Power, Utilities & Infrastructure
Power, Utilities & Infrastructure
The Power, Utilities & Infrastructure (PU&I) group works collectively to cover three main sub-sectors.
Power covers power generation from different sources including renewable energy (onshore and offshore wind, solar, concentrated or thermo solar, hydro-electricity), energy from waste, and conventional thermal power (nuclear and gas).
Utilities covers electricity, gas and heat supply, water and waste management, and energy solutions for B2C, B2B and municipal clients (efficiency, distributed energy, energy management, smart home, smart city, storage, e-mobility, EV charging, hydrogen/green gas and digital solutions).
Infrastructure comprises energy infrastructure (gas transmission and distribution networks, power transmission and distribution networks, heat and cold networks, gas and power storage and LNG terminals) and transport infrastructure (airports, toll roads, ports and tunnels).
Companies in the PU&I sector are subject to a wide range of industry dynamics including major energy transition and stricter environmental standards to reduce CO2 emissions, evolving customer needs and the continual emergence of new technologies and client solutions.
At Societe Generale our sector approach enables us to anticipate these trends for the benefit of our clients and seek out investment and financing opportunities as they emerge. Taking a long-term view, our industry bankers are constantly scouring the market for new ideas to grow our clients’ businesses.
How we work with clients
Those who succeed in this challenging market will be the companies who get to grips with the realities of the new environment. Their focus will be on continuously adjusting their portfolio of activities, redeploying their capital into new business models and solutions while continuing to deliver long-term shareholder value.
Strategic dialogue with our clients is the cornerstone of our approach. We marry a strong understanding of the markets with an in-depth knowledge of the strategic initiatives taken by the key industry players in Europe. We are therefore well positioned to assist our clients in their transformation plan - very often the biggest and most important corporate actions they have undertaken over the past 10 years – and in achieving their ambitions.
The team, based in London is made up of 15 people who work across the PU&I sector on all geographies in collaboration with both senior bankers in charge of key clients relationships and corporate finance and financing colleagues based in key European cities, CEEMEA, the Americas and in Asia.
Deep-dive on Power, Utilities & Infrastructure
The ‘3Ds’ are the new norm: decarbonisation, decentralisation, and digitalisation. The energy sector is undergoing unprecedented transformation. This is led by the changing needs of the consumer, stricter environmental standards to reduce CO2 emissions and the continual proliferation of new technologies and customer solutions driven by the Internet of Things. At the same time, big data, analytics and digitalisation enable energy efficiency, increase the penetration of new services and customer loyalty while reducing costs to serve.
The Energy transition has changed the sector dramatically. The switch from a centralised conventional power generation model to a potentially decentralised renewable power generation model is changing the picture forever. As a result, a new fragmented electrification wave is underway requiring flexible markets, network rebalancing and system responsibility at the regional or local operator level.
One day every house in Europe will have the capacity to generate its own power. ‘Smart homes’ will transform the way that people consume power forever. The Internet of Things requires innovation to make the technologies available to consumers. Meanwhile governments and regulators are encouraging the use of smart systems and greener standards for the measurement of both consumption and generation.
Renewable energy becomes a dominant source of power generation globally. Load factors of conventional power generation plants are dropping dramatically. Power prices are dropping too. Today, typically it is becoming cheaper to produce power from offshore wind than it is to produce from nuclear.