BKW GROUP
DIGITAL REPORT 2020
Driving Digital Change for Energy and Technology IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Driving Digital Change for Energy and Technology 02
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BKW GROUP
Thomas Zinniker, Chief Information Officer at BKW Group, explains how business is thriving through synergies across energy, grid and services
T
homas Zinniker, BKW Group’s Chief Information Officer, pops up on Zoom against a striking Alpine backdrop and
for the next hour, speaks with refreshing clarity about the changing nature of energy and technology, and BKW’s pivotal position at the heart 04
of these changes. Whether it’s urbanisation, climate change or digitalisation, BKW Group is a driver of change and comfortable embracing solutions, innovations and data, as befits its vision to create “infrastructure solutions for a future worth living”. One of its core messages is decentralisation and maintaining flexibility amid volatility, across its three central business sectors – Energy, Grid and Services. Specifically, it has expertise in five key areas; Energy, Power Grid, Infra Services, Building Solutions and Engineering. The numbers speak for themselves. In the half year to 2020, BKW’s revenues shot up 12 per cent to around CHF1.5 billion and operating profit rose 5 per cent to CHF219 million.
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“ We have grown dramatically over the last couple of years and we’ve taken the strategy to build up a network of companies rather than integrate them” — Thomas Zinniker, Chief Information Officer, BKW Group
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Recently BKW announced its entrance into the gas market, primarily for two reasons; it has significant par-
“We have grown dramatically over
ticipation in power plants, enabling it to
the last couple of years and we’ve
buy gas more cheaply, and many of its
taken the strategy to build up a
business customers are demanding
network of companies rather than
turn-key solutions.
integrate them,” Zinniker says, “which
Fuelling Energy, Grid and Services
means we need technology to create
One key factor in the group’s ongo-
that network, to combine skills, for big-
ing success is its ability to diversify
ger projects and all the collaboration
and keep one eye on the bigger pic-
elements that are essential.”
ture – whether it’s entering the gas market and providing end customers with a comprehensive energy offering from a single-source supplier; opening
Diversity I Corporate Film I BKW CLICK TO WATCH
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2:11
07 up new distribution channels with
With half of energy consumption
electricity suppliers and installation
occurring within buildings, the group
partners; or growing its end-to-end
is striving to develop solutions to save
Home Energy system. Underpinning
energy and reduce CO2 emissions.
all these elements is the technology;
Zinniker believes technology is a
each day computers with “100 engi-
“key enabler” in the fight against cli-
neering years’ worth of performance”
mate change.
scan the entire BKW network. From a ‘pure energy’ company, BKW
“With the increase in decentralised power production – be it wind or
has grown into a service company
solar – the grid has a completely dif-
across Europe, specifically Germany,
ferent meaning and capacity issues,”
Switzerland and Austria. In future,
he says. “Technology helps us get
Zinniker believes the energy sector
better insights into where the bottle-
has to come up with solutions in
necks are and also what we need to
a more smart way.
change to adapt to new consumption www. b kw . ch
DIGI AL makes it work. The energy and infrastructure service provider BKW relies on SAP solutions as the basis for a successful digital transformation. As a digitalisation service provider, T-Systems in Switzerland supports companies end-to-end with the continuous development and operation of their SAP landscape. www.t-systems.ch
and production patterns, and to a
energy consumption dropped, but the
certain extent, steer the new ways
group has not been heavily impacted.
of consumption.”
In its company presentation, it states
In terms of engineering services,
Mühleberg nuclear power plant
BKW has been appointed as general
disassembly is ‘on course’ despite
planner for the overall build-up of the
the pandemic, while innovative, tech-
Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin – a pres-
oriented buildings include the Tic
tigious win for the group. Besides
Tric Trac solar-power cooling system
that, infrastructure services focuses
in Zurich and Lonza’s new laboratories
on the large transmission grids, com-
in Visp biopark.
munication networks, and drinking water supply. On the business side, COVID-19 has impacted its services area and
“Due to our model to hedge prices and sell production in advance, we were in a good position when energy prices dropped due to lower consumption,”
E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :
Thomas Zinniker Title: Chief Information Officer
Industry: Utilities
Location: Switzerland Thomas Zinniker joined BKW in 2016. As a CIO he is responsible for further developing ICT services – supporting the transformation of BKW from a pure utilities company to an international Infrastructure Services Supplier. Zinniker has a degree in Computer Science and Business Administration. Prior to BKW, Thomas worked in various global companies as a software engineer, consultant and CIO. www. b kw . ch
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BKW GROUP
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says Zinniker. “When it comes to work-
from home, that we give employees
ing from home, we were well prepared
stability and structure from a working
and ready from the first day of the
perspective,” adding that the group
pandemic. We have been building our
ranks among the top 10 recruiters
remote working platforms for many
in Switzerland.
years in the light of networking the
Industry 4.0 is a hot topic in the area
newly acquired companies, so when
of power generation and power grid as
the lockdown came, it was quite easy
it switches to a decentralised model.
for us to transition.”
