CASE STUDY
Client
Centrica
Sector
Services provided
Led by FTSE 100 giant Centrica, the £19m Cornwall Local Energy Market set out to test how a range of domestic and commercial renewable energy and storage technologies could be coordinated by a world-first virtual marketplace to create a more flexible grid; one that is better able to support the growth in intermittent renewable generation.
However, communicating the scale and importance of the project, allied to technical concepts like network constraint, peak demand and price signalling, required both creativity and emotional intelligence.
PLMR met this challenge head on. At a local level, we secured a regular column in the major regional newspapers – utilising residential and business participants alongside Centrica staff to help humanise the project and tell the story of its benefits through their own experiences.
We also created a range of digital assets to help Centrica communicate with internal and external stakeholders. These included an interactive map of Cornwall showing what is happening across the county, producing a series of animations, and developing explanatory infographics.
PLMR also produced a stand for Centrica at the Cornwall Skills Show, engaging the next generation in a technical sustainability project. This included the interactive map and animations, and also a drone balancing game, which proved to be a one of the biggest draws across the whole exhibition, with almost 1,000 schoolchildren stopping by to try their hand at flying the drone, whilst learning about the renewable energy ‘balancing challenge’.
PLMR helped the LEM to win no fewer than five industry awards, as well as securing regular coverage for the project in local, trade and national media.
PLMR’s crisis communications experience is second to none, and includes pre-emptive and reactive work across traditional and social media channels. We work with a range of organisations to offer critical communication support when they are faced with difficult and challenging scenarios.
