Airtricity:
Preparing to Enter the Single Electric Market
Ambition
Airtricity is a world leading renewable energy company, developing and operating wind farms in Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. As an integrated utility, the company is both a generator and supplier of green electricity and currently supplies green electricity to approximately 45,000 commercial customers in Ireland.
On the 1st November 2007 a new all-island wholesale electricity market was established in Ireland. The Single Electricity Market (SEM) is a gross pool market, into which all electricity generated on or imported onto the island of Ireland must be sold, and from which all wholesale electricity for consumption on or export from the island of Ireland must be purchased.
The introduction of the SEM resulted in the need for many process and system changes to allow the participants of this new market to operate within the newly defined market rules and processes.
To prepare themselves for this new market, Airtricity put a change programme in place to deliver the necessary business changes.
Looking to supplement the delivery capacity of their SEM change programme, and help ensure the required changes would be in place for market opening, Airtricity engaged VISION to manage a number of the key work streams of their SEM Change Programme.
Enter VISION
VISION were deployed and tasked with defining and mobilising a number of the key projects. Specifically, VISION managed the following:
Energy Trading & Risk Management
- Implementation and mobilisation of a new Energy Trading & Risk Management system that supported best practice trading and risk management.
SEM Retail
- mplementation and mobilisation of retail system and process enhancements that would allow Airtricity to continue to communicate with the market in accordance with the new market rules and processes.
SEM Wholesale (NI & ROI)
- Implementation and mobilisation of wholesale systems and processes that would support financial settlement, re-allocation, cash & credit management in accordance with the new market rules and processes.
Programme Test Management
- Implementation and execution of a test programme that would provide stakeholders with the confidence that the business can operate in the new electricity market.
Responsibilities undertaken by VISION included:
- Project initiation and mobilisation
- Project and Programme planning
- Budget management
- Key risk management
- Airtricity representation at market forums
- Vendor management
Value Delivered
Faced with fast approaching deadlines VISION provided immediate impact, on deployment, through rapid definition and mobilisation of projects, in support of the Airtricity Programme Management. Teams were mobilised, and approaches to delivery defined and implemented taking a pragmatic and realistic view on the conflicts between business requirements, quality, cost and timescales.
VISION's impact would be typified as bringing:
- Customer focus
- Close co-ordination across a multi-disciplined & multi-sourced team
- Rapid design and mobilisation of projects
- Pragmatic emphasis on issue resolution
- Agility and fleet of foot to an evolving market
- Strong project governance
Through the involvement of VISION, Airtricity successfully entered the new Single Electricity Market on 1st November 2007.
Client satisfaction
VISION was known to us as being a company that could deliver results although we had not used them prior to this engagement - we made initial contact and Vision mobilised very quickly and professionally.
The calibre of their team was exceptional -
they engaged well and brought experience and knowledge to the broader programme resulting in a successfully delivered business-critical project.
Paul Richardson, Head of Project Delivery, Airtricity