Alternatives to diesel generators for emergency backup power, including data centres

LCP Delta supported a major UK banking group with identifying alternative options to diesel generators for providing emergency backup power at business critical sites across its business.

The background

The client, a major banking group based in the UK, is committed to sustainability and decarbonising its business operations as quickly as possible. Some of its business-critical operations currently have diesel generators providing emergency back-up power which it wishes to replace with greener alternatives.

The key questions

The client was actively looking to reduce their carbon emissions by 75% by 2030 considering all options across the business. As part of this, the client was exploring options for replacing the diesel generators that provide emergency back-up power for its business-critical processes (BCPs), including in office buildings that house servers in case of a power outage. It wanted to understand the technical suitable and cost implications of various options.

Our solution

LCP Delta identified different back-up power options, including batteries, cleaner engines, biofuels, and fuel cells. We assessed the appropriateness of each option against several criteria, including Capex, Opex, emissions, start-up time and suitability for BCPs, readiness, and safety.

In a second phase, we focused on gas generators as the most viable like-for-like alternative and included interviews with key industry stakeholders and in-depth analysis of several case study sites using anonymised data provided by the client.

Our impact

The client was armed with the necessary information to commence procurement processes that would enable them to decarbonise back-up power whilst supporting business critical processes. LCP Delta’s insights have been used in board level decarbonisation strategy discussions and the client’s net zero planning.