Navigating Challenges and Embracing Innovations in the Industry

Mark Taylor is the Head of Energy and Sustainability Operations at SMS plc. He leverages his ten years of experience in the energy and sustainability industry in consultancy, overseeing product, process, and system development, budgeting and forecasting, and contractor management. In an exclusive interview with Energy Consulting 2023, Mark Taylor shared his valuable insights on upcoming smaller innovations in the industry of data and energy procurement and how they aid in mitigating the challenges in the industry.

Could you give me a brief overview of your experience within the renewable energy industry and talk about your role in your current organization?

My 10-year career in the energy industry started after I did my MSc in renewable energy at Reading University. Following my education, I embarked on my venture with small energy consultants seeking new and existing building refurbishment schemes for planning applications. I was working alongside others in producing SAP and ISM assessments, and I initiated these activities when I began my professional journey.

After this, I worked for a multinational consultancy in optimizing energy, which entailed assessing large estates in the public sector, evaluating their energy consumption, exploring opportunities to reduce consumption, and conversely, generating energy in those estates as and when necessary.

Subsequently, I worked as an energy manager for a student housing organization, which evaluated their consumption and discovered opportunities within the organization to reduce consumption.

I’m a consultant helping organizations reduce their operational energy consumption and carbon emission. I also work with clients to comprehend their net zero journeys by understanding the consumption of different assets within their estate, producing business cases, constructing procurement strategies, supporting the delivery of projects, and also on monitoring and targeting savings that they expect to achieve from those projects.

What are some of the significant challenges and trends that are currently impacting the energy industry?

The recent surge in energy costs has significantly impacted all of my clients’ properties, and it is crucial to align hedging strategies effectively to address this issue. However, despite implementing hedging measures to a considerable extent, most of my clients face challenges due to the continued rise in energy prices. As a result, they have experienced varying levels of impact on their estates.

We have a 10-year projection for the energy industry’s future, but we cannot account for unexpected international incidents. We could not foresee this obstacle, a prominent barrier in the industry.

Price uncertainty is detrimental in the context of investing. People can commit to investor organizations confidently in their investments, provided the prices are predictable. As a result, any uncertainty will affect forthcoming investment decisions and the perception of risks against those investments.

Along with the price uncertainty, there is also uncertainty regarding gas and electricity in the UK. We are placing emphasis and price for net zero products and services against electricity. The UK is working on drawing fair comparisons between the benefits of electricity and gas, and it will continue to do so, but this leads to uncertainty in terms of pricing, which feeds into carbon reduction commitment and aids in general clarity messaging from the government.

I use hydrogen as an example against an EV charging infrastructure and get a clear message of UK plc’s future direction. In this context, any clarity of messaging is important.

What are some of the projects you are currently working on? What are some of the present practices and technologies you are looking forward to?

I am currently working on projects involving smart controls. Smart monitoring and control equipment within hospitality and retail is an area I have been involved with for the past few years. In terms of technologies that help reduce demand and aid in understanding demand, there are a plethora of new smart systems and technologies present, which can only be used in large organizations for building management systems and portals that connect with them.

Now that has changed as new players are entering the market, introducing new products that are more lightweight, agile, intuitive, easier to use and program, and potentially open protocol. These new smart technologies are readily available in the market to aid in driving intelligence and enhance the capability for improved control. In terms of technological change, hardware, software, automation, and algorithms go alongside these new innovations, helping facilitate forthcoming transformations.

A note of caution comes with these innovations; when you have numerous smaller systems and different smaller operators of those systems, integrating them into a wider piece becomes a challenge. In such scenarios, understanding different types of hardware and software solutions is an advantage, and strategizing about integrating them into business operations is important while considering smart controls and smart systems.

Do you have any advice you’d like to share with your peers or budding industry leaders on how they can address the challenges in the industry?

The market is dynamic as there are multiple changes in the energy procurement and data market; monitor them closely. There are entrenched actors within the markets, but new actors and financial models are also being introduced. Therefore, understanding these market sectors, particularly procurement, and data, is crucial.

Numerous disruptors are being introduced to the energy sector, requiring large amounts of data to operate optimally. To develop competitive products and services, these actors must connect with relevant data sources and understand the underlying financial models. This is exciting, but keeping up with the rapid pace of change and innovations in these industries is challenging.