The Background of the Foundation of the Scaent Group
The necessity of change in the electrical power industry, resulting from the significant shifts in the modern global economy system, became obvious by the end of the 20th century. Prior to the 1990s the industry was in most cases represented by natural monopolies that provided power generation, transmission and supply to whole regions or even entire countries. Accordingly, the tariffs of these monopolies were set by the governments of the individual countries.
The aforementioned historical system met the needs of the global economy for a long period; however the dramatic rise of hydrocarbon fuel prices in 1970s, along with ever accelerating demand for electrical power, revealed the lack of efficiency of the system. Unfortunately, natural monopolies are often unable to follow the changing developments, as their investment and maintenance solutions are generally too expensive and cumbersome. This developing situation was further worsened by the global scrutiny and subsequent toughening of environmental legislation.
As a result some countries reviewed their moral and legal attitude towards their existing power generating monopolies and adopted measures that allowed for increased competition on their local markets. This dramatic change was achieved in most cases by splitting the monopolies into several smaller competing companies and/or by allowing new players to enter the local market.
These new structures required new rules to govern them: mainly due to the fact that in order to make an independent company really independent, it ought to have access to power transmission infrastructure and be able to set its own prices. A number of countries took a realistic view of the situation and made the appropriate legislative changes that finally enabled the formation of some free markets for electrical power.
The first competitive market emerged in England and Wales during 1990, while the first truly virtually unlimited competition conditions were introduced for the first time in Norway during 1991.
This trend is continuing and at present there are increasingly more countries introducing free markets for electrical power. This includes Australia, Canada, Chile, Sweden, Norway, Finland, United Kingdom, France, Germany, India, New Zealand, USA and a number of other countries. Furthermore, a free market for electrical power is a goal for the entire European Union and there are legislative measures in place to encourage the majority of EU members to open their electrical power markets in the very near future.
A series of reforms in the electrical power industry in Scandinavia (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland) during 1991 through 1999 created the most developed electrical power market in the world. The first ever international electrical power trading exchange – Nord Pool – was also formed on the basis of this market.
The dynamic development of the electrical power markets of Western Europe, along with the rapid integration of Eastern European countries into the global economy, allowed for a study to be completed by a group of financial analysts, lead by a businessman from Latvia. The conclusion was that electrical power trading is a profitable business with great prospects for the region covering both Scandinavia and the Baltic States. It is now obvious that the Scandinavian model for the electrical power industry – being the most efficient in the world – will continue to develop rapidly and undoubtedly expand to neighboring countries.
The building blocks and foundations of Scaent Group dates back to 2003 when a number of businessmen representing a privately owned management and investment holding company “The Unitrade Group” established Scaent AB. Its main purpose was to begin energy trading in Scandinavia.
The primary goal of Scaent AB was to combine the most experienced specialists in electrical power trading from the UK and Scandinavia, the two founding energy markets. The next phase was to study and learn from all the mistakes made by the existing competitive companies and to create a business model which was streamlined and efficient. At that time there was no expectation that a minor newcomer would become an ambitious player, with plans to rapidly reinforce its position throughout Scandinavia and beyond.
It was through careful study, serious endeavors and great determination that Scaent AB became the dynamic fast growing business that it is today, with operations in Scandinavia, the Baltic States, Western and Eastern Europe, Russia and Asia. At the beginning of 2008, the Scaent Group main companies are: Scaent AB (Sweden), Scaent Europower (Ireland), BaltEnergoTrade (Latvia), Scaent Baltic (Lithuania), Onergo Oy (Finland) and SKM Market Predictor (Norway). The expanding Group currently encompasses more than 10 core businesses and sub-Groups, working in 12 countries across 2 continents and employs over six hundred personnel.
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