Accenture report highlights: New energy companies will have a larger market share than traditional companies in 2030

China Energy Storage Network News: Accenture recently released the report "Benchmarking the Future - Energy Internet Practice". This is the third year that Accenture has done an energy Internet report. Eknower interviewed Deng Yun, President of Accenture's Greater China Resources Division, about the content of this report. Regarding the core of this report, Deng Yun pointed out that the trend of energy Internet is unstoppable, and traditional power companies must change their tracks in time and find new business growth points in time when traditional businesses reach their peak. Energy companies must really pay attention to changes in the client and promote the transformation of their own business through digital technology.

According to Accenture's previous forecast, the total market size of China's energy Internet will exceed US$940 billion by 2020. The most disruptive market change in the next three years is that the value growth point of the energy and power industry will shift from traditional product sales to digital-based energy services. Secondly, with the change in energy consumers' energy consumption habits and the maturity of regional and distributed renewable energy solutions, the traditional large-scale centralized energy supply method will also be impacted by the local production and consumption of distributed energy.

Eknower has sorted out some important information based on the report content and interview information and shared it with readers.

1. Chinese companies remain cautious about energy internet

Last year, Accenture interviewed and surveyed executives of nearly 100 energy ecosystem companies in China, including traditional energy companies, new energy companies, technology-enabled companies, cross-border companies and other companies (such as financial institutions, research institutions, etc.), mainly to understand the perception of Chinese energy companies on the emerging market of energy Internet and the company's strategic adjustments to it.

The survey found that most energy companies are cautious about transformation and innovation, and they are not adequately prepared at the strategic level on how to capture the synergies and market opportunities brought by energy Internet technologies.

Among the surveyed companies, 2/3 of them have not yet activated various digital applications. The motivation for the interviewed companies to use the energy Internet to promote their own transformation mainly comes from the emerging changes in the demand side. In particular, traditional energy companies have consciously learned from the consumer goods industry and considered the customer experience and cross-selling opportunities of energy consumption. However, in the face of the diverse technology combinations brought by the energy Internet, at the specific action level, most of the interviewed companies still plan and invest according to the traditional model, and the investment in digital application capabilities and organizational management capabilities is obviously insufficient. However, 1/3 of the interviewed companies said that they plan to increase special investments of more than 500 million yuan within five years for internal digitalization and the establishment of a digital energy business platform.

Deng Yun believes that many companies are currently working on smart technology and have invested a lot in infrastructure construction, but there is little overall coordination and application, and data is not being used to generate business value. The reason is that companies do not have a complete digital transformation strategy. Digital transformation is not just a matter of technology, it must be linked to all supporting businesses.

2. Customer value will shift from centralized energy solutions to distributed solutions

Even though the country is promoting renewable energy, distributed energy and improving the capacity to accommodate diversified loads, before distributed energy is incorporated into the existing energy supply system by new industry mechanisms and reliable technologies, it still appears to be an impact on the centralized energy supply model.

According to a recent global survey by Accenture, 58% of utility companies believe that distributed generation will reduce their revenue, and 44% of utility companies believe that microgrids will affect their revenue. In the Asia-Pacific region in particular, traditional companies are more resistant to distributed energy.

In a survey of Chinese energy companies, 59.5% of traditional energy companies believe that the increase in the proportion of distributed energy will lead to the loss of centralized energy users. This means that the more choices energy users have for suppliers, the more differentiated electricity sales products and services need to be. However, 69.79% of companies also said that service providers based on Internet platforms will break the monopoly, attract users and mine greater commercial value from data.

3. Traditional energy companies lose market share, and new energy companies will surpass traditional energy companies in 2030

Accenture predicts that in the Chinese market in 2030, the growth capacity and market share of new energy companies will exceed those of traditional energy companies, while energy service companies, enabling companies and cross-border companies will also rise rapidly by leveraging new growth points brought by the energy Internet field, and may even surpass traditional oil and gas companies.

Regarding whether the assets of traditional energy companies will continue to depreciate, Deng Yun said that traditional energy companies need to break through new growth points and pay more attention to how to improve the ability to provide personalized services to customers in the future. This requires the support of digital technology. Digital transformation will be of great help to the growth of new business of enterprises.

There are two main ways for traditional energy companies to change their tracks. One is to develop new energy business. According to a research report by the International Renewable Energy Agency, the number of employees in new energy companies reached 9.8 million in 2016, while the number was 5 million in 2012. By 2030, this number will increase to 24 million, which can completely offset the impact of the decline in the number of employees in fossil energy. Last year, the number of employees in the new energy field in China reached 3.64 million, of which 3.1 million were in the photovoltaic field, an increase of 12% over 2015.

Second, multiple businesses are developing in an integrated and coordinated manner. Currently in the European market, the types of integrated energy service businesses that traditional energy service companies prefer are mainly enterprise-side energy management services, distribution network services, and electric vehicle charging services.

4. Electricity services become a new value point. The new fulcrum for the development of clean energy will be intelligent production, energy storage innovation and trading platform.

Accenture predicts that the added value of China's renewable energy industry chain, energy management and energy efficiency improvement industry chain will reach 12.3 trillion yuan in 2030 (accounting for 63.8% of the overall size of the terminal energy market), far exceeding the size of the traditional energy sales market.

According to Accenture's survey of energy companies, in the process from the current situation (dominated by product sales) to the future (dominated by management and services), most respondents believe that the changes will create three types of new market forces: intelligent production and access of distributed energy, new energy storage technologies and energy trading platforms.

In addition, Deng Yun also believes that another way to expand new business is globalization. Exporting global assets and technological capabilities abroad is also a new source of income for the company.

5. Enterprises transform from passive product providers to active "experience creators and leaders"

As the new pattern of energy Internet gradually takes shape, energy enterprises should actively build new momentum and use digital means to achieve a better delivery experience with customers. Not only do they need to turn big data into useful information, but they must also find new business models to activate its potential value.

Deng Yun gave an example. BP cooperated with Accenture five years ago to use digital technology to improve the marketing methods of gas stations. Accenture used big data technology to build customer portraits and accurately locate its target customers. Through positioning, it was found that truck drivers are high-value customers, so Accenture provided customized marketing plans for this target customer, such as giving customers a sandwich coupon if they refueled a certain amount in the morning. After three months of data, the amount of refueling by truck drivers at BP gas stations has increased dramatically.

This means that only by integrating innovation with business and creating value for users can the direct or derivative value of digital assets be reflected. According to the calculation and analysis of Accenture and the World Economic Forum, through digital transformation, the global power industry is expected to create a cumulative economic benefit of 1.4 trillion US dollars (mainly generated by the company's new revenue) and social benefits of 2.2 trillion US dollars (mainly generated by reducing emissions, creating jobs and enjoying new value for power users) from 2016 to 2025.

At the same time, Accenture believes that in the era of energy internet, the power of capital is more important than ever. As new energy technologies mature, the entire industry's investment focus shifts from equipment and product investment to service innovation and operation management, and new energy suppliers shift from "profit by quantity" to "quality". Companies with higher energy conversion rates and better long-term investment returns will be favored by capital.