(AOF) – As part of the “Reconquest” initiated by the 3R Plan, in terms of R&D and Innovation, the Vergnet Group is currently developing a solution to help network managers fight against the “fatal” nature of renewable energies. Thus, it works in collaboration with weather forecast data providers in order to eliminate the so-called “fatal” nature of renewable energies, whose sources (wind, sun, etc.) are unpredictable.
In concrete terms, based on weather forecast data for 2 days, 1 day and a few hours, Vergnet aims to provide electricity network managers with precise electricity production forecasts for solar and wind power plants.
This service allows network operators to integrate renewable energy plants into their production schedule for conventional power plants (diesel, coal, etc.).
In order to bring added value to the entire market, Vergnet wanted this new function to be deployable on all ENR power plants, not just the power plants built by the Group.
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Greater disparities between utilities
The World Energy Markets Observatory highlights a wide disparity in retail energy prices in Europe. Suffering from both the effect of the rise in wholesale prices and high volatility in selling prices to end consumers, the profitability of players is under pressure. While the sixteen largest European energy suppliers benefited last year from a significant increase in their turnover (+47% compared to 2020), their gross operating margin (Ebitda margin) , deteriorated from 20.2% to 19.6%. Those who had to resort to purchasing electricity on the market had to pay these additional volumes much more expensive than the level of sale prices already set and therefore saw their margins deteriorate.
Faced with the lower availability of its nuclear fleet, EDF, renationalised, should post an annual loss of 29 billion euros in 2022. Engie is doing better because it succeeded in reducing its imports of Russian gas in the first half while benefiting from high electricity prices and its increased exposure to renewable sources.