TOPICS TEC 2018

How to organize global energy procurement?

International companies seek added value by creating corporate procurement functions. There is no global market for end consumers’ energy. Therefore, you cannot create synergies and negotiate a global deal. Nevertheless, as a corporate buyer, your knowledge of how energy markets function can be valuable in many corners of the world.

You can set up a worldwide energy data management system that allows your organization to know at any moment in time how much you consume, spend and how you are contracted in every corner of the world. And you can roll out a global strategy to face the challenges of contracting, risk management, changing regulations and developing auto-production projects, diversifying the efforts according to the status of deregulation. With many markets in Latin-America and Asia moving towards deregulation, buyers from Europe and the US are more and more often called in to share their experience.

Learn from a consultant working for many global clients and an energy buyer working for a company with glass manufacturing 78 plants in 23 countries how they organize such global energy procurement.

Bullish markets and how to survive them

2017 was a bullish year in the energy markets. A tightening supply and demand curve caused increases in all European natural gas and electricity markets. This was the continuation of a bull trend that started in April 2016. In France, for example, the Cal 18 baseload electricity price rose by 75%, reaching a peak of 44,25 euro per MWh compared to April 16’s 25,39.

After the five years of falling prices since 2011, this bull trend caught many energy buyers by surprise. Some had started thinking that energy prices knew only one direction, down. They didn’t have the strategies in place to take full benefit from the lows in 2016 and protect themselves against cost increases as markets ran up. The bullishness witnessed in Europe was part of a broader global trend with upticks in Asia-Pacific and Latin-America as well. Thanks to shale gas, the US was more protected, but volatility remains high with many short-lived bull runs.

Impossible to say what the markets will do by the time we meet at the TEC’s. But with last years’ experience, it’s definitely a good moment to recap the strategies you can put in place to protect yourself against a bull market.

Read an introduction to this topic on our blog. 

How will we use and pay energy in the future

Our global energy system is going to a set of deep transformation processes. With 70% of all investments in new electricity production invested in renewables, it is clear that these sources will produce an increasing part of our energy.

Battery technology has recently seen some breakthroughs leading to the first projects of large scale storage to balance the grid. This obviously goes hand in hand with the electrification of mobility. Will we drive electric cars or will we store the renewable energy in hydrogen? Data scientists across the globe are adding smartness to the grid, automating how, when and at what price we are consuming energy. And block chain, the distributed ledger technology that underpins bitcoin, is widely expected to have a deep impact on the way energy is contracted, consumed and paid.

It’s hard to say where all these trends will ultimately lead. But it is clear that the way we consume and transact energy will change in the next decades. What could this mean for consumers of industrial quantities of energy? And how can you as a buyer of those industries prepare for that future? 

Workshops

A unique chance to get insight into the ins and outs of buying energy overseas without intercontinental traveling. E&C brings you workshops on buying energy in Europe, the US and Latin-America in all three continents. Our experienced consultant will highlight all the current trends and load you with practical tips on how to organize your energy procurement.

During the registration you'll be able to choose which workshop you would like to attend. 

DATES & LOCATIONS

Geneva, Europe on Thursday May 24th: watch the after movie
Houston, US on Wednesday November 14th