Save on energy bills, increase energy efficiency and reduce CO₂. This could be the New Year's resolution of many companies that see energy not just as a cost item, but as a strategic area to manage. Where do companies really stand with energy? We don't have detailed analysis or statistics, but we'd like to share some insights from our 2024 client meetings. Here are 5 key takeaways:
1. The energy industry is not just for specialists, it's for executives.
The topic of energy is increasingly moving from technical departments to the strategic management of companies. With the increasing number of solutions and technologies available comes the need to create clear strategies and manage them at the management level.
2. Energy management also plays a key role for ESG
The most advanced companies can link energy management with ESG. A large number of our customers have started to actively address ESG. Related to this is their need to not only monitor their carbon footprint and energy consumption, but to actively manage it. Last year, we had discussions with virtually all of our largest clients about new tools in FBX to manage their energy carbon footprint.
3. Data intelligence - a tool that connects energy data and corporate management
In 2024, we launched a unique Data Intelligence module that enables automated analysis of energy data. The response from both energy and management has been positive. It is thanks to Data Intelligence that we have been able to make professional efficiency management available to our clients and to detect and accurately quantify inefficiencies in the tens of millions of crowns.
4. Companies want more than data tracking: they aim for optimization
We are meeting more and more companies that already monitor energy consumption with data. We meet them at the moment when they find that they are missing some professional tool that would help them automate some activities, implement more sophisticated analyses and also make it easier for them to find further optimization opportunities. In our experience, up to 40% of companies are using basic monitoring tools, about 15% are using advanced analytics for energy management but basically all of them lack truly professional tools for continuous data management. This inspires us a lot in our development of EMOS.
5. Data alone is not enough - action is needed.
We sometimes encounter the misconception that simply monitoring data or installing metering equipment will automatically bring savings. In reality, we need to actively use the data, simulate actions and take concrete steps to improve. Just monitoring data will not change anything.
Outlook 2025: microgrids and new opportunities
We see active microgrid management as a major theme for 2025 in the corporate, but also in municipal or building energy. This topic is related to the involvement of renewable energy sources, the entry into community energy, the spot market, the use of energy storage and other optimization of the consumption process. This is a huge opportunity for FLOWBOX, which is a great tool not only for monitoring and data analysis, but above all for the control and autonomous management of energy flows and commanding of technologies, and we are already looking forward to new projects that will test our new microgrid tools.
