A new whitepaper from European energy company Vattenfall, entitled ‘Energy Security on the Path to Net Zero’, highlights the challenges facing the food and drink industry on the road to net zero and provides critical advice on remaining competitive, electrical reliability, environmental compliance and more.

As the world’s fourth largest industrial energy user, one of the most pressing challenges facing the food and drink industry is its need to reduce carbon emissions whilst ensuring energy security.

Vattenfall’s latest whitepaper explains how climate change initiatives are driving fundamental changes in energy provision, with clean electricity set to replace the industry’s reliance on natural gas, gasoline and coal. The report highlights how the industry can navigate the transition, by procuring power as a service to support current operations, expansion plans and sustainability goals at the same time.

Energy security and net zero: a complex challenge

The food and drink industry contributes 21% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions[1] and, in order to stay ahead of the UK’s legislated target of net zero by 2050, the UK Food and Drink Federation has set an ambition for the sector to reach zero emissions by 2040.

At the same time, UK businesses face increasing energy costs and will need to expand and upgrade their on-site, high voltage, private wire networks to meet their increased need for lower carbon energy, whilst ensuring energy security to avoid downtime and loss of revenue at the same time.

These intersecting challenges are complicated further by potential changes in the application process and pricing mechanism for new and upgraded grid connections and rapidly evolving technologies and legislation, which require careful navigation.

Powerful partnerships

Until now most UK food and drink businesses have managed their own on-site electrical infrastructure but, with the raft of challenges coming downstream, and the obvious need for changes requiring specialist support, Vattenfall is introducing a new model to support the sector.

Maria Lindberg, a Director at Vattenfall Network Solutions, explains:

“Very few UK businesses even know there is an alternative to owning their own private wire networks – they’re not electrical specialists and have very little interest in managing electrical infrastructure, they only do so out of necessity. And in most instances, they have large amounts of capital tied up in their electrical assets, which are often not maintained with the required level of diligence, because naturally a food or drink business has more interest in producing its’ product than in managing complex electrical infrastructure – and that’s where Vattenfall come in.

We don’t know much about producing food and drink but we know a huge amount about private wire networks. In Sweden we’ve been partnering with businesses to provide power as a service for over 20 years and by making our service available in the UK we aim to offer an alternative model, which will help food and drink manufacturers remain competitive, ensure their energy security and support their transition to net zero at the same time.”

Vattenfall’s new offer converts the provision of power infrastructure into a service model, like outsourcing IT, which has proven successful for many businesses by providing economic, performance, and environmental benefits, whilst reducing risk and financial exposure.

When a business signs up for Power-as-a-Service Vattenfall buys their existing electrical infrastructure – releasing valuable capital back to the business – and takes over all responsibilities for the network, including investment for upgrades, energy efficiency improvements, as well as the maintenance and operation of the electrical infrastructure.

“It’s a simple model.” Continues Maria “We manage all aspects of our partners electrical infrastructure, so they can concentrate on their core business – and we often find ways to help our partners save energy and make significant reductions in their energy bills. For example, by upgrading an old transformer, which a business may not have capital to replace, we can help our partners save £15,000 a year, or £500,000 over the life of the transformer, and many companies have several transformers, so the savings stack up. There’s huge scope for energy and carbon savings in the UK food and drink sector and Vattenfall is here to help.”

By partnering with Vattenfall via Power-as-a-Service, food and drink companies benefit from a close relationship with a specialist energy company to monitor, maintain and operate their private wire networks. Businesses not only benefit from access to industry knowledge and the proactive support of an expert energy partner, but Vattenfall also take full responsibility – practical and legal – for their partners high voltage electrical infrastructure, reducing risk and management overheads.

Essential reading

The new white paper, Energy Security on the Path to Net Zero, is essential reading for CEOs, CFOs, Sustainability and other Managers within the food and drink sector. The report outlines the key milestones on the road to net zero, the significance and challenges of electrification, as well as strategies to improve power quality, avoid outages, manage regulation and compliance whilst maintaining high voltage electrical infrastructure. Featuring examples from existing food and drink businesses which are benefiting from Power-as-a-Service the report also explains how companies can gain operational and production security, finance and investment, improve safety and reduce risk whilst increasing their environmental performance and sustainability and accessing the latest developments and innovations in the energy sector.

Download the White Paper on Energy Security on the Path to Net Zero.