Industry has energy to beat the crunch

London - While Government and Bank of England officials are confirming and even, it seems, talking up 'economic recession', industry leaders continue to shrug off the doom and gloom and forecast continuing investment in capital programmes in the UK, particularly in energy-related projects.

Upbeat assessments of continuing robustness in UK industrial markets and the growing importance of energy to the economy have also been reinforced by Andrew Caan, chief executive officer of UK Trade & Investment, at the recent Future Talent conference in London.

"The credit crunch and recession will pass but issues of energy supply and the cost of energy will be with us for decades," Caan said. "Don't believe that the global economic downturn will reduce demand for energy. This issue will continue to dominate, along with challenges such as carbon capture."

Meanwhile, Jeff Whiting, commerical communications manager at the Automation Systems Division of Mitsubishi Electric Europe, does not expect to match the record growth achieved by the company last year, but is confident about the prospects for the UK market over the next two years.

According to Whiting, despite the current global economic concerns, Mitsubishi has not noticed any slow down in the volume of enquiries. "The evidence is that there is strong demand out there. There is still [on-going] investment in the UK," said Whiting. "Unlike the retail sector, much of manufacturing in the UK is involved in supplying things that people need, so we are confident for this year and next year."

Similarly, Duncan Fletcher MD of Copa Data UK said on-going turmoil in the world’s financial markets is unlikely to have a negative impact on the market for SCADA systems. Indeed, he believes that the current global trends will actually drive growth in demand for the technology in key market areas.

Most of the key markets for SCADA, such as energy, power distribution, food & beverage and pharmaceutical, all remain essential parts of everyday life, Fletcher pointed out. Moreover, he said, pressure to reduce costs and improve environmental performance, means process operators in these sectors will be pushing for better, more efficient ways of producing.

Of greater concern to the industry bosses, is the continuing resistance among UK companies to invest in energy-saving product such as varibale speed drives. This, said Whiting,  "remains a challenging market for us all. The whole industry needs to get its message out there."

Whiting noted how Defra is forecasting a huge shortfall in technology uptake, with as many as 40% of companies not investing in energy-saving technology that could save them moneny and reduce their carbon footprint. He also cited industry figures showing that variable speed drives have still only 15% penetration of the estimated 10 million motors in use in the UK.

Rather than blame individual groups such as engineers, finance directors or even government, Whiting believes that there are some deeper-lying root causes. He said, for instance, that "some of this resistance comes back to the old engineering approach of 'if it ain't broke why fix it."

Mitsubishi has, however detected the start of a sea change in attitudes led, in part, by presure from high street company such as Marks and Spencer and B&Q, as well as bodies like the Institute of Directors (IoD). He commented: "Five years ago the IoD were not interested in this area but that has now changed. It is a major point to have boardrooms talking about energy. We are moving in the right direction but still a long way to go."

At Copa Data, Fletcher highlighted how SCADA suppliers can benefit from UK government plans to establish 7000 wind turbines deployed over the next 12 years. These projects will require SCADA systems with the remote acquisition of data.