E.ON scales its net zero carbon solutions through new partnership in the UK

E.ON has taken a further leap towards the development of zero-carbon communities by signing a 50-year agreement to provide clean energy to the UK’s first ‘smart’ commercial campus called Gravity. It is the UK’s first commercial smart campus that’s entirely committed to making zero-carbon energy a reality. Located in South-West England, the campus will bring together economic analysts and sustainability specialists, as well as several startups – all working to shift global trends in energy consumption, usage, automation, and digitalisation.

The partnership with ‘Gravity’ reflects E.ON’s ongoing commitment towards supporting local areas and businesses in reducing their emissions with the help of innovative technologies. As part of the agreement, E.ON will provide the campus with integrated power, heating and cooling systems as a replacement for the standard utility grid connection.

According to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), more than 70 countries have committed to publishing strategies by the end this year that will outline how they’ll seek to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. This means putting in place plans to balance overall carbon output with the amount of greenhouse gases taken out of the atmosphere.

“Decarbonising the electricity sector is essential when it comes to supporting a net zero economy, says Mark Cavill, Head of City Energy Solutions UK .“ This is why here at E.ON we’re actively mobilising global partners, cleantech innovators and startups. We want to bring together different technologies and capabilities in energy, sustainability, mobility and urbanisation to help achieve this ambitious target.”

E.ON’s collaboration with ‘Gravity’ is a successful example of this type of partnership working. It comes hot on the heels of the EU’s commitment to be climate-neutral by 2050 and its intention to have an economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. The campus – currently under construction in Bridgwater near Bristol – will bring together a host of startups and international companies that operate in advanced manufacturing, robotics, artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and R&D.

Under the deal, ‘Gravity’ will source 100 per cent renewable energy from E.ON to power its operations across the 635-acre site. E.ON will build net zero carbon energy models for the campus by tapping into its expertise in building carbon-free communities, efficient energy supplies, and alternatives to standard utility grid connection. It will also develop, test and scale-up on-site solutions including storage arrays, renewable electricity generation, energy-efficient cooling systems and low-carbon heat networks.

As part of its ongoing efforts to help businesses and local communities make these net zero commitments a reality, various teams within E.ON are already running a number of successful  projects, such as the Resilience as a Service (RaaS) project in the UK and a local energy systems project in the Swedish town of Simris.

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