For 2020, a focus on R&D and flawless project execution
For 2020, a focus on German corridor and R&D
In terms of operational excellence, 2019 was “one of the best years ever,” said Hakan Ozmen, EVP at Prysmian Group’s Projects Business Unit, adding he expects 2020 to be another solid year.
“I hope 2019 will be a good foundation for successful execution in 2020, because the most important thing in the project business is the quality of execution,” he said. “So I expect that 2020 is going to be similar to 2019 regardless of financial results. I don’t want to look at the numbers. Instead if we can guarantee that the fundamentals are there, in the long term this business unit will generate the numbers automatically because of market growth.”
Last year was one of the Project unit’s best in terms of operations for three reasons, said Hakan. First of all, the unit concluded around 10 projects in 2019. Second and more importantly, it had the lowest changes in terms of costs, and problems in factories or on vessels – meaning execution was very successful. Thirdly, order intake accounted for over 50% of the market led by high profile awards like Viking, Vineyard Wind, NNG and DolWin 5.
This strong execution was the result of an internal organization change that split operational and business sides of the unit into two different parts, setting targets for each and sharpening focus on results.
“I can’t say the success of 2019 was by chance. There is a lot to be done going forward, but I feel comfortable with the changes and their effects,” he said.
This year will see the Projects BU compete for the German HVDC tenders to build thousands of kilometres of underground cable links transporting energy from wind farms off the northern coast of Germany to its factory-packed south, home of Germany’s famed industry and a key engine of European growth. These “energy corridors” are the foundation of European’s Energy transition, moving away from fossil fuels to sustainable energy. The main challenge in enabling this shift to renewable energy is creating networks that are more efficient and less costly, he said.
There can be no energy transition without cables. By taking part in these German tenders (if given the opportunity to execute), Prysmian will enable the energy transition not only through state-of-the-art cables but also using the tools we have to monitor of the cable systems’ condition to detect any potential for an outage and minimize the effects on the public.
Hakan Ozmen
EVP Projects
“Prysmian is trying to reduce the cost for the energy transmission systems that we put into place,” he said. “We are increasing investment on Research & Development a little bit more than into capacity, ensuring highest quality standards, thanks to our rigorous monitoring process at every stage of product’s life.”
“We will be focused on R&D this year and start on the delivery of big projects like Viking. We want the execution to be flawless,” he said.