“Electricity cannot easily be stored
But Zinniker acknowledges that in a
so you need insights into what’s going
world of volatility, there will be ongoing
on with the power grid,” says Zinniker.
challenges and technology is going
“We will now have more room to influ-
to be increasingly crucial. “It’s impor-
ence production and consumption.
tant, during this period of working
With the combination of technologies
“ We have been building our remote working platforms for many years so when the lockdown came, it was quite easy” — Thomas Zinniker, Chief Information Officer, BKW Group
Clean tech is another key area, though Zinniker wishes the debate wasn’t so “dogmatic” when assessing energy consumption benefits. The flexibility of a gas plant, for example, can be much better controlled and use less CO2 serving as a bridge to solar or other new technologies. Last year, BKW became the first
and combining new ways of storing
publicly listed Swiss company to
energy, we are better equipped to
launch a green bond for trading on the
deal with these uncertainties. In other
Swiss stock exchange, with CHF200
areas, AI is enabling us to plan with
million allocated to fund sustainable
new piping, leakages and installations
projects throughout Europe.
and check everything fits by using Augmented Reality technologies.” The cloud supports the group as a
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS Strategic partnerships across markets
tool to gain flexibility – but it is just a
and sectors are vital for BKW Group,
tool, Zinniker stresses. “Digital trans-
he adds. They add the crucial flexibility
formation is not just automation – it’s
and resilience in our growth path and
the smart integration of people, pro-
let us focus on our core business. For
cesses and technology. You need to question everything, have the right culture and be allowed to make mistakes.” He highlights Uber as a good example of a company which could have created an app that just bundled call centres but they completely re-thought the model from the consumers’ viewpoint. www. b kw . ch
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Intelligent tech needs ingenious humans Explore how Extended Reality is changing the way people and companies work at accenture.com/xr
“ I like to see myself as the coach on the sidelines, there when they need help, rather than to interfere with the game itself” — Thomas Zinniker, Chief Information Officer, BKW Group
customers. “It is crucial to think out of the box, when developing new prod-
instance T-Systems is a strong partner
ucts for a changing market. Strategic
in the SAP area. We just outsourced
partner help us to bring in new ideas
the total SAP infrastructure to them.
an shed light on bling spots we all have.
“With their very strong position as a
Especially in areas, where we are
service provider to the energy market,
working since decades more or less
we are continuously exploring addi-
the same way”. 13
tional opportunities to further grow in to new areas.” As an operator for critical infrastructure in Switzerland we need to be resilient in case of major incidents in order to guarantee an up and running energy supply for our customers. With HPEs services for data storage and backup solutions we have implemented additional resilience. Our goal was to build a fallback scenario which has to work in case our own security measures are failing. But not only in the infrastructure area, but also in the business part we rely on partners such as Accenture bringing in expertise and new ideas to develop new services for our
DI D Y O U K N O W?
• Production sites: 103 • Countries: 8 • Shareholders: Canton of Bern (52.54%), Others (37.50%) and Groupe E (10%) • Employees: 3,200 (Building Solutions), 2,900 (Engineering), 1,700 (Energy) and 700 (Power Grid) www. b kw . ch
BKW GROUP
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“ Digital transformation is not just automation – it’s the smart integration of people, processes and technology” — Thomas Zinniker, Chief Information Officer, BKW Group
BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY “From a career perspective I was always in the area of bringing IT into business, and making technology benefit the business. I’ve worked as a consultant for many years, in large multinational companies. But my philosophy has changed over the last couple of years. I’ve seen that the increased speed in
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change can only be achieved through
help, rather than to interfere with the
self-organisation and self-sufficient
game itself. Always trust people – trust
employees. As a manager you can’t
is essential. Mistakes happen but be
always tell people what they have to
transparent and look for solutions.”
do. Provide people with guiding principles, give them a clear target – but let them find the way to that target themselves. I like to see myself as the coach on the sidelines, there when they need www. b kw . ch
BKW AG VIKTORIAPLATZ 2 3013 BERN T 058 477 51 11 www.bkw.ch
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