Elia Group develops future-proof technology to steer decarbonization

The transmission system operator Elia Group views itself as a driver of successful energy transition and an agent of change. However, in terms of in-house technology, the Belgian company’s carbon footprint data used to be stored on spreadsheets, while quality control was performed manually, limiting the Elia Group’s ability to calculate the Scope 3 upstream emissions released for all their assets. 

With the world moving in a greener direction and finding no satisfactory software on the current market to satisfy their needs, Elia Group decided to build its own platform to collect Scope 3 upstream emissions data directly from suppliers. This future-proof platform therefore aims to obtain more accurate figures in terms of carbon footprint for reporting and to identify the best levers to act on. 

A digitized environment

One of the purposes of developing its own software was to set Elia Group’s own GHG collection templates and LCAs. The ambition with this platform was also to allow the users to integrate CO2-related data into everyday business practices. Suppliers would be able to log onto the platform through a secure connection and to exchange easily CO2-related data through the platform, which would automatically aggregate data and calculate the Scope 3 upstream emissions. Furthermore, as legal requirements and auditability are becoming increasingly demanding in this area, Elia’s tool makes it possible to maintain control over all reported data.

But as the Elia Group embarked on this journey, they needed additional knowledge for the development of the software. Hence, the organization called upon the expertise of Flexso, which has worked with the enterprise resource planning (ERP) software vendor SAP for 20 years to implement solutions for human resources, finance, logistics, and other business needs. To enable the development of the Scope 3 Accounting platform, a new web application would be created by using SAP’s Business Technology Platform (BTP).

Better behavior – driven by data

The Elia Group’s 2023 non-financial report marked the first time that numbers were obtained using the company’software, with deployments continuing in waves into 2025. Hence, the new app has already delivered a vigorous scope three reporting tool aided by utilizing some 100,000 PO items received in real-time.

The Elia Group’s interim chief financial officer (CFO) Marco Nix explained that the Scope 3 Accounting platform “will give us transparency on the carbon footprint…or our investment activities and further drive the maturity level” – data quality management practices – “of our scope 3 data.” Buyers have also recognized the value of keeping a digital supply chain record as the platform also contains insights beyond Scope 3 emissions, exposing resource scarcity, logistical bottlenecks, origins of materials, and more.

To recognize the achievements in the platform’s development, Elia Group was declared a winner in the Transportation Titan Utilities category at the 2024 SAP Innovation Awards, an annual ceremony celebrating organizations utilizing SAP technologies to enhance both business and society. Their full pitch deck detailing what they did to earn this prestigious award can be found here.

In the future, the company plans to continue to create more awareness by providing an accurate carbon footprint assessment and offering new innovations to buyers and suppliers – triggering meaningful behavior changes by delivering the best available data.