Shell EnergyWith the energy market remaining volatile, energy is increasingly a board-level discussion. How to use less, how to manage costs and how to manage risk are important priorities for building resilience and efficiency into energy strategies. Jodie Eaton, CEO of Shell Energy UK, considers the vital role that data plays.
We are seeing businesses focused on addressing both immediate needs and scoping out longer-term solutions. Underpinning this activity is energy data. It is a fundamental part of understanding and benchmarking performance and measuring progress on efficiency, cost reductions, decarbonisation, risk management and legal compliance.
What can you measure?
Having the right data to hand can be complex. In fact, one of the most significant challenges faced in reducing carbon emissions is a lack of sufficient data to baseline and monitor carbon emissions.
When it comes to maximising the value of available data, identifying what needs to be measured, setting clear goals and agreeing benchmarks can support businesses in a number of ways.
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Working closely with your energy supplier should enable you to understand how data can improve forecasting and demand to optimise pricing and contracts. Customer portals can provide granular detail on bills that may help to shape decision making.
Operational efficiencies and energy efficiencies can be realised through working with equipment suppliers to install smart technologies that minimise waste and downtime. Facilities, transport and people all have a role to play in helping business to achieve efficiency and decarbonisation goals.
Understanding these touch points in detail and setting specific, achievable, measurable and time-based targets are key to driving real progress as businesses navigate the energy transition.
When it comes to maximising the value of available data, identifying what needs to be measured, setting clear goals and agreeing benchmarks can support businesses in a number of ways. It’s essential, however, that what you are measuring is something that can be improved. Knowing that bills vary is not enough, you need to drill down into the reasons, whether this is by site, by job function or by operation.
The potential for artificial Intelligence and smart technology to deliver real-time data is giving businesses the tools to identify and implement changes in the short term.
The fact that businesses are concerned about a lack of data and see it as priority is positive news. Firstly, good data provides transparency around energy use across all aspects of the business, helping to identify and address waste. It also helps with internal, external and compliance reporting. As larger businesses come under increasing scrutiny (not just by regulators and the Government, but also by their own customers and shareholders), the ability to have clear baseline measures, progress reports and an active and agile strategy all rely on good quality data.
The potential for artificial Intelligence and smart technology to deliver real-time data is giving businesses the tools to identify and implement changes in the short term. Also, there is a role for data in helping to plan scenarios and facilitate changes that will build agile and resilient operations capable of adapting to the fast-changing generation landscape and take advantage of optimal pricing. Energy costs and carbon emissions need to be built into every business decision.
Driving energy efficiency
The cheapest unit of energy is the one that you don’t use. Companies are therefore focusing on improving energy efficiency, decreasing energy costs and supporting longer-term sustainability ambitions.
From savvy procurement to improving the longer-term viability of intensive energy driven operations, there are a number of key drivers that make continuous improvement in energy efficiency attractive. However, understanding where those efficiencies can be delivered is a little more complicated – half of all businesses say they lack the skills and knowledge internally to decarbonise.
It is no longer enough to understand just your total energy usage. You need to understand where, when and how your energy is used, this can lead to identifying energy wastage and potential energy conservation measures (ECMs) to improve efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.
This is where partnering with your supplier helps to bridge the gap. For example, at Shell Energy, our energy solutions team is already helping businesses to improve efficiencies and reduce consumption through fully integrated projects that cover all aspects of asset design, construction, operation and maintenance. Solutions are designed to fit each business and include energy efficiency and management systems, on-site gas and renewable generation including solar, battery storage, microgrids and low carbon heat.
With the right team and the right data in place, businesses can face the future with confidence.
