Companies in many industries operate in an energy self-sufficient mode thanks to enexion

The energy markets have been in turmoil not only since the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine. Even before that, insolvencies of supposedly established players showed how quickly utility failures can affect the business routines of industrial customers. The cases of electricity and gas suppliers Natgas in 2019 and Kehag at the beginning of 2022 are certainly among the most prominent examples. However, the risk of energy bottlenecks, supply stoppages and cost explosions has increased noticeably in the last twelve months due to the Ukraine war. The size of a supplier has long since ceased to be an argument for reliable, price-stable supply. For energy-intensive companies in particular, the current situation can have consequences that threaten their very existence if electricity and gas contracts are suddenly terminated or not renewed, or if their continuation is subject to significantly higher conditions. According to enexion, there is only one sustainable option to pull the ripcord here: the path to supply self-sufficiency. In the past year, the procurement specialists from Schwalbach have provided professional support to several companies in different sectors and demonstrated their extensive expertise.

“The last few months of our daily business have impressively shown how quickly energy self-sufficiency can be implemented when the need arises. For most energy-intensive companies, it was still considered a free ride two years ago to take more control of their own destinies and to make themselves independent of classic supplier agreements through their own market access. Last year, however, some industry representatives - from data centre operators to building material producers to plastics processors – had no other option at all to be able to maintain operations in the long run,” says Theo Parpan, Managing Director of enexion GmbH. The relevant projects were triggered by the termination of supply agreements or massive risk surcharges and price increases on the part of previous supply partners, which required rapid action. Solutions were needed - and in a rush: “Normally it takes at least a year to establish self-sufficient procurement strategies for electricity and gas on the company side. With a total of five customers, we were able to complete this change process within a few months in 2022,” reports Parpan. With the support of enexion and access to their own balancing group, they were all able to exploit their independence from individual energy suppliers and traders as an advantage within a very short time.

The enexion team supports companies in energy-intensive industries in switching to self-sufficiency on the basis of TEC® (Total Energy Costs) energy cost management. "The issue of security of supply is more important than ever, especially in energy-intensive industries, and supplier independence takes a crucial burden off companies' shoulders. In this context, we have been able to massively expand our experience in the last eighteen months and demonstrate how quickly and at the same time comprehensively corresponding change processes can be implemented with the right partner," concludes Theo Parpan.