E.ON Helping to Decarbonise Coventry
E.ON and Coventry City Council will be at UKREiiF discussing their recently launched and pioneering 15-year partnership to transform the city’s approach to carbon reduction while helping boost the local economy.
This Strategic Energy Partnership is believed to be the first of its kind in the UK and will see both organisations work collaboratively to build a cleaner and more sustainable city and drive a new green economy that will bring jobs and skills for generations to come. The partnership is designed to make the best use of the capabilities and expertise of the two organisations, as well as Coventry’s unique position as one of the country’s industrial and creative heartlands, to transform the local economy and open up access to hundreds of millions of pounds of investment.
Collaborating with E.ON over this 15-year period will help Coventry City Council with its long-term planning and see an integrated and strategic approach to decarbonisation and social projects across the city. Together E.ON and Coventry City Council will combine their knowledge and expertise when it comes to decarbonisation and will identify new project opportunities, allowing the Coventry to benefit from E.ON’s international experience in the global energy industry.
The UK Government has a target of achieving net zero by 2050, but for the West Midlands the target is even more ambitious, aiming to reach this goal by 2041. Moving at pace and scale is critical. Having a dedicated partner on this journey will make this much easier for Coventry City Council to achieve.
This is really exciting and completely innovative. It will help Coventry move ahead with a range of projects that the Council would not have been able to achieve on its own. E.ON brings expertise, knowledge and skills. The partnership will also bring finance from the private sector so we will be able to move more quickly on a range of schemes to benefit the city.
Coventry is a city already dedicated to decarbonisation and has net zero firmly front of mind. “We are already spearheading a number of major green projects, including Coventry Very Light Rail, our ambition for a gigafactory, the installation of hundreds of on-street electric vehicle charging points – the highest number of any city outside of London. We have also developed a state-of-the-art new materials recycling facility and we are well on the way to becoming the country’s first all-electric bus city,” said Cllr O’Boyle.
Coventry has been E.ON UK’s home for over 30 years, and working with the city was a natural fit. “The energy transition is a way to regenerate the local economy and we’re convinced we can make a difference in and with our home city,” said Chris Norbury, Chief Executive of E.ON UK. “This is not about designing a new vision for the future, it’s about getting on and delivering Coventry’s response to the climate crisis – making improvements across the city that people want and need. That could mean better insulation for homes, more energy efficient public buildings, shifting from fossil fuels to locally-produced renewable energy and, perhaps most importantly, creating thousands of good jobs.”
The West Midlands as a whole is at the front of E.ON’s thinking. “Whether it is our work in and with Coventry, improving homes with energy efficiency measures across the area or the hundreds of skilled tradespeople coming through our new net zero training academy in Kingswinford, there are exciting times across the Midlands and we’re glad to help promote our home region,” said Chris Lovatt, Chief Operating Officer for E.ON Energy Infrastructure Systems. But the journey does not end there.
While this partnership with Coventry City Council is believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, it’s not the first time E.ON has worked with a city to help it on its way towards net zero. E.ON is already delivering forward-looking energy concepts in cities such as Berlin and Malmö, and they’re convinced partnership approaches like these are vital for green economic growth, for more secure energy supplies and for the affordability of energy. The partnership is excited to take this innovation and learning and bring it to the UK.
Delivering Low Carbon Infrastructure at Scale and Pace
Philip Wallace leads the Strategic Energy Partnership with Coventry City Council from E.ON’s side, and has used his 26 years in the energy industry to pioneer a new market for transforming cities and the formation of long-term strategic energy partnerships with local authorities to effect real change.
Philip will be taking part in the panel titled “Delivering Low Carbon Infrastructure at Scale and Pace” at 2pm on Tuesday 21 May in the West Midlands Pavilion, alongside Cllr Jim O’Boyle Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change and Andy Williams who is Director of Regeneration and Economy at Coventry City Council and represents the Council on the Strategic Energy Partnership’s board.
Together they will explain how this Strategic Energy Partnership is helping drive the city forward on its decarbonisation journey.
Join us at UKREiiF
In 2024, the West Midlands will be exhibiting together for the first time at UKREiiF in Leeds, showcasing the collective power of the region.
Join us from the 21st – 23rd May at the West Midlands Pavilion.
