Study 2020

With the energy transition towards renewables, there are far more opportunities on the horizon for the energy industry than in previous years, and the majority of the industry anticipates a rise in profits. The main task – a challenging one – is to identify and develop attractive business models that take into account regulatory and societal requirements. Higher margins are expected in energy-related services and the area of flexibility options in energy, while the core business of conventional generation, electricity and gas sales continues to decline and offers poor returns.

With the Strategy Development in Energy Providers study series, launched in 2010, Horváth & Partners has sought to examine current trends in relation to the future corporate strategic orientation of energy providers and utility companies. Each edition of the study focuses on the current developments in the energy industry, with developments over the last few years explored in depth and long-term trends analyzed by means of several questions that are repeated each time the study survey is conducted.

This edition focuses primarily on the potential and the opportunities that arise for providers from anticipated developments up to 2025. It examines current positioning in the context of the energy transition, infrastructure questions, the energy market, energy-related services with respect to different ecosystems, and digitization. In a departure from previous iterations of the study, utility companies from Austria and Switzerland were invited to take part in the survey. In total more than 40 companies from the energy sector participated in this year’s study, which represents around 55 percent of the energy market, calculated based on the number of metering points.

Some key results at a glance:

• 80 percent of companies can see opportunities for their business in the energy transition.
• Around 60 percent of study participants see high or very high margin potential for their company in CHP generation.
• 74 percent of energy suppliers see telecommunications as a strong driver of successful customer penetration.
• 76 percent see great opportunities for the use of artificial intelligence (AI).