USA: bp acquires Blueprint Power in a bet to decarbonize real estate
The company’s technology can help turn buildings into a flexible power network and their owners in generating new revenue streams.
bp acquired Blueprint Power in an effort to connect real estate to energy markets through cloudbased software that can turn buildings into a flexible power network. The US based company has developed a technology that can help decarbonize the property market and help estate owners in meeting their environmental goals as well as opening new revenue streams.
Blueprint will join the British company’s Launchpad portfolio to support its plan to launch in several major US urban power markets. Its role will be to help lower the cost of renewable energy and support the decarbonization of their businesses. The acquisition comes after the firm launched a demonstration project in association with New York’s government to install 150 EV chargers on-site at a residential building in Queens by 2025 in order to showcase how its technology can not only generate electricity but also expand the electric vehicle charging capacity in the city.
The firm uses bespoke algorithms to optimize building's energy efficiency allowing the link between its owners and power markets. This not only allows them to sell surplus energy stored in batteries or power generated on site from equipment such as solar panels but to support the decarbonization of real estate, a sector that has one of the highest carbon footprints of all.
Sam Skerry, SVP bp Launchpad & Ventures said: “Decarbonizing dense urban areas is a key challenge as we work to play our part in realizing a net zero world. Blueprint’s technology can help deliver this critical transformation. It can help secure access to renewable energy and, importantly, also create new business opportunities for many sectors.”
Blueprint Power was founded in 2018 in response to the energy regulations established due to the Hurricane Sandy black-out in New York. It currently generates 13 MW of renewable power for five of the city’s largest commercial real estate owners. Alongside bp, they are aiming to increase this figure to 36 MW by the end of 2022.
“Joining bp will enable us to maximize our impact on rapidly progressing global energy systems and I’m excited for our team to continue scaling quickly as we become a bp Launchpad portfolio company. Buildings hold huge untapped potential to improve energy resilience in an increasingly unpredictable world and to decarbonize our built environment," said Robyn Beavers, Blueprint’s Founder and CEO.
