CEPSI 2018 ENDS ON POSITIVE NOTE

Conference hints at significant cost-savings in industry if telcos and utility providers work toogether

AS the three-day Conference of Electric Power Supply Industry Conference (CEPSI) 2018 closed on Thursday, 2,000 or more delegates ended their participation with many positive takeaways.

Particularly, this was on how attendees can reimagine the electricity supply industry (ESI) in accordance with CEPSI 2018’s theme of “Re-imagining Utility of the Future” as many leaders shared their views on how the industry would transform in the next 10 to 20 years.

However, the theme that struck a chord for many to ponder on was on the eventual convergence of the power and telecommunication industries as both of these heavily-networked utilities have much in common.

Many alluded to the significant cost savings the two industries can reap together if they discuss what can be shared and how best they can move forward together for the benefit of consumers and the company bottom line.

Some speakers said that such leading-edge or even common sense collaborations had already taken place in some countries and both the residential and business communities there benefited from the synergies.

During the keynote session on “ESI Innovation and Smart Solutions”, both Accenture Digital (Asean) managing director James Chong and Nokia Global vice-president of energy segment Kamal Ballout shared the view that alliances between power and telecommunication companies (telcos) would be the way in the future.

They believed that while lowering costs was part of the process, utilities must be mindful of additional services they can undertake to ensure revenues do not diminish with technology advancements.

Chong and Ballout agreed that power companies and telcos should explore areas where they can garner more businesses through the Internet of Things with other service providers so that synergies could be converted into better benefits for the development of cities and their residents.

In the case of Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), which was directed by the government to explore a possible entry into the telco industry, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd chief technology officer Paul Scanlan said it made a good business sense as the utility company already had an extensive infrastructure of cable network.

TNB chief executive officer Datuk Seri Ir Azman Mohd said the power utility would be working with MyPower to contribute to the reforms with its vast experience in the sector.

“Changes in the electricity generation industry in Malaysia are expected with the implementation of MESI 2.0, and TNB is ready to embrace industry reforms that is rapidly changing by the day compared with 20 years ago,” he said.

Azman said TNB wanted to change the common misconception on its efficiency due to its position as a monopoly in the country.