Energy Industry News & Publications

We now have the pleasure of launching MRC Greece and welcoming Dr. Giorgios Giannakidis as MD of the company.

MRC Greece is specialized in energy modeling and evidence-based planning of the energy sector, and will significantly contribute to strengthen our Modelling Unit.

Take a look at their brand new website: mrcgreece.com

MRC Consultants and Transaction Advisers continues to grow and enrich itself as it learns to adapt to changing times: we are very happy to announce that we have recently established the | Sustainable Mobility Practice | among our service portfolio.

Since our journey in this field began two years ago, MRC has engaged with a number of companies and individual experts with long-track record in sustainable transport planning and e-mobility, and now covers all the technical, economic, regulatory and E&S expertise required for successful project implementation.

In the last twelve months we have been awarded more than five projects and have already completed several of them in the Caribbean, South America, Middle East and North Africa regions, with several prospective projects in Europe and Central Asia.

For further information please contact the Head of Unit Pablo Izaguirre or the Unit’s Commercial Responsible Maya Suh.

The team of MRC Group member MRC Consultants and Transaction Advisers (Madrid) – Carlo Citerio as Project Manager, with Henar Barriuso, Marina Paradela and Jean Vera – has supported the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy of Senegal in setting up the regulatory framework for the implementation of the "Gas to Power" strategy. The forthcoming entry into operation of the Gas Field at Grand Tortue/ Ahmeyim will make it possible to use the gas to supply power generation plants.

Senegal's new gas resources could, in the coming years, trigger a profound transformation of the national economy: not only for export revenues, but also for the need for cheap energy sources for the production of iron, phosphate and bauxite.

MRC Group member MRC Consultants and Transaction Advisers is very proud to announce they are part of the team led by Intec - GOPA-International Energy Consultants for the project “Consulting services - Transitioning the South African electricity supply industry”, funded by KfW within the German Financial Cooperation with South Africa.

In the context of Eskom’s unbundling, the study will be developed in four stages including proposing the overarching policy, ownership, governance, management, legislative and regulatory arrangements (including related key fiscal, financial and economic considerations) to transit from the current situation to the proposed end state of the option agreed to by the Steering Committee and a detailed roadmap for restructuring with appropriate timelines and milestones for the agreed option.

In response to the changes due to the pandemic, MRC Group has been conducting virtual meetings with colleagues and clients, as well as online Board Meetings connecting the 10 sister companies located in different countries across the globe. We also attended the first ever virtual Asia Clean Energy Forum (ACEF) held on June 15-19, 2020 along with over 4,600 other attendees, a record breaker for the ACEF.

Pieter Nel and Kris Tampinco in the Philippines kicking off a project for the Review of the Historic Expenditures of all Private Electricity Distribution Utilities. For more information please contact: kris@nelconsulting.com

Kris Tampinco was a panel member at the Public Information Session for Mini Grid Regulations in Zambia. Presentations during the session will be posted on the Energy Regulation Board website. Please click on this link to visit the website

MRC Group had their 17th meeting in Rome. The 9 member companies are currently working in more than 27 countries around the World and are delivering projects in 7 different languages across 5 sectors: electricity, gas, renewables, water and district heating. The capabilities of the Group continue to expand including in June 2019, the acquisition by MRC Spain of Adalid Asesores y Consultores (ADAYC), a specialist practise in solar engineering, led by their Director, Santiago Mirabal.

The undergrid minigrid market in Nigeria is a huge, untapped opportunity. Thousands of communities could benefit, as well as electricity distribution companies. Read our latest report, Electrifying the Underserved, to learn about the critical decision points required to implement undergrid minigrids.

NCL’s Kris Tampinco, part of the MRC Group, is in Zambia for the development of mini-grid regulations for the EU funded project IAEREP under the service contract “Enhancement of the Policy, Legal and Regulatory Environment and Capacity Building for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency”. Kris is currently working with the Energy Regulation Board for the development of the implementation aspects of the tariff rules.

Douglas Caskie and Jorge Colomer represented MRC Group at the Africa Energy Forum in Lisbon from 11-14th June. The Forum brings together decision-makers in Africa's energy sector to form partnerships, identify opportunities and collectively move the industry forward. aef has a loyal following of credible players working in the power space, and a track record of delivering a valuable networking experience.

