The Financial Times debuts new climate technology in London HQ
Leading climate technology platform OakTree Power has developed a bespoke scheme that will enable flexible energy consumption
- Over the course of five years, the FT’s historic headquarters at Paternoster Square will save over £30,000 a year in energy cost and earn nearly £50,000 a year for helping balance grid operators when supply and demand are at odds
The Financial Times, the world’s leading news organisation, has launched a climate technology solution across Bracken House, its historic London headquarters, to reduce the building’s energy usage and CO2 emissions. The bespoke scheme, which will enable a flexible energy consumption across the building, has been developed by leading climate tech startup OakTree Power.
The organisation has signed a five year agreement with OakTree Power that will see the building in Paternoster Square modulate the consumption of non-essential electricity. Through this scheme, the Financial Times will contribute these unused kilowatts to help balance grid operators keep lights on during times of peak electricity demand. The building will participate in a Distribution programme providing much-needed constraint management in the centre of London where the Networks are struggling to cope with the increased electrical demands on ageing infrastructure that is very old and expensive to upgrade and replace.
The scheme is deployed by a smart IoT controller that has been integrated with the organisation’s own building control systems, which will enable OakTree Power to identify non-critical electricity consumption. The solution – which is already being deployed by several FTSE 250 clients and can be adopted by commercial and industrial buildings, such as offices, hotels and industrial facilities – then intelligently modulates small amounts of energy usage. These reductions will be conducted in non-critical electrical plants and equipment such as pumps, fans and air conditioning chillers for short periods, without impacting performance.
Chantel Scheepers, CEO of OakTree Power, said: “Net Zero targets are a national objective that needs to be taken incredibly seriously by all UK organisations. We’re delighted to be working with such a London institute that has shown a great commitment to lead on this front, recognising the need to change and adapt to achieve the UK’s Net Zero goals.
We expect this project to become a turning point for OakTree Power and other businesses with real estate space to embrace the Net Zero commitment and adopt the scheme. If every 200,000 square feet building in London did so, it would be the equivalent of taking 45,000 petrol cars off the road in terms of CO2 reductions, so we all should be helping the country move away from dirty carbon intensive generation and towards a renewable & sustainable future.
