A world of difference marks the tenth anniversary of PwC annual utilities global survey of 118 senior executives in 37 countries and reveals a sector that is anticipating wide scale transformation in the decade ahead.
The changes witnessed in the last 10 years have been enormous. We have moved from a time when climate change barely registered a mention in a company's annual report to one where it is on the lips of every chief executive who runs a power utility business. Similarly, we have moved from a highly fragmented, domestic and, often, municipal utility landscape of 10 years ago to one where the leading companies have a pan-continental and, increasingly, global presence.
The changes the survey respondents predict include a huge change in the technological landscape and structure of the sector in the future. We see a big surge in expectations that a diverse range of generation technologies – wind, solar, geothermal, combined heat and power, other forms of distributed generation and a range of combustible renewable and waste generation – will have a significant impact on companies' power markets in the next 10 years. We are likely to see landmark change in industry structure with a blurring of the boundaries between power utilities and oil & gas companies. Similar shifts are taking place on the equipment and technological front with utility companies and equipment providers alike seeking to secure ownership of technological assets and market space. The report includes the viewpoint of some of the leading power equipment and technology suppliers to the utility industry.
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Download A world of difference: 2008 Utilities global surveys (1644kb)