The contract will see BT provide the energy company with a suite of services including improved network infrastructure, strengthened connectivity and a team of dedicated professionals to guard against cyber security threats.

BT will also be responsible for ensuring a high-quality of service and support across the business, day-to-day management of network infrastructure and data hosting.  

The deal will support NIE Network’s digital transformation, which aims to modernise the key services and infrastructure that provide electricity across Northern Ireland. Initially the contract will run for five years, with the option to extend by up to another 10 years.

NIE Networks owns the electricity network across Northern Ireland, consisting of approximately 2,300km of transmission network and 58,800km of distribution network. It is also the operator for the distribution network and is responsible for the safe, secure and reliable supply of electricity to 966,000 homes, farms and businesses.

The partnership is designed to support local jobs, build digital skills and create supply-chain opportunities across Northern Ireland.

Chris Sims, Chief Commercial Officer at BT Business, said: “Electricity networks are part of the critical infrastructure that keeps Northern Ireland running, and they rely on technology that is secure, reliable and resilient by design. That’s where BT comes in.

“With evolving cyber threats, protecting essential services is more important than ever and organisations rely on digital connections they can trust.

“With our experience in supporting critical services and our long-standing presence in Northern Ireland, we are in a unique position to provide the secure, trusted connectivity and specialist expertise that will help strengthen the network for years to come.”

The deal will also enable a move to more sustainable infrastructure and networks, supporting NIE Networks to reach their sustainability and net zero ambitions.

Rohan Kapoor, Chief Information Officer of NIE Networks, commented: “This multi-year partnership is a win-win for Northern Ireland’s economy supporting local jobs, skills development, and supply-chain opportunities. 

"The collaboration will also help meet Northern Ireland’s energy needs, increasing our technological capabilities and enabling further electrification, renewables integration and emerging flexibility markets all of which have a positive impact on the Northern Ireland economy and the NI Executive’s net zero targets.”

BT Group has a strong presence in Northern Ireland, employing more than 3,400 people and providing an economic boost of £630 million. It is also responsible for generating £1 in every £110 produced in the region according to an independent report.

In 2023 it officially unveiled a multi-million-pound refurbishment of its flagship Belfast Riverside office, boasting state-of-the-art technology and collaboration spaces for colleagues from its EE, BT Business and Openreach units.

The global leaders in their respective fields will build on their extensive expertise in sustainable building management and global networking to make it easier for customers to reduce emissions from buildings around the world.

Sarwar Khan, global head of digital sustainability, Business, BT, said: “Our collaboration with Johnson Controls will help BT deliver on its pledge to help customers avoid 60 million tonnes of CO2 by the end of March 2030. Customers will benefit from better visibility and management of energy data from connected buildings, helping them reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, and reach Net Zero faster.”

According to the World Green Building Council, buildings are responsible for almost 40 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions and the IEA finds they consume at least 30 per cent of energy globally. Smart and sustainable buildings are on the rise as they represent a key opportunity in helping to meet climate targets. At the same time, the number of subsystems, IoT devices and data is increasing exponentially, driving demand for secure and reliable networks. Connectivity to the cloud is now needed in areas within buildings that may have been poorly served by legacy networking solutions. 

The two parties are offering solutions that leverage smart building technology and Johnson Controls’ OpenBlue digital platform connected by secure and resilient networks that can improve data capture, enhance security, and provide effective management of connected buildings at scale.

Katie McGinty, vice president and chief sustainability and external relations officer, Johnson Controls, said: “With the powerful combination of technology and partnerships, coupled with government incentives, there has never been a more opportune time to drive sustainability leadership and action. The collaboration between Johnson Controls and BT will unlock new potential for customers to further reduce emissions, cut costs and energize employees with their sustainability mission.”

Using the combined technologies BT and Johnson Controls will be running a live demo at BT’s research facilities in Adastral Park.

ENDS

About Johnson Controls

At Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI), we transform the environments where people live, work, learn and play. As the global leader in smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, our mission is to reimagine the performance of buildings to serve people, places and the planet.

Building on a proud history of nearly 140 years of innovation, we deliver the blueprint of the future for industries such as healthcare, schools, data centers, airports, stadiums, manufacturing and beyond through OpenBlue, our comprehensive digital offering.

Today, with a global team of 100,000 experts in more than 150 countries, Johnson Controls offers the world`s largest portfolio of building technology and software as well as service solutions from some of the most trusted names in the industry.

Visit www.johnsoncontrols.com for more information and follow @Johnson Controls on social platforms.

BT today announced an expansion of its digital sustainability tools to help customers monitor and optimise energy use across their full IT estate, from the network to servers running their apps and workloads in data centres and elsewhere.

The company is integrating data on servers’ energy use into its AI-powered sustainability tools. It means BT’s digital dashboards can now offer a single, end-to-end picture of how much energy customers’ IT infrastructure is using and present actionable insights on what to do to optimise devices, apps and workloads to help meet their net zero goals. BT then offers to help deliver this as part of its sustainable network design and refresh service. 

For example, the dashboard can look at network traffic over a 24-hour period and processor telemetry to identify opportunities for server devices to be placed into deep sleep depending on the way the workloads and apps are run.

Globally, data centres and associated networks that underpin digitalisation account for 0.9 per cent of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. The EU has already introduced new policies and regulations for reducing energy use and decarbonising data centres. Organisations will be required to demonstrate their data centres meet the EU’s Assessment Framework for Data Centres as part of the upcoming Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which will impact up to 50,000 companies.

BT continues to evolve its digital sustainability tools to help organisations meet these challenges. The tools already help customers monitor and benchmark energy consumption of their network devices in internet of things (IoT) operational environments such as factories and ports; local area networks (LANs) that provide connectivity within offices; and wide area networks (WANs) that link sites globally.

They are the latest step in the delivery of a BT Group Manifesto pledge to help customers avoid 60 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.

Sarwar Khan, head of digital sustainability, Business, BT Group, said: “More and more customers are setting science-based net zero targets and face increasing regulatory pressures to improve efficiency in their data centres. By integrating data from leading IT vendor partners such as Cisco and INTEL, we’re giving customers end-to-end visibility of energy use across their full IT estate as well as the insight and support needed to optimise devices and workloads.”

ENDS

About BT’s digital sustainability tools

BT’s Carbon Network Dashboard gives a real-time view of power consumption across the network and datacentres. It uses AI and machine learning to detect and predict anomalies based on historic usage. This includes which network devices are consuming the most power. Customers can also forecast total energy use based on their network inventory and historic utilisation.

To help understand how electricity consumption translates into carbon emissions, the Dashboard includes data from regional power grids showing their carbon intensity.

The Digital Carbon Calculator helps customers estimate their network and data centre’s carbon footprint. It scans the customer’s network and data centre inventory to estimate their carbon footprint and can track how this responds to changes and upgrades over time. It includes lifecycle management, highlighting devices at the end of service to prioritise for replacement. Customers can also choose to use the calculator by uploading an inventory of their IT infrastructure equipment for analysis.