The Energy & Utilities Sector Is Witnessing Rapid And Pervasive Change. The Increasing Focus On Renewables, Distributed Generation, Smart Grids And Digitization Demands That Traditional Providers Bring New Capabilities And Better Align With Emerging Opportunities And Challenges.
Governments are keen to encourage innovation in the infrastructure sector. But as the solutions being brought to the market become more radical, some have challenged the traditional role of authorities and raised questions over what constitutes appropriate regulation.
As the world becomes more adept at turning data into insights, massive opportunities will emerge for infrastructure owners, operators and planners. Indeed, over the coming year, we expect to see more and more resources go towards uncovering the insights that will enable unprecedented efficiency across the infrastructure life cycle.
Over the past few years, we have seen more megaprojects, of greater scale and complexity than ever before, being proposed and progressed. High-profile examples of the last year include the new bridge linking Hong Kong to Macau and Zhuhai, Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor, Australia’s Inland Rail project and the Dubai Solar Park (this is the world’s largest single-site solar installation to which more than US$4.3 billion of private investment has been committed). As competition for investment opportunities in developed markets increases, we are seeing a growing stream of infrastructure players looking to emerging markets for new opportunities — and better yields and margins.
Over the past year, we have seen governments take a much more analytical and evidence-based approach to the way they plan and prioritize their infrastructure investment. When people first started talking about the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ahead of the Rio+20 conference in 2012, it might have been seen in some circles as a pet project of environmentalists and development specialists. While many agreed the goals were laudable and visionary, questions soon arose as to whether any measure could significantly influence the broader economic, social and political agenda.
It’s been a great year for pessimists. Political divisiveness is on the rise. Societies are fracturing. Multilateral trade agreements are flailing. And once-unbreakable alliances are falling to pieces. Uncertainty reigns.
One particular effect of some new technologies is that they are enabling citizens to interact with infrastructure in new and unexpected ways. And that is forcing infrastructure planners and providers to rethink their role. The onus will firmly be on energy & utility companies to invest in smarter infrastructures and combine emerging technologies and analytics to drive profitable outcomes.
WITH BUSINESS AGILITY AND COST EFFICIENCY MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER, COMPANIES ARE TASKED WITH THE CHALLENGE OF REINVENTING SOME OF THEIR CORE PROCESSES SUCH AS SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AND FINANCE TO DRIVE ENTERPRISE OBJECTIVES.
WORLD-CLASS PROCUREMENT PROCESSES
We offer a wide and comprehensive range of solutions that help implement world-class procurement processes in the energy & utilities sector, including spend analysis, procurement outsourcing, procurement technology and strategic sourcing.
To maximize returns on investments and strengthen their financial future, companies are seeking best-practice solutions that embrace outsourcing non-core spend, leveraging technology and improving compliance. Our industry experts implement cost-saving strategies across all aspects of the energy & utilities businesses in the face of tomorrow’s industry challenges.
POWER GENERATION
Energy & utilities companies face many challenges associated with refurbishing, renewing and expanding their power generation fleet. Some of these challenges come with associated costs and require capital investments in pollution control equipment, diversification of the generation mix to include renewables and building new nuclear and fossil power plants.
Implementing best-practice sourcing strategies requires strong understanding of global, regional and local markets to acquire material, equipment and services relevant to the power generation business. On the equipment and material side, enterprises are seeking to embrace low-cost country sourcing to acquire major components such as air preheaters, large pumps, large motors, and coal and ash handling equipment. On the services side, organizations need to implement exceptional contracting capabilities that use gain-sharing models, continuous improvement and optimize warranty obligations, indemnity obligations and insurance requirements.
WE ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES BY:
- Implementing a long-term supply chain strategy
- Maximizing return on material and service investments
TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
The energy & utilities sector faces a variety of costs and challenges associated with transmission and distribution. Companies face high capital investments in infrastructure development and technologies (such as smart grid) as well as the increased challenges associated with regulation, specifically rate adjustments in tough economic periods. In the face of these challenges, the energy & utilities sector is implementing sourcing and contracting strategies that achieve the highest value at the lowest cost, thus optimizing returns within a rate-case cycle. Companies should use best-practice sourcing solutions to address their service, material and equipment needs.
Through implementing world-class sourcing practices, the energy & utilities companies can lower costs and improve reliability and customer service.
WE ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES BY:
- Leveraging saving opportunities
- Tracking saving compliance
CORPORATE SUPPORT
A significant portion of energy & utilities spend is in corporate support or shared services. These categories typically include, but are not limited to, HR, IT, legal, marketing/advertising, printing, office supplies, fleet and temporary workforce. In the past five years, these expenses outpaced inflation by approximately 50 percent. Thus, it is of great importance to implement strategic sourcing programs that focus on this indirect spend and result in both reduced overhead allocations to business units and improved customer service.
WE ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES BY:
- Aligning with key internal constituents
- Easily identifying supply needs
- Maximizing saving opportunities