Shooting for 'true zero'

Greenhouse is a climate tech hub with headquarters in the imposing Salesforce Tower at Sydney’s Circular Quay. The organisation, which describes itself as Australia’s largest dedicated climate tech co-working space, brings together over 1000 climate innovators, founders, investors and government agencies under one roof to accelerate the development and deployment of climate solutions.

Greenhouse recently entered into an experimental partnership with Flow Power, an Australian renewable energy retailer, to road-test a new system where energy consumption is matched to renewable energy generation in real time, 24/7.

Under the new front-of-meter solar energy supply agreement with Flow Power, Greenhouse will purchase an amount of GreenPower-certified renewable energy that is put into the grid. That amount will closely match the energy consumed by Greenhouse’s Sydney office. Under the agreement, Greenhouse will be powered by 100% GreenPower-certified renewable energy from an accredited generator.

As part of their partnership, Greenhouse and Flow Power are exploring how they can make advances towards ‘true zero’ electricity. Unlike the more commonly known net zero, which relies on mechanisms such as carbon credits or offsets, true zero aims to use renewable energy in real time, all the time. Time-matching consumption to generation is one of the key drivers for this new approach.

“At Greenhouse, we believe climate innovation must be grounded in action, not just ambition,” said Ed Schmidt, COO at Greenhouse. “As home to over 1000 climate business founders, innovators, investors and advocates, we’ve built a thriving ecosystem where bold ideas are developed, demonstrated and scaled. Our space is a platform for real-world climate solutions to take shape, grow and lead the way forward.

“Our partnership with Flow Power is a powerful example of how we walk the talk. By running our operations on 100% renewable energy, we’re not only reducing our own footprint — we’re setting a new benchmark for what true zero can look like in practice. This collaboration shows how businesses can lead from the front, accelerating the clean energy transition through innovation, partnership and decisive climate action.”

A load-following battery charge/discharge control strategy will be used to demonstrate, as a first step, that Greenhouse’s electricity usage can be matched in real time with 24/7 renewable electricity generation or storage. Utilising its proprietary kWatch technology, Flow Power will closely monitor Greenhouse’s consumption patterns in real time and aim to ensure that the organisation’s energy demands are matched with generation and potentially storage from Flow Power’s portfolio of renewable generation projects.

With an initial contract running until December 2025, the companies hope their pilot project will create a pioneering model for other businesses, as well as help to shape a future energy management plan for Greenhouse.

Flow Power’s Chief Revenue Officer, Jacob Mahoney, said that while carbon credits and offsets had been key to stimulating renewable energy investment, Flow Power believes that time matching will be the next step in decarbonisation.

“Through this partnership with Greenhouse, we are so excited to take true zero from an in-house experiment to a real-world demonstration and hopefully set an exciting new benchmark for how organisations can decarbonise effectively,” Mahoney said.

“By giving customers real-time access to their energy consumption data, we can ensure that the energy they are using is met by renewables generation at the exact moment it happens.

“At Flow Power, we know that smart energy usage and innovation are the key to fully transitioning Australia to renewables. We encourage everyone to explore whether time-matching renewables is an opportunity for their operations.”

Top image caption: Sydney’s Circular Quay, with the tall blue Salesforce Tower on the right. Image credit: iStock.com/mikulas1