Energy market liberalization represents not only a gradual and momentary price increase to end-consumers, but also the possibility of establishing new companies in a market segment not long ago closed: energy supply for residential consumers. Once the tariffs set by the state eliminated, the game of supply and demand becomes key element allowing the emergence of new market actors, such as Eva Energy.

Together with Eva Energy’s founder, Christian Hagmann, energynomics.ro Magazine explored the business model of the newest energy supplier in Romania, as well as prospects for development of the sector and of the company for the coming year.

Mr. Christian Hagmann, what are the ideas underlying Eva Energy, where did it start and where is it going to?

We have been working in energy for 20 years. I started in Vienna, where I provided management for medium voltage networks, and in 2010 I was invited to conferences in Romania, dedicated to smart networks. In short, our group makes IT, design and execution of energy projects, to which energy supply was added.

When we started operating in Romania, we decided to start with IT services for energy and with research, field in which we conducted network automation studies, but which did not materialize in projects. As an example, together with ICEMENERG and ICPE, we have conducted research on taking over by the transmission network for energy produced by power plants from renewable sources and calculation of energy reserve related to adjustment.

As company strategy, we first conducted an analysis of the energy market in Romania and discovered that it was a market with strange features. For example, there is still focus on smart metering and on the degree of installation and operation of these metering instruments. From our point of view, such an action must be based on similar thinking of a business strategy’ it’s important to decide especially the percentage of energy metered, because large consumers already own meters that can be read remotely.

Notions of energy poverty and economic barometer start from deep evaluations of the energy market on consumption component. A real economic growth is always reflected in energy consumption; in the first half, Romania had an increase in final energy consumption by around 3.5%.

Each company has its comparative advantages. What are the items that make from Eva Energy a serious competitor in supply?

Following the analysis recalled earlier, I decided to build the energy supply company about which we are talking today. After the decision, two years of preparations, analyzes and internal calculations followed, to approach the market and not leave any element to chance.

We don’t want to be energy sellers, but energy suppliers; therefore we sought customers from the entire economic and social spectrum. Both the home on top of the hill and the metropolitan mall need an energy supplier. Success of concluding supply contracts took us by surprise; from a moment we realized we couldn’t continue without a well implemented information system, its absence or poor architecture being considered vulnerabilities in development.

With an innovative approach on portfolio structuring, we managed to keep under control the consumption curve and we are currently pioneers in subscription-based energy supply, with a tolerance margin on exceeding consumption included in contracts. In parallel, we took measures to train and inform our customers, measures which are working and which we organized in such a way as to avoid being too small to make a difference or too dense, leaving for the customer time and space to process the data, to learn organically. Regardless if it changes the supplier or not, the consumer who begins a negotiation already has an advantage: it will no longer buy energy at the price it had before, it has an alternative, it is no longer blocked in something fixed.

————————————-

The full version of this article can be read in printed edition of energynomics.ro Magazine, issued on December 2015.

In order to receive the next issue (March 2016) of energynomics.ro Magazine for free, we encourage you to write us at [email protected] to include you in our distribution list.