Prominent energy industry expert Robert Futter and co-founder Michael Udell have launched Florion, a new energy intelligence business.

This launch comes as South African businesses move beyond a focus on loadshedding into a far more complex energy environment, integrating a mix of grid power, solar, wheeled and traded energy.

Futter notes that there are currently no South African solutions designed to provide a single view across this new environment, where multiple energy sources, offtake contracts, pricing structures, regulations and market risks need to be managed as an integrated whole.

“Over the past two decades, I’ve worked with some of South Africa’s largest energy users to develop their energy strategies and procurement solutions. The good news is that those strategies are becoming operational, but the systems and reporting tools businesses rely on today were designed for a very different energy environment and have not kept pace with the contractual, commercial and regulatory complexity they are now expected to manage.

“Florion is the first South African solution designed specifically for this challenge, helping businesses understand exactly what has happened, what is happening now, and what is likely to happen next,” he explains.

While this provides new opportunities to reduce costs and emissions, it also introduces a new category of commercial risk and increases the need for businesses to manage energy far more actively. Under new energy arrangements, relatively small forecasting errors, contract underperformance or network disruptions can have significant financial consequences and, in some cases, translate into tens of millions of rands in avoidable cost leakage.

So far, the company has secured a contract from a large mining and beneficiation client operating in one of South Africa’s most energy-intensive sectors.

Futter also highlights that unlike traditional tools focused on specific operational functions, Florion provides and orchestrates a broader intelligence layer across the energy value chain, including visibility into areas such as energy cost and forecasting, contract performance, renewable-energy penetration, carbon-tax exposure, and environmental, social and governance- (ESG-) related reporting.

“While traditional energy management systems focus on specific operational functions, Florion takes a broader view of the energy environment. By bringing together and orchestrating data and intelligence from across the energy value chain, we help businesses make more informed, forward-looking decisions, reduce risk and unlock opportunities for greater competitiveness and growth,” he adds.

Additionally, Futter notes that the continued liberalisation of South Africa's electricity market, including the introduction of the South African Wholesale Electricity Market, will make it even more critical for businesses to have a single, trusted view of their energy position as they seek to capture the benefits of a more dynamic and competitive energy market.

Futter has more than 20 years of advisory experience in energy, infrastructure and project finance.