28 Millennium branches will join Cleanwatts Renewable Energy Communities

A Cleanwatts and the Millennium bcp signed an agreement that reinforces the long partnership in the area of ​​energy management in their buildings and includes the integration of 28 bank branches as consumer members of energy shared by CER by Cleanwatts.

More than 230 branches and 13 bank buildings are being monitored by Cleanwatts’ Kisense energy management platform. From 2016 to 2022, total energy consumption decreased by 15.6%, translating into significant savings for the bank. Now, the bank’s branches will also be able to purchase energy from Cleanwatts communities. This first phase, covering 28 agencies, has the potential to expand as part of the Community-PPA Cleanwatts program.

“It is with great satisfaction that we sign this agreement, which begins with 28 branches of Millennium bcp in 2024. The participation of entities with the prestige of Millennium bcp in Renewable Energy Communities projects as members, contributes greatly to increasing confidence regarding to the benefits that RECs create, not only for energy producing members, but also for consuming members. RECs are already a reality and continue to grow in Portugal, becoming an alternative to centralized production models, with social, environmental and economic benefits for their members”, states the CEO of Cleanwatts, Luísa Matos.

“One of Millennium bcp’s hallmarks has long been its commitment to Sustainability. We are close to the Customers and the communities we serve, with the purpose of creating value in a durable, consistent and compatible way with social concerns, environmental protection and climate change mitigation, incorporated in the values ​​that guide our operations”, he states Miguel Maya, CEO of Millennium bcp. And he adds: “the Bank is committed to assuming a leading role in the energy transition path based on increasingly decarbonized economic development models. This new agreement with Cleanwatts contributes to this aim in terms of our operations, representing another step in the energy transition and decarbonization of the Bank’s buildings. The branches covered will benefit from clean energy produced locally by the RECs, contributing to reducing Millennium bcp’s carbon footprint in line with the energy efficiency measures we advocate”.

An NZEB building, that is, with almost zero emissions, has a very high energy performance. The energy it consumes – or part of it – comes from renewable sources, being produced on site or nearby. In the case of Millennium bcp, “it is expected that a significant part of the energy consumed in the buildings covered comes from RECs”, points out Luísa Matos.

“In addition to enjoying clean, local energy at more economical and stable prices, Millennium bcp will increase its energy independence and have an aggregated view of its facilities, through Cleanwatts OS, an operating system that allows you to manage and optimize our CERs, but can also be used with other suppliers”, he also states.

This project has made it possible to avoid waste, restricting the operating hours of HVAC systems (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and outdoor lighting, issuing alarms whenever abnormal consumption is detected and raising awareness throughout the organization about energy efficiency and its economic impact. and environmental. The data and measures implemented help support the Bank’s energy transition and sustainability, as well as the preparation of its sustainability report.