EDP Brasil launches new brand to sell services and solar energy to customers

SÃO PAULO (Reuters)-The Portuguese group EDP intends to advance in the increasingly coveted energy services sector in Brazil with a new brand, which will bring together several solutions of the company for residential customers and companies--a menu that involves since Solar generation facilities and energy efficiency until safe. The creation of the so-called EDP Smart comes in the midst of a vision of EDP Brazil that the electricity sector will undergo accelerated changes in the medium and long term, with greater liberalisation and digitization, which should impact the business models of the electrical , he told Reuters the company's vice president of strategy and new business, Carlos Andrade. The initiative follows the betting of other major companies in the segment--the French Engie, for example, has conducted recent acquisitions of business in energy services in Brazil, while Aes Tietê, from the North American AES, and the Italian Enel launched companies focused on this niche--AES Ergos and Enel X. " It is a market for which the electric sector is walking. Obviously, we will not fail to have power plants, transmission business, distribution, but there is a very strong movement towards services, and EDP is already very advanced with this in Europe, "said Andrade.As activities gathered at EDP Smart added a Cash generation (EBITDA) of 180 million reais in 2018, or about 6% of the total EDP Brasil, a slice that can practically double in the coming years. Business EDP Brasil launches new brand to sell services and solar energy to customers BY LUCIANO COSTA/REUTERS • Posted on 20/05/19 at 13:08 By Luciano Costas PAULO (Reuters)-The Portuguese group EDP intends to advance in the increasingly coveted energy services sector in Brazil with a new brand, which will bring together several solutions of the company for residential customers and companies--a menu that It involves from solar generation facilities and energy efficiency to safe. The creation of the so-called EDP Smart comes in the midst of a vision of EDP Brazil that the electricity sector will undergo accelerated changes in the medium and long term, with greater liberalisation and digitization, which should impact the business models of the electrical , he told Reuters the company's vice president of strategy and new business, Carlos Andrade. The initiative follows the betting of other major companies in the segment--the French Engie, for example, has conducted recent acquisitions of business in energy services in Brazil, while Aes Tietê, from the North American AES, and the Italian Enel launched companies focused on this niche--AES Ergos and Enel X. " It is a market for which the electric sector is walking. Obviously, we will not fail to have power plants, transmission business, distribution, but there is a very strong movement towards services, and EDP is already very advanced with this in Europe, "said Andrade.As activities gathered at EDP Smart added a Cash generation (EBITDA) of 180 million reais in 2018, or about 6% of the total EDP Brasil, a slice that can practically double in the coming years. "We have some ambitions regarding the participation of this business in the group... We are talking about 10% to 12% of the EBITDA in 2023 ", pointed out the executive. He recalled that the electric market in Portugal, the company's headquarters, has already been fully liberalised, which means that consumers can directly choose their energy suppliers. In Brazil, customers are attended by distributors, but those with greater demand, such as industries, can enter the so-called electricity-free market to choose their supplier. But this market can still grow significantly, since the government of President Jair Bolsonaro has discussed a regulatory reform in the energy industry that should involve a gradual reduction of the requirements for consumers to operate in the market Free, opening more this niche, which can come at some point to residential customers. According to Andrade, EDP Smart will also act in the free market, but with a focus on energy sales to small and medium-sized companies, a modality known in the market as "retail marketing", which aims to simplify the adherence to this market for Consumers. "In Portugal, EDP has been offering energy sales along with sales of services for some years, and here in Brazil this is an emerging sector," he explained. MICROGENERATION and Followinganother of the niches in which EDP Smart will act is the so-called distributed power Generation--the installation of systems to directly meet the demand of customers, usually with solar panels. EDP Brasil has already built distributed generation solutions for large commercial and industrial consumers, but the new brand will seek to bring technology to homes and smaller companies. Andrade said that in this market EDP Smart will test two models of operation--the installation of solar panels on roofs or land from companies to customers directly and the construction of larger solar generation "farms" that can sell the Production to a large number of consumers, in a pulverized manner. "We will act on both fronts. In the case of solar ceilings, we install to the customer and banks finance the purchase of the panels. In the solution of the ' farms ', we make a solar system and the client acquires quotas, as if it were a piece of that plant. There is a model of rent, he does not need to buy, "explained Andrade. We need to test the demand a little and see what the consumer wants. We will offer the two models, "he added, noting that in Portugal EDP is a leader in this market, with more than 13000 photovoltaic systems already installed. In addition to these businesses, directly linked to the electrical industry, EDP Smart will also offer some products in the area of insurance and residential services. On the one hand, these products will involve various insurances--such as protection of residences, fire and emergency assistance services, as well as coverage against loss of income for involuntary unemployment, accidental death and others, with the right to Participation in Sweepstakes. On the other hand, the company will offer services--single or gathered in the so-called package facilitates EDP--involving attendance 24 hours of utilities such as electrician, plumber, keychains and repairs. "These products allow us to establish a long-term relationship with the customer," Andrade said.