Your competitor today can be your partner tomorrow, and your partner today can be your competitor tomorrow. The energy sector have to get ready for a phase of "co-opetition", where companies must be prepared to compete and collaborate in a dynamic manner. That was my main message at the opening address of the APAC Energy Capital Assembly 2024, organised by The Energy Council.
This reality is especially true in the solar industry, where the business model has undergone significant transformations over the years.
- In the nascent stage of the solar industry in Singapore, the business model was straightforward: companies install for consumers, who buy the panels.
- Then solar companies decided that they could add value by providing financing - the leasing model was conceived, where consumers don’t pay panels upfront, but buy the electrons.
- The model continues to evolve where some solar companies now want to be the electricity supplier for the customer.
- Will it continue to evolve? Yes, as intermittent energy becomes larger scale, there is a need for smoothening of energy. Solar companies may need energy storage, or even work with traditional competitors like gas-fired plants.
- In each step of the evolution, as companies or their partners move up the value chain, the collaboration and competition dynamics change.
Congratulations to The Energy Council for the full house and for the opportunity to discuss "Predicting 2050: How will a changing financial, regulatory, and technological landscape reshape regional and local APAC energy markets?" I have to admit I have no crystal ball to see what 2050 looks like (I discussed with Gemini, who has no clear answers too), but I do know that business models of today will need to change as technology improves and policy goals on sustainability becomes sharper and more imperative. Disrupt ourselves, or be forced to discrupt!
#energy #solar #collaboration #partnerships #APAC #Singapore #APACEnergyCapitalAssembly #TheEnergyCouncil #speakingengagement #flashback
Energy Market Authority (EMA) The Energy Council (photo credits)
