Antonio Colino Martínez, General Manager, Aldro Energía Spain & Portugal • Interview

Aldro Energía covers the entire world of gas and electricity, from small consumers to public administrations and large companies.

What was the origin and evolution of the company over six year ago and what are its chief activities?

Aldro Energía is a energy retailer and service provider that was born five years ago within the PITMA Group, led by Alfredo Pérez y Pedro Ortiz. PITMA was founded 25 years ago and today operates principally in five business areas: telecommunications, security, energy, commercial services, and a wide range of business services, ranging from the documentary custody to the management of urban mobility or insurance. Aldro Energía was born to bring to life ideas within the group, such as assembling the technical part of a marketer to give continuity to what we had started. The first electricity sale was done in 2014, and in 2015, we started with retail gas. In 2016, the company stabilized, and we launched the energy efficiency line. In 2017, we had a plan to enter Portugal, so we started to process permits. The business in Portugal exploded in 2018, while the business in Spain is also doing well.

In six years, the company has achieved almost 200,000 customers and billed EUR600 million in 2019. What is your winning strategy?

We have a good price on the market, we are transparent, and we are close to our customers; in addition, we are also adaptable. Adaptability is one of our strong points. Aldro Energía is not a company assembled by electricians, economists, or engineers; it is a marketer assembled by sellers to sell. The DNA of PITMA is in Aldro Energía, bringing us closer to the customer and making us attentive to building what the client needs at any time. We adapt to the needs of users.

Aldro Energía focus on domestic clients but SMEs take a strong part of your portfolio. From which sectors do your clients come from?

Half of our contracts are from households, and half are with SMEs. However, the more intensive load curves and greater powers are installed in SMEs and large companies, and they therefore represent a bigger part of our income. We cover the entire world of gas and electricity consumers, from the small consumer who has a domestic contract to public administrations or large companies that choose much more complex products.

What are your expectations from the new government and the public sector?

We would like the new government’s policies to be developed in an environment of total agreement to provide stability beyond legislature. The energy transition should be driven by a breakthrough in technology that makes it possible to reduce the cost of emission-free energies, give consumers an increasingly active role, and ensures competition in the market, which will result in more competitive prices for consumers. We would like to propose that the government establish a maximum period for consumer complaints to be resolved, forcing both marketers and distributors to create a centralized information platform that is not managed by traditional power companies, like other countries around us are doing; enable the orderly deployment of smart meters for SMEs and businesses so that these customers can have more accurate information on their consumption; and promote self-consumption and distributed management by regulating the figure of the demand aggregator.

What are the main highlights of Aldro Zero, and what are its expectations for the year ahead?

Aldro Zero represents the firm commitment of PITMA Group toward renewable energy. It is intended to be the future platform for all final customer green energy developments, including renewable energy retailing as well as self-production facilities, energy efficiency, and other services. 2020 will be the year of its implementation in the market, and we have big expectations about how it will develop. ✖

“Half of our contracts are from households, and half are with SMEs.”