Helping a large new-build infrastructure project in Australia reach 100% of its climate targets within six months

How can you build carbon-neutral infrastructure in a sector that’s known for sky-high emissions?

Our client was starting a large new-build infrastructure project in Australia. They wanted to lead the market by being completely carbon-neutral and 100% renewable by the time the site opened. This was a huge challenge, because the organisation operates in a high-emitting sector.

To turn zero emissions into reality, the client needed a strategy covering everything from optimising their energy supply and procuring green electricity through to installing heat pumps and on-site chargers for electric vehicles.

We provided expertise on all aspects of the energy industry

We helped the client understand what net zero actually means, and the risk and cost trade-offs involved in getting there. This included evaluating the costs and benefits of various decarbonisation options – such as building renewable energy generation facilities, buying green power, and a combination of both.

We also determined what infrastructure the client needed to build – for example, the right grid connection infrastructure for using renewable energy. And we helped them choose the right network provider to meet their needs, then supported their commercial negotiations.

To make all this happen, we assembled a multidisciplinary team of energy experts, including specialists in policy, regulatory advice, commercial advice, quantitative modelling and strategic advice. This was essentially to addressing all aspects of the client’s challenge, such as costs, ease of delivery, policy, network connections and energy efficiency.

Because our advisory team was small and nimble but with far-reaching expertise, we were able to provide advice efficiently and support the client through Executive and Board approvals. This helped us move quickly to meet milestones and keep the project on track. Essentially, we formed a small but powerful extension of the client’s internal team.

We showed how to achieve net zero in a high-emitting sector

Thanks to our hard work, the client has a robust strategy for hitting 100% of their
challenging climate targets within six months, while achieving strong commercial outcomes. The plan has been approved by the board and the project is underway.

Critically, our client is set to become a world leader and a positive example in the fight against climate change, by showing that high-emitting sectors can achieve carbon-neutrality.

Find out how we help our clients meet the challenges of Climate Change