, and improve asset performance and optimization. The companies will also help clients digitally enable their workforces by harnessing the power and collective intelligence of diverse teams. Connected workers, for instance, could access support remotely, resulting in higher task completion rates, improved productivity and enhanced safety in the field.
Toby Siddall, a managing director and lead for Accenture’s Resources business in the U.K. and Ireland, said, “The U.K.’s targets for net zero push focus onto the energy and utilities sectors through which the most significant impacts on decarbonization can be made. The time for action is now, and it will require innovative new approaches, solutions and ecosystems. Our integrated approach to decarbonization stems from a mutual belief that data and digital transformation are essential in enabling the transition to a low-carbon future, and it can lead to growth, new skills and competitiveness for the U.K. We believe it is a perfect focus for this collaboration between Accenture, Avanade and Microsoft, which can help drive the step changes needed.”
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