Age of efficiency

February is a month of important events for the utilities sector.

Market conditions may not hit power and water projects as hard as the construction industry - thanks to promises of increased government spending - but these networking and marketing events are now more essential than ever.

As Eric Jankel, CEO of Aqualyng put it when he spoke to UME, they are an opportunity to show ‘we're open for business'. It's not just a question of putting a brave face on things.

Events, whether conferences or trade shows, provide an excellent opportunity to network with peers, ruthlessly promote your company's specific set of skills and experience, and visibly demonstrate why you are the best option around.

Efficient use of these opportunities should not only cover the cost of participation, but help fill the order book and get you closer to your customers. The management term ‘customer intimacy' was concocted to describe the process of getting to know your customer's every need.

In the current climate every opportunity to meet customers, talk to them and learn more about them, should be grasped with both hands. The closer you are to your customers, the better your chance of getting hold of what business they may have to offer.

The recent World Future Energy Summit saw some of this happening, but it was very much an event of high profile and high ideas.

The events coming up may be hoping for the same kind of profile, but, as well as high ideas, should be full of practical examples of the incremental efficiency gains that drive improvement right across the utilities sector.

The CEO of Areva T&D, Phillipe Guillemot, who was in the region last month, saw improved efficiency as an issue at the top of the agenda for many of his customers - regional electricity utilities.

Losses during transmission are a key area for improvement and equipment upgrades across the region. The company is also involved in the development of the regional power grid, which has been designed to help connected countries off set each others power peaks, or put simply, be more efficient.

The same ideas can be applied to water. Although there are issues around distribution, it is most frequently the efficiency of consumption that comes into question.

In a recently released policy brief from the Middle East Institute, Mohamed Raouf highlighted the volume of water used for agriculture in the region.

It is a sector that consumes a quantity of water considerably out of proportion with its contribution to gross domestic product, or even food self-sufficiency. Raouf suggests change is required at a policy level if the use of water at a national level is to be made more effective.

The one lesson from all of this is that it's time to make the best of what you've got.

Stuart Matthews is the senior group editor of ITP Business' construction and energy magazines.

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