Macquarie and Siemens announce major energy-as-a-service joint venture
Two firms team up to launch Calibrant Energy, which aims to bring together raft of green energy, heating and cooling technologies to offer efficient flexibility services for corporate and public clients
Investment bank Macquarie and German tech giant Siemens have teamed up to launch a new flexible energy joint venture, Calibrant Energy, in a bid to offer comprehensive energy-as-a-service (EaaS) solutions for corporate and industrial clients as well as municipalities, universities, schools and hospitals.
Unveiled today, Calibrant Energy will bring together the latest distributed energy technologies from Siemens Smart Infrastructure (SI) with the financial expertise from Macquarie's Green Investment Group (GIG) - formerly the UK's Green Investment Bank - under under a single roof.
Using an EaaS model in which it builds and owns its clients' energy production and storage assets, Calibrant aims to deliver onsite energy management systems drawing on technologies including solar, integrated solar batteries, standalone batteries, microgrids, combined heat and power (CHP), and centralised heating and cooling infrastructure upgrades, the firms explained.
Chris Archer, GIG's head of Americas, claimed that by bringing together a raft of green energy technologies alongside energy management systems Calibrant would be able to offer cost savings, cost certainty, resilience, and energy grid augmentation in line with an energy efficient and low carbon future.
"Many companies and institutions are embarking on a green transition in their energy strategies to take advantage of lower cost, lower emissions and increased resilience," he said.
Siemens Financial Services CEO Anthony Casciano said the new venture would support "the advancement of distributed energy projects."
"Combining Siemens' innovative technology solutions and - together with GIG - adding our own financing and risk management expertise, Calibrant Energy will help customers to obtain resilient low-cost energy and meet sustainability goals with no up-front cost," he added.
In related distributed energy news, another collaboration aiming to accelerate the transition to greener, more flexible energy systems has also been launched in the UK today, with four UK distribution network operators (DNOs) joining forces in a bid to make it easier for flexibility providers to deliver their services while managing energy from multiple network operators.
Western Power Distribution, SP Energy Networks, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks and Northern Powergrid today unveiled plans to collaborate on the 'Flexible Power' project, enabling flexibility providers to view flexibility locations, requirement data, procurement notices and documentation published by all four DNOs on a single, joint website - flexiblepower.co.uk.
Once contracted, providers will be given access to the joint Flexible Power Portal in order to declare their flexible assets' availability, receive dispatch signals and view performance and settlement reports, the DNOs said.
Stewart Reid, head of future networks at Scottish and Southern Electricity, emphasised that "flexibility will help manage the transition to net zero in a smart and cost- effective manner."
"As the energy system continues to change it is imperative that opportunities for engagement are accessible for the communities we serve," said Reid. "Flexible Power will help support customers' journeys towards becoming flexibility providers, which not only benefits the individual but the whole system."
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