How a global manufacturer cracked the code on renewable energy procurement

A company in the industrial manufacturing sector was grappling with decentralised renewable energy procurement. They are a global organisation, with multiple business units in Europe, Asia, and Latin America — each of which buys its own electricity and Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs). However, clean energy targets, quality control and monitoring are managed centrally by the company’s core sustainability team.

The company is committed to reducing emissions. But making sure that every business unit progresses at the right pace and fulfils the necessary quality requirements has proven challenging. They needed a system that simplified the task. This is how the Ecohz advisors and the Renewable Energy Procurement Portal for Scope 2 made it possible.

Groundwork: Understanding our customer’s needs 

Ecohz’ advisors started by asking questions to grasp the nature of the company’s business and how they choose to manage clean energy sourcing.

Where are the business units located? 

The company operates dozens of branches worldwide. They manufacture a wide range of industrial equipment, meaning that their factories, offices, and logistics facilities consume energy in very different renewable energy markets — each with its own rules and tracking mechanisms.

Who is responsible for purchasing renewable energy?

Each business unit manages its own renewable energy purchases, placing orders and settling invoices independently.

Who monitors progress towards sustainability targets?

The company’s central sustainability team oversees renewable energy procurement worldwide. They set renewable energy targets and determine the volume of EACs the branches should buy.

They also monitor collective progress and report to standards such as CDP and the Science Based Targets Initiative at a group level. Hence, having agile communication with each unit and orderly storage of relevant documentation is paramount.

Are there challenges sourcing renewables in specific locations?

Renewable energy markets can change significantly from one country to the next. The company was facing supply constraints in Mexico and Singapore and had trouble understanding quality labels in the United States.

It became clear that the organisation would benefit from a tool giving the central sustainability team a bird’s-eye view of global procurement, while allowing each business unit to retain autonomy over orders and payments.

It was time to deploy the Scope 2 Portal and get everyone aligned.

Setting up the Scope 2 portal 

The Ecohz Renewable Energy Procurement Portal welcomes users to a simple and user-friendly interface. For a tool that addresses a complex problem, it is reassuringly intuitive. It also reduces decentralised purchases of renewables to four easy steps:  

1. Central sustainability teams set renewable energy requirements and establish the type of EACs each business unit should purchase for compliance, including quality criteria such as technology, vintage and other characteristics.
2. Decentralised business units can autonomously purchase renewables, from receiving offers for the right type of EACs to raising orders and paying invoices independently.
3. All documentation needed for reporting is securely processed and stored. Ecohz ensures EAC cancellations are done correctly, while cancellation statements and invoices are kept in a repository sustainability teams can access at any time.
4. Sustainability teams can monitor progress globally and get a clear overview of the actions taken by each branch.

When readying the portal for the manufacturing company, Ecohz’ advisors made sure every feature was attuned to the client’s needs. They set up users, onboarded business units, and generally ensured the portal adapted to the communication and operational flow of the company.

Ecohz advisors also held briefings with sustainability and procurement teams, who questions and left with a better understanding of how to use the platform and contribute to decarbonising their organisation.

Ongoing support: Upskilling and advice in global markets

When using a digital platform for almost anything, it is common to get ongoing technical support. The manufacturing company, however, needed more comprehensive advice — guidance in global markets to build an energy procurement strategy that saved costs and boosted impact.

Ecohz now provides the company with continuous recommendations on energy purchasing in multiple countries, which consider factors such as:

• Timing: Agile purchasing to take advantage of market fluctuations.
• Technology: Whether solar, wind, hydro, biomass, or other, tech can be determining for EACs prices.
• Ecolabels: Leading environmental programmes can raise the impact of energy purchases but can also increase the cost of EACs.
• Sustainability standards: Aligning with initiatives such as RE100 and obtaining high CDP scores requires meeting strict quality requirements and can create sourcing challenges.

This enabled the manufacturing company to establish clearer requirements for their business units. Local sustainability teams also received access to dedicated upskilling material in the form of educational videos that explain the principles behind renewable energy procurement.

The results of working with the Ecohz Scope 2 Portal

Error-free EAC purchases

Every business unit now acts with confidence, purchasing the right types of renewable energy in a fail-safe environment.

Streamlined administration

Transparent communication has improved collaboration between central and local sustainability teams.

Easy invoicing

Each branch is invoiced independently, while central procurement retains full visibility over all transactions.

Simplified reporting

A tidy document repository made reporting Scope 2 emissions to CDP much easier.