Companion.energy intros cost- and carbon-aware networking

Belgian energy company turns to comms tech provider to fulfil mission to allow enterprises to turn energy from a cost centre into a strategic advantage through sustainable networking

Energy platform Companion.energy has integrated its core application on the Nokia Altiplano Application Marketplace.

Headquartered in Belgium, Companion.energy has the stated mission of helping leading enterprises turn energy from a cost centre into a strategic advantage, making 24/7 renewable energy achievable at what the company calls competitive prices.

The firm’s systems are said to offer energy cost and flexibility optimisation, connecting all sources of energy data on one platform with automated optimisation that allows users to schedule energy use, generation and storage to drive profits and sustainability. It says its assets solve the problem of blocked flexibility, where users face a lack of automatic triggers to optimally adapt to market fluctuations.

With Companion.energy, Nokia says it can offer operators a new way to think about energy consumption, and the collaboration will see the integration of its Companion.energy application with Nokia’s Altiplano Access Controller hub to manage its rapidly growing network.

Specifically, by embedding energy cost and contract intelligence alongside renewable energy production details, Companion.energy and Nokia say they will be enabling operators to optimise not just how much energy they consume, but also when they consume which energy.

In practical terms, the integration sees Altiplano Access Controller continuously monitor and control the operator’s fixed network, managing the performance and efficiency of critical infrastructure. Companion.energy then adds a dedicated energy layer on top, using machine learning to forecast and optimise network energy consumption in the context of the operator’s specific energy contracts and renewable energy portfolio. An example cited was automated tracking of renewable energy matching including renewable energy production such as solar or contracted power purchase agreements.

Doing this, says Nokia, ensures that network energy usage is not only minimised, but also aligned with financial optimisation and carbon reduction goals, maximising renewable usage when available and reducing exposure to volatile market prices.

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Geert Heyninck, Nokia’s general manager of broadband networks, said: “Our customers are looking for ways to both reduce costs and decarbonise. By adding Companion.energy’s intelligence and optimisation layer to Altiplano’s open ecosystem marketplace, operators can gain new visibility into the cost and carbon impact of their broadband networks, making their infrastructure not only more efficient, but also more sustainable.”

The parties believe that key benefits for operators include cost efficiency beyond energy efficiency, translating network energy usage into real financial terms based on contract conditions and market dynamics, and value-driven decisions, shifting from a “consume less” to a “consume smarter” paradigm. This is said to balance efficiency, cost stability and sustainability.

Benefits are also said to include carbon-aware networking, matching consumption with installed and contracted renewable sources, delivering clear insights into carbon intensity at granular intervals and support for ESG commitments. The latter is said to provide operators with transparent, report-ready CO₂ metrics while enhancing budget predictability. Another key benefit highlighted is a foundation for flexibility, laying the groundwork for operators to move from insights to action.

Nokia and Companion.energy say the integration sets the stage for proactively steering energy storage and renewable production assets, supplying networks with cost-competitive green power in real time. They add that the integration reflects a wider industry trend: network operators worldwide are advancing their energy management capabilities, moving from basic efficiency programmes to next-generation cost and carbon optimisation.

“Operators have long focused on energy efficiency alone, but the real opportunity today lies in cost- and carbon-aware networking,” said Thomas Vyncke, co-founder of Companion.energy. “By integrating with Nokia’s Altiplano controller, we combine network-level monitoring with energy intelligence that accounts for contracts and renewables. This helps operators lower bills, increase the use of green power and strengthen their journey to net zero.”

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