Energy leaders launch 24/7 Carbon-free Energy Compact
Alphabet and Google Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat calls on global community to join compact in address to United Nations General Assembly
New York, 24 September 2021: Leading energy buyers, suppliers, solutions providers and governments announced today the formal launch of the 24/7 Carbon-free Energy Compact in partnership with Sustainable Energy for All and the UN-Energy. The Compact represents a new global effort to accelerate the transition to a carbon-free electricity sector to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. SEforALL and Google made the announcement today during the United Nations High-level Dialogue on Energy in New York. In addition to Google, founding signatories of the Compact include The AES Corporation, Orsted, EDP, the city of Des Moines, Iowa, the government of Iceland, and others.
A carbon-free electricity sector is the foundation for creating a net-zero emissions global economy. Electricity generates 25 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and is key to decarbonizing other sectors of the economy, including buildings, transport, and industry. Meeting this challenge will require a rapid acceleration in the pace of clean energy deployment, the development of advanced carbon-free energy technologies, and significant policy changes.
SEforALL and Google are calling on companies, governments, and other stakeholders to join the Compact in the lead up to November’s COP26 Conference in Glasgow and commit to advancing policies, procurement practices, tools, and data that are critical to fully decarbonizing the world’s electricity systems. The Compact lays out a set of principles and actions that actors can take to adopt, enable, and advance 24/7 Carbon-free Energy, focusing on hourly decarbonization of local and regional electricity grids.
"The world is at a crossroads. We can either continue with business as usual or embrace change that leads to a more sustainable and equitable future. This starts with making the important link between energy and climate. The Energy Compacts that have been put forward as part of this historic UN High-Level Dialogue on Energy have resulted in ambitious commitments and actions that will help address energy poverty while working towards decarbonization. The 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact represents a critical partnership across business, countries, cities and others that will propel us closer to our 2030 Global Energy Goals," said SEforALL CEO and Special Representative to the UN Secretary-General Damilola Ogunbiyi.
“Tackling climate change requires government and business to work together with urgency and focus. The Compact is the first collective action group to bring together companies, national and local governments, and other stakeholders to drive innovation and investment in 24/7 carbon-free electricity grids, and we are hopeful that it will facilitate significant progress. Time is not on our side—we need to act now—and we look forward to others joining with Google in our efforts," said Google CFO Ruth Porat.
Founding signatories of the Compact include: 8 Rivers Capital, The AES Corporation, ClearTrace, the city of Des Moines, Iowa, EDP, Energy Tag, Fervo Energy, FlexiDAO, Google, the government of Iceland, Iron Mountain, the city of Ithaca, New York, LevelTen Energy, M-RETS, Orsted, Power Ledger, Statkraft, Tomorrow, and X. Signatories of the Compact commit to advance the procurement practices, market mechanisms, policies, technologies, and energy data transparency needed to enable the rapid and cost-effective achievement of 24/7 carbon-free energy for all.
"As a developer of cutting-edge clean energy solutions, 8 Rivers is excited to work with Google and the world-class partners in this Compact to accelerate the global energy transition to a 24/7 carbon-free power system, so anyone can access reliable clean electricity any hour of the day," said 8 Rivers Capital Chief Executive Officer Cam Hosie.
"Taking action against climate change is the most important and urgent issue facing us today, and AES is proud to join the 24/7 Carbon-free Energy Compact. Together, we’re co-creating new solutions, such as the first-of-its-kind agreement to supply 24/7 carbon-free energy to Google’s data centers in Virginia, that will accelerate a smarter, greener energy future," said AES President and Chief Executive Officer Andrés Gluski.
"As we strive for a net zero future, it’s clear that corporations — who are among the largest energy consumers — need solutions to help them accurately manage and track power-related emissions. We are proud to support and enable the transition to a carbon-free energy future," said ClearTrace Chief Executive Officer Lincoln Payton.
"I want to commend and thank the many global partners who join me in supporting the transformation of electric grids to ‘absolute zero’ - or full decarbonization - by adopting, enabling, and advancing the 24/7 CFE Compact Statement. Our commitment as a City to decarbonized energy systems supports a future for clean energy and ensures that all residents have access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy," said Mayor of Des Moines, Iowa, Frank Cownie.
"EDP is thrilled to join the Global Compact for 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy. We are proud to be at the forefront of the development of new technologies to accelerate the decarbonization of electricity systems and promote the globalization of access to clean energy," said EDP Chief Executive Officer Miguel Stilwell Andrade.
"24/7 carbon-free energy is a critical development in energy procurement practices and EnergyTag is delighted to be a signatory of this Compact. EnergyTag is an industry-led, non-profit initiative to define and build a market for granular energy certificates, which enable consumers to verify the source of their electricity consumption on an hourly basis and harness consumer demand for 24/7 carbon-free energy to drive investments," said EnergyTag Founder Dr Toby Ferenczi.
