BP and Microsoft form partnership to drive digital energy ‎innovation

BP and Microsoft ‎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 BPsupplying 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, are going to be key to ‎achieving this,” said William Lin, BP executive vice president for regions, cities & solutions. “By ‎bringing our complementary skills and experience together, we are not only helping each other ‎achieve our decarbonisation 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 organisation 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 per cent. 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 recognises the capabilities that ‎each company can provide to accelerate progress towards their sustainability goals and help the ‎world decarbonise. 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, ‎personalised, 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 digitisation of BP infrastructure and operations, while ‎Microsoft 365 enabled greater collaboration and remote working productivity during the COVID-19 ‎response. ‎

Utilising 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 optimisation 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 per cent 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.