Utilities
Increasing global electricity consumption is putting a strain on current grid infrastructure creating competition to improve the service.
Industry Trends & Challenges
Utilities companies face a number of opportunities and threats to their businesses. The companies best placed to deal with a challenge will consider it as an opportunity, whilst those poorly prepared will face the challenge as a threat.
While the utilities industry is often thought of as slow moving when it comes to adopting new technologies and business models, there are still some prominent trends emerging in the industry that are increasing the speed of change:
- digitization
- mergers & acquisitions
- new business models
- new entrants
- onshoring
- renewables
Before the COVID-19 crisis, there were several trends that oil & gas companies were responding to. Some of those have accelerated because of COVID-19 and are likely to continue to be a challenge over the coming years, including:
- increased competition
- matching supply & demand
- regulations
- skilled worker shortage.
What is the current position of the utilities industry?
There’s no doubt that utilities companies are facing a number of challenges in their businesses. Before the COVID-19 crisis, there were several trends that they were responding to, some of which have accelerated post-COVID-19, including increased competition, matching supply and demand, a highly regulated environment, and a skilled worker shortage.
So, what is the current position of the utilities industry? Energy prices soared towards the back end of 2021, fueled by the rising prices of oil and natural gas. The problem was compounded a few months later with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, casting doubt over energy security across Europe.
Given the relationship between energy prices and economic growth, recovery from the pandemic is going to suffer. European nations must improve their energy security—and accelerating their energy transition will be a crucial strategy in achieving this.
The competitive landscape is also consolidating, specifically in renewable energy, as companies, utilities, and governments prepare to meet ambitious climate targets. As well as consolidation at the generation level, there will also be consolidation in retailing too in response to demand and price fluctuations.
E-learning course
- Self-paced e-learning
- CPE/CPD-approved
- Designed for customer-facing professionals
Objectives
- Differentiate between various terminology used within the utilities industry
- Identify metrics used to measure aspects of corporate performance
- Identify some of the key trends and drivers affecting the utilities industry
- Identify the roles and the different business units in a typical company and the basic industry structure
- Recall examples of how IT is used to improve business performance
Utilities Industry Insights
Cambashi Utilities Industry Insights offers tactical industry intelligence updated by industry experts, that provides the latest information from across the globe:
- Tactical industry intelligence updated in real-time by industry experts
- The latest trends & challenges, business drivers, products & services, and technology
- Business strategies and initiatives
- Key players and consumer perspective
- Industry terminology and metrics
- Deeper knowledge across a variety of industry subjects
Technology
For utility businesses to continue innovating they must embrace digital transformation and create new technologies. The operational models of utility organisations are changing to deliver value at speed by incorporating new technology.
Technology outside the IT function continues to grow and has an opportunity to adapt and scale new ways of working with disruptive technologies. Examples of technologies that are changing the way utility industries operate are:
- data analytics
- energy storage
- hydrogen
- Internet of Things (IoT)
- renewable energy advances
- smart meters
- water reuse technologies
Here we can see the relative sizes of the Computer-Aided Technologies (Mechanical CAD, Mechanical CAE, CAM), PLM, BIM, and GIS software sectors in the global utilities market. The total is worth approximately $US 1.6 billion annually. Note how BIM and GIS are the largest segments, given utility assets and infrastructure networks are widely dispersed geographically, seeing data on a map can help operational decisions, fault diagnosis, and strategic planning.
Learn more about our market data for the engineering software
Blog
Utilities Companies Need Market Intelligence to Prepare for Energy Transition
The latest research from Cambashi reveals that, with energy transition at the top of utilities companies’ agendas, they must be prepared with the latest market intelligence to meet the challenges—and maximize the opportunities. There’s no doubt that utilities companies are facing a number of challenges in their businesses. Before the COVID-19 crisis, there were several…
The Great Energy Transition – Meeting the Challenges
With sustainability and energy security at the top of utility companies’ agendas, they must be prepared with the latest market intelligence to maximize the opportunities.