Rahila Thomas talks to HEIR about young women in the power sector. Folow the link to find out more about Rahila's career. Interview with Rahila Thomas.

SIGLA and MRC Spain have signed a new contract, together with University of Comillas (Spain), with the IDB, ENDE (Bolivia) and ELETROBRAS (Brazil). The contract worth USD 704,000 includes a planning study and preliminary technical studies for the electric interconnection project between Bolivia and Brazil. For further details please contact Maria Bence Pieres (maría.bencepieres@sigla.com.ar)

Alice Waltham is in Tanzania delivering training to mini-grid developers and utility regulator on the use of "Excel-based Off Grid Cost of Service and User Charge Analysis Tool". The tool, designed by MRC Group, is designed to be highly flexible to support both policy makers and private developers in setting user charges.

MRC Group, together with our partners ECCO Intl and EXERGIA, has been appointed by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (MENR) of Turkey to assist them in the development of the power and gas markets in the country. The consortium, led by MRC, will assist MENR in a series of studies on the harmonisation of electricity and natural gas laws following the adoption of the EU Third Energy Package. For more information contact Jorge Colomer jcolomer@mrc-consultants.com

MRC, VaasaETT, REKK, and The Advisory House are delighted to announce the commencement of a Europe-wide research project to analyse barriers to entry in retail energy markets in the EU. The ground-breaking project, the most extensive of its kind to-date, will research the challenges facing suppliers and other retail market competitors such as aggregators and ESCOs in 30 European electricity and gas markets. All 28 member states plus Switzerland and Norway, will be researched. For more information contact José María López jmlopez@mrc-consultants.com

MRC assisted KETRACO in developing an investment and financing strategy that will allow the company to implement its corporate strategy without compromising its financial sustainability. MRC developed a forward-looking model aimed at evaluating different scenarios of KETRACO’s financial performance varying the main drivers which affect the company. For more information contact José María López jmlopez@mrc-consultants.com

NCL and MRC Spain, both members of the MRC Group, attended the Asian Development Bank's 10th Business Opportunities Fair in Manila. The Fair was an excellent opportunity to network with peers in the energy  sector.

EMRC attended the Benin Electricity Distribution Company 2019 Retreat Programme. During the retreat we facilitated a session on Global Industry Review and the Outlook for 2019. Participants at the retreat interacted to develop relevant plans for effective business operations in the future.

EMRC were co-authors on a report 'Under the Grid' which was led by the Rocky Mountain Institute. The report looks at ways to improve the economics and reliability of rural electricity service with undergrid minigrids. Download a copy of the report via the following link https://rmi.org/insight/under-the-grid

EMRC co-authors a journal paper with the University of Edinburgh on power rationing in a long-term power shortage (Energy Policy). We develop methods to quantify the trade-off between maximising the total amount of power delivered and distributing the available power in a fairer way. We apply our methods to a case study of the Nigerian Power system and analyse the Pareto frontiers between efficiency and fairness. We show that current Nigerian policies reduce the total amount of power delivered by up to 5%. Please contact louise.thomson@energy-mrc.com for more details.

MRC Group were engaged by the Lesotho Electricity and Water Authority (LEWA) to deliver Cost of Service Study Tariff (COSST) model training for LEWA, Lesotho Electricity Corporation (LEC) and the Department of Energy (DoE). The aim of the training was the building of an understanding in users of the COSST model and how to apply it and ensure users learn to operate the model effectively. Our training experts assisted appointed LEWA, LEC and DoE trainees to become COSST model experts that will be available as trainers to pass on their knowledge in years to come. Such training is intended to form the foundation for LEWA to undertake the determination of LEC’s tariffs for 2018/19 and beyond.

MRC has recently been appointed to develop a conceptual framework and decision-making tool for designing user charges for off-grid energy solutions and determining appropriate subsidization/incentive in Tanzania. It is designed to support policy makers and regulators in creating a level playing field for services supplied by off-grid solutions vs. the central grid, thereby supporting the broader objective of scaling up energy access in Tanzania.