It’s a wrap from the Swedish IndustryForum Energy 2020 conference!
We have been able to engage with leading utilities from Sweden who shared their perspectives on the journey from a traditional utility to digital service provider. The message from the event this year was clear: Set the pace for the industry – Stay competitive in the future landscape of the energy sector!
I want to thank Management Event for organising a great networking forum to raise the importance of the digital transition facing the Swedish energy market. For most other industries, the digital transformation journey has been in play for years, and now in recent years we’re seeing a real shift in utilities’ strategies.
An energy transition on the way
Looking back to my first visit to IndustryForum Energy, many of the same topics were discussed. However since then things have evolved, and I’m very excited to see the initiatives that are already out there. Disruptive technologies continue to impact industries around the world, and the energy sector is no different. There is no doubt that customers are becoming more cautious and caring about climate and renewable energy resources. Technology has made smart homes and real time energy services more of a reality without costing a fortune.
The main takeaways from IndustryForum Energy are clear:
- Swedish utilities are assessing their environmental, social and governance commitments and many will continue to raise the bar on carbon emissions reduction goals. There are new business models to be discovered in the renewables area.
- Some companies are on their way to exploring new transactive business models, to incentivise customer participation and boost grid flexibility. There is a desire to gain deeper understanding from the data that the proliferation of customer data and sensors are providing and how to capitalise on that in an ever-evolving ecosystem.
- With second generation smart meters and new ways of harvesting the massive amount of data from the meters underway, communication technology choices (NB-IOT, mesh or P2P, etc) as differentiating factors are increasing.
- The interest in not only implementing a datahub to solve some of the low hanging fruit within the market (authorizations, withdrawal rights), but also to facilitate the next generation energy service providers. The Swedish industry wants the datahub to explore business development for smart services, market aggregation and flexibility in a diverse sensor-based real-time transaction environment.
There are many things to be positive about, knowing that coordination with utilities has been identified by consumers as their top enabler for moving to clean energy resources.
Impact on traditional utilities
In a competitive environment where companies are looking to win customers’ hearts by creating seamless customer experience, how does this affect traditional energy utilities?
We don’t have a silver bullet answer, but we do have great insight into what works globally for more than 600 customers. An imperative step is that utilities start building a digital DNA by connecting strategy and business models to operating and governance models. Start with simplifying your power offers, embed them as a service, listen and communicate by aiming for less complaints, fewer dissatisfied consumers and more engagement.
Be patient. More and more people are joining the energy transition.
Want to know more about how Hansen approaches the ongoing energy transition? Please take a look at our Energy Transition paper for more specifics. Stay in touch!
By Carl Lidholm – Hansen’s Senior Vice President for Sales in the EMEA region, who has been in the energy industry for 17 years. Lidholm uses his deep knowledge of core utility business processes and passion for innovation to guide companies through the ongoing industry transformation.