Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) is a rapidly growing business model in which energy service providers offer their customers a range of energy-related services. In contrast to the traditional energy model, in which customers are simply charged according to the number of kWh of electricity consumed, EaaS business models can include services ranging from energy-related advice and the installation of energy systems to energy management. Depending on the service, customers may be billed one-time upfront or recurring fees (including subscription-based fees, performance-based fees, and fees based on a breakdown of energy savings). Energy-related services, which are billed on a recurring fee basis, enable customers to take advantage of the latest and most efficient energy technologies without incurring the high upfront capital costs required to install solar panels, energy storage solutions or other expensive technologies.
These new, innovative EaaS business models can help displace older, more traditional energy models, much like how Netflix transformed the video entertainment industry. Traditional energy markets work according to a model of central generation, in which chargeable, passive energy consumers obtain their entire energy requirement per kWh from large, institutional energy suppliers. However, just as Netflix is using customized digital platforms and subscription-based services to replace stationary video rental stores like Blockbusters, EaaS providers could also use similar platforms and subscription-based technologies to support a bidirectional energy market for decentralized generation and pose a daunting challenge against established players in the traditional energy market.
How do EaaS systems work in practice? According to Deloitte, one way to envision a widespread adoption of the EaaS model is to envision “a highly synchronized and sustainable energy platform that has millions of intelligent physical assets interconnected.” A digital layer could use both system-wide and individualized data to collect and distribute energy and information in real time, enabling a wide range of interactive products and services to be traded. For a simple, recurring fee, EaaS companies can offer their customers a variety of energy services that allow customers to reduce or avoid direct electricity payments or to pay out-of-pocket upfront costs for expensive equipment and software upgrades – while being the most advanced and efficient Technologies on the market. Crucially, digital technologies enable EaaS providers to actively monitor minute-to-minute shifts in demand and equipment degradation, creating levels of energy efficiency that most midsize businesses don't have the time and capacity to achieve to reach.
New players appear and rely on their presence in the EaaS room. On May 25, 2021, GreenStruxure – a joint venture between Schneider Electric, a global electrical equipment company, and Huck Capital, a private equity investor in sustainable energy – won its first publicly announced investor, including a $ 500 million deal the Blackstone subsidiary ClearGen. This investment is intended to provide GreenStruxure with sufficient capital to build projects with a value of around 250 to 300 megawatts. Jose Lorenzo, CEO of GreenStruxure, estimates that EaaS is potentially a multi-billion dollar market: “It's solar, storage, PPAs [power purchase agreements], and energy services, all together. ”Other emerging players in the EaaS space include Calibrant Energy – a joint venture between Siemens and private equity firm Macquarie Capital – and Endurant Energy, a developer recently acquired by and by LS Power LS Power an investment in micro, grid and decentralized energy projects from Endurant Energy.
In response to the rise of EaaS, incumbents in the traditional energy market may need to change their business models to weather the same disruptive trends that have gripped the retail, transportation and entertainment industries in recent years. The incumbents should seek to digitize their capabilities and expand their energy solution offerings as they begin to identify opportunities in the EaaS space that fit current and future segments of their business.
[View source.]