Most of the energy even today is produced from fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, oil). The remaining is generated from nuclear fuels and renewable energies. However, the fossil fuels are a limited source of supply and crude prices are at an all time high. Production, distribution and management of energy thus need to be more efficient so as to minimize costs and emissions. Other factors affecting the energy and utility industry supply chain are:
· Very old and inefficient infrastructure
· Growing energy demand in India and other developing countries
· Global mergers and acquisitions
· Regulatory landscape
· Environmental awareness is increasing
· Technological development in many areas
· Political pressures
The mix of all these factors brings in a whole new world of threats and opportunities in the energy and utilities industry landscape. The range of services offered by Aqua MCG for the Energy and Utility industry helps clients face these challenges and unlock value from potential opportunities.
A major portion of the primary energy generated is used to generate electricity. For electric utility companies transmission & distribution and increasing asset utilization are the two very important aspects of the supply chain which needs significant improvement. Also, in the production side, environmental pollution and waste management is assuming increasing importance due to growing concerns of global warming.
The last decade has seen a growing acceptance of renewable energies as an alternate source of energy. There are different kinds of alternate energy sources being tapped today including wind energy, solar photovoltaic (PV), concentrated collar, geothermal, bio-fuels (including bio-mass) and a couple more innovative technologies. Solar energy has the major problem of shortage of modules. Geothermal has a high initial investment cost attached to it. However, the wind energy market is booming throughout the world. USA plans to derive 20% of its energy needs from wind energy by 2030. Among all the renewable energies, wind energy is one of the fastest growing segments due to its low cost of operations compared to other renewable energy sources like solar and geothermal. However, logistics in wind energy is hugely complex due to the transportation of huge equipments through roads highly inadequate near the sites. This problem is faced in developed countries like USA, and the issue would be larger in India. The cost of logistics goes up to 25% of the total cost. Supply of components and materials, scaling up of manufacturing capabilities, complex logistics and transportation issues are significant problems. Large amount of collaboration is required among the supply chain partners across the supply value chain, and hence Aqua MCG can provide solutions in integrating the manufacturers, logistics companies, port operations, etc. and design solutions to meet the supply chain complexity.
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