Portuguese energy supplier EDP took steps to diversify when the electricity supply market was deregulated in 2006. The company started to sell and install photovoltaic systems - one of its business areas that now is showing steady growth.
EDP’s existing customers bought 4,000 photovoltaic systems last year and during 2016 the company expects to install a further 6,000 systems in the residential market.
In a press briefing today, board member and head of EDP Commercial, Miguel Stilwell de Andrade, said, "We finished 2016 with about 10,000 systems installed, in cumulative terms" and admits this is still a niche market, but one that is showing growth.
EDP Commercial’s outlook for 2016 is to close the year with four million residential customers in the liberalised electricity market, plus more than 600,000 consumers of natural gas many of which are on dual fuel deals.
Electricity supply to consumers, despite being a multi-billion euro business, is not hugely profitable and in 2006 the company decided to branch out into alternative energy supply.
Miguel Stilwell did not reveal EDP’s profit margin from solar panel sales and installations but did say that his company has to be competitive in an increasingly active market.
EDP Commercial also is working a new format for its notoriously complex invoices. In October this year, a new bill will be sent out by email that promises to give the customer clearer information on the cost of the various items for which payment is demanded. This ‘interactive electronic invoice’ will replace the paper version for those that choose the e-option.
Other processes and systems at EDP Commercial have been upgraded leading to lower complaint levels, according to Stilwell who, when asked about the €7.5 million fine from the regulator ERSE, said he was happy that the company continued to contest the amount.
The fine was triggered when the regulator concluded that EDP was doing close to nothing to promote the government’s obligatory ‘social tariff’ scheme for Portugal's poorest consumers.
Galp Energia also was fined but did a deal and paid a lower amount. EDP is adamant that it is right and the regulator is wrong and continues to take up court time in trying to prove its point.
Stilwell said of the legal situation, "We are perfectly comfortable with our option to challenge the decision of the ERSE."
Another company that successfully is exploiting the grants surrounding alternative energy is Tec Pellets in Povoa do Varzim which is to invest €31 million in a factory expansion to boost exports of biomass pellets to Germany, Belgium, Italy and Sweden
Tec Pellets entrepreneur Avelino Reis has the benefit of a €6.1 million European grant and says he will create a further 23 jobs.
Biomass pellets, a cheaper and relatively clean fuel made from wood residues, have export growth potential if the unit cost can be controlled in the new, more efficient factory space housing an innovative boiler and silo combination to reduce processing costs.
The Government is delighted and says “the project is of great importance for the development of the national economy, through a direct impact on national exports, and the region's competitiveness by increasing the skills and the purchasing power of local workers.”
