Sainsbury’s has been announced as one of three of the UK’s corporate giants to become pioneer organisations for the Living Grid, a new energy ecosystem that aims to create 200MW of flexible power across the UK – enough to power 100,000 kettles – by 2020.
Sainsbury’s, United Utilities and Aggregate Industries have been named as the founding partners of Living Grid, and, combined, have the potential to provide up to 39 megawatts of flexible power by the goal date, saving almost 90,000 tonnes of carbon annually in the UK.
It is the first time that a working partnership has been created by leading businesses in the UK to help modernise and relieve pressure on the country’s existing static electricity system.
According to Sainsbury’s, corporate energy users are uniquely placed to lead the way in influencing the demand side of the electricity grid because their energy needs have a significant impact on peaks and drops in electricity usage.
Brought together by sustainability non-profit organisation Forum for the Future, the Living Grid aims to help create a new energy ecosystem – one that is responsive, intelligent and adapted to make full use of renewable sources of energy.
The initiative works by connecting large corporate energy users’ equipment with smart technology powered by founding tech partner Open Energi. Its ‘intelligent demand response technology’ will allow equipment to continuously adjust electricity usage to adapt to peaks and dips in demand and supply across the grid, without affecting performance.
Paul Crewe, head of sustainability, engineering, energy and environment at Sainsbury’s, commented, "Sainsbury’s is proud to join our other partners in being a pioneer of the Living Grid and to address one of the UK’s most important sustainability issues.
"By joining forces with others to change how we use electricity, we’re saving extra carbon emissions for the UK and helping to make our electricity network more efficient, for the benefit of everyone in the UK."
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Jenny Whelan. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