"24/7 carbon-free energy is the next step in advancing progress to address climate change. Fervo Energy is excited to sign on to this important effort and to continue driving forward geothermal innovations to create a truly carbon-free grid," said Fervo Energy Chief Executive Officer Tim Latimer.
"At FlexiDAO, we provide software solutions and advisory to help companies achieve their net-zero goals and become true leaders of the energy transition. For this reason, we are extremely excited to partner with Google and to join the 24/7 Carbon-free Energy Compact," said FlexiDAO Chief Executive Officer Simone Accornero.
"Iron Mountain recognizes both the urgent need to decarbonize our energy grid and the opportunity we have as an energy buyer to make a meaningful impact. We support the ultimate ambition of meeting each kilowatt needed every hour with generation from a local carbon-free source and have made this a cornerstone of how we buy and consume power," said Iron Mountain Director of Energy and Sustainability Chris Pennington.
"Carbon-free electricity is essential to achieve full decarbonization. By joining the 24/7 Carbon-free Energy Compact, the City of Ithaca, N.Y., reiterates its commitment to expanding access to carbon-free electricity as a pathway to a clean energy future," said Director of Sustainability for the City of Ithaca, New York, Dr. Luis Aguirre-Torres.
"Matching every kilowatt-hour of electricity consumption with carbon-free electricity sources requires a transformative approach to energy procurement, and LevelTen is committed to building the software solutions required to give more organizations this opportunity. Together, with our network of energy and sustainability advisors, we look forward to helping more energy buyers achieve their 24/7 carbon-free goals," said LevelTen Energy Chief Executive Officer Bryce Smith.
"M-RETS is excited to participate in this initiative as the first registry to support an hourly REC claim in partnership with Google. This initiative is an important step in facilitating a data-driven renewable energy market," said M-RETS President and Chief Executive Officer Ben Gerber.
"Ørsted’s vision is to create a world running entirely on green energy, and this includes meeting demand every hour of every day. We already know the solutions to get a long part of the way towards 24/7 renewable energy and we’re committed to facilitating the last difficult stretch of the journey together with our partners," said Ørsted Senior Vice President - Region Continental Europe Rasmus Errboe.
"The movement to 24/7 renewables with hourly matching through PPAs and RECs is the best solution to scale renewable energy because it puts a price signal on when and where power is needed and supports an energy system that is stable, low cost and low carbon. The Powerledger platform can stamp the time and location data from clean energy production onto renewable energy certificates and other commodities, enabling energy retailers like eKwateur and RE100 companies on registries like M-RETS to seamlessly trade, match and manage their portfolios on an hourly basis," said Powerledger Chairman & Co-Founder Dr Jemma Green.
"With the increased penetration of renewable energy on the grid, it becomes even more crucial to measure emissions at a high resolution. At electricityMap we're very excited to see this initiative come to fruition, and we hope that it will help bring the measurement of emissions closer to the physical reality," said Founder and CEO of Tomorrow Olivier Corradi.
"We are proud to join this crucial Compact. Decarbonising the grid in the time required to tackle climate change is a moonshot and will require new tools and new partnerships. That's why we're collaborating with businesses and governments around the world to computational tools designed to support the design and operation of a decarbonised, affordable, reliable and resilient power system," said Audrey Zibelman, Vice President, X’s moonshot for the electric grid.
Each signatory will capture their specific commitments in their own Energy Compact, an innovation introduced by SEforALL and backed by UN-Energy as a key outcome of the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy. The Energy Compacts are public and trackable commitments, with specific actions, made by governments, companies and others to achieve energy transition goals by 2030 – including universal access to affordable and clean energy. For more on the Energy Compacts registry, visit https://www.un.org/en/energycompacts/page/registry.
For more on the 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact, visit https://www.un.org/en/energy-compacts/page/compact-247-carbon-free-energy or https://24-7cfe.com
Stakeholders across the energy ecosystem are invited to sign on to the 24/7 Carbon-free Energy Compact, and can do so by contacting Sustainable Energy for All at energycompact@seforall.org.
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Notes to editors
Contact
For further details on the reports or any interview requests, please contact: Sherry Kennedy, Sustainable Energy for All: Sherry.Kennedy@SEforALL.org / Media@SEforALL.org | +43 676 846 727 237
About Sustainable Energy for All
Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) is an international organization that works in partnership with the United Nations and leaders in government, the private sector, financial institutions, civil society and philanthropies to drive faster action towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) – access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030 – in line with the Paris Agreement on climate. SEforALL works to ensure a clean energy transition that leaves no one behind and brings new opportunities for everyone to fulfill their potential.
SEforALL is led by Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy. Follow her on Twitter @DamilolaSDG7. For more information, follow @SEforALLorg
