LONDON and REDMOND, Wash.,
Sept. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- bp and Microsoft Corp.
today announced that they have agreed to collaborate as strategic
partners to further digital transformation in energy systems and
advance the net zero carbon goals of both companies. This includes
a co-innovation effort focused on digital solutions, the
continued use of Microsoft Azure as a cloud-based solution for bp
infrastructure and bp supplying renewable energy to help Microsoft
meet its 2025 renewable energy goals.
"bp is determined to get to net zero and to help the world do
the same. No one can do it alone – partnerships with leading
companies like Microsoft, with aligned ambitions, is going to be
key to achieving this," said William
Lin, bp executive vice president for regions, cities and
solutions. "By bringing our complementary skills and experience
together, we are not only helping each other achieve our
decarbonization ambitions but also creating opportunities to
support others on their journey towards reducing carbon
emissions."
"bp shares our vision for a net zero carbon future, and we are
committed to working together to drive reductions in carbon
emissions and fulfil demand with new renewable energy sources,"
said Judson Althoff, executive vice
president of Microsoft's Worldwide Commercial Business. "A
strategic partnership such as this enables each organization to
bring its unique expertise for industry-leading change and the
potential to positively impact billions of lives around the
world."
Earlier this year, bp announced its ambition to become a net
zero emissions company by 2050 or sooner, and to help the world
reach net zero. By the end of the decade, it aims to have developed
around 50 gigawatts of net renewable generating capacity – a
20-fold increase on what it has previously developed, increased
annual low carbon investment 10-fold to around $5 billion and cut oil and gas production by
40%. In January 2020, Microsoft
announced its goal to be carbon negative by 2030 and remove more
carbon from the environment than it has emitted since its founding
by 2050. Today's announcements build on the potential that both
companies see in working together to help deliver a net zero carbon
future.
Co-innovation
A memorandum of understanding (MOU)
signed by bp and Microsoft recognizes the capabilities that each
company can provide to accelerate progress towards their
sustainability goals and help the world decarbonize. Their
co-innovation effort will initially be focused on four areas that
combine Microsoft's digital expertise with bp's deep understanding
of energy markets:
- Smart and clean cities – identifying synergies between
Microsoft's 'Smart Cities' initiative and bp's 'Clean Cities'
vision, with a goal of identifying areas for strategic
collaboration to help cities achieve their sustainability
aims.
- Clean energy parks – co-development of innovative,
clean energy parks with an ecosystem of low carbon technologies
such as carbon capture use and storage (CCUS) to prevent or reduce
emissions.
- Consumer energy – exploring innovative ways to
harness the power of data-driven, personalized, actionable insights
to empower energy consumers to manage their home energy use and
reduce carbon emissions.
- Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) solutions –
delivering an 'intelligent edge' of capabilities to bp production
and operations facilities.
For both bp and Microsoft, low carbon is part of a wider
sustainability agenda and they aim to deepen collaboration in this
area over time.
Microsoft to bring bp further into the cloud
As part
of bp's cloud-first IT approach, the company has extended its
agreement to use Microsoft Azure cloud services as a strategic
platform. This expands on bp's existing relationship with
Microsoft, which helped accelerate the digitization of bp
infrastructure and operations, while Microsoft 365 enabled greater
collaboration and remote working productivity during the COVID-19
response.
Utilizing Microsoft Azure cloud enables bp to access a broad and
deep portfolio of cloud services, including machine learning with
Azure Digital Twins, data analytics, security and more, to gain
greater insights, drive significant optimization opportunities and
transform business processes.
bp to supply renewable energy to help power the Microsoft
cloud
Microsoft and bp have signed a framework agreement for
renewable energy projects that aims to provide renewable energy to
help power Microsoft's datacentres. bp will supply renewable energy
to Microsoft across multiple countries and regions including the
US, Europe and Latin America. The agreement contributes to
Microsoft's 100% renewable energy goal by 2025.
This partnership reflects the environmental and economic
benefits of companies like bp and Microsoft working together to
carve out a more sustainable future.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft)
enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud
and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and
every organization on the planet to achieve more.
About bp
bp's purpose is to reimagine energy for
people and our planet. It has set out an ambition to be a net zero
company by 2050, or sooner, and help the world get to net zero, and
recently announced its strategy for delivering on that
ambition. For more information visit bp.com.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bp-and-microsoft-form-strategic-partnership-to-drive-digital-energy-innovation-and-advance-net-zero-goals-301130725.html
SOURCE Microsoft Corporation