Expert consultants to provide more flexibility to energy players

We are pleased to share with our community this article published on Forbes.fr website, in which Nicolas Kotliar, co-founder and General Director of Altea Energy, shares his vision on the evolution of the technical assistance activity as well as the major challenges of the Energy sector. Check out the original article on Forbes.fr

 

Founded in 2008, Altea Energy specializes in providing freelance services in the field of energy. The French group is responsible for selecting, contracting and mobilizing qualified experts for the projects of its customers around the world. To learn more about the evolution of this sector, we spoke with Nicolas Kotliar, co-Founder and General Director of Altea Energy.

What does Altea Energy offer and who are its services for ?

Our customers are major energy players, including oil & gas operators, renewable energy manufacturers and service companies operating in this sector. For the implementation of their projects (engineering, construction, transformation, …), these companies call on external skills with high added value. This is where we come in. Our mission is to identify and select qualified expert consultants, then to manage, on behalf of our clients, all the logistical, contractual and regulatory compliance aspects to mobilize them on the sites of operations.

Our methodology is simple :

  • We source the right candidate and make sure that he/she has the technical expertise in line with the client’s project requirements as well as the soft skills allowing his/her full integration into existing teams.
  • We then manage the contracting and mobilization of the consultant on project site, from obtaining immigration papers to international logistics, despite the extremely strong constraints related to the current health situation (border closures, coordination of PCR tests and quarantine periods, strengthening of HSE procedures).
  • Finally, we ensure a follow-up with the consultant and the client throughout the assignment.

Assignments can last from 15 days to several years, which is why we do a constant follow up of the consultants and the progress of the project. Customers call on us either for specific expertise that they do not have in-house, or for reasons of flexibility, by outsourcing part of their project.

How is the energy market evolving and what is your impact?

The energy market is changing. All the players are aware of the issue of global warming and most are taking action. Today, the historic European groups wish to transform themselves into multi-energy groups by increasing their energy production, particularly in liquefied natural gas and electricity.

The challenge is great for all. Our clients have asserted their ambitions and need to move quickly, but they do not always have the right skills in-house. We are a partner of choice to support them in the success of this energy transition.

On our side, we want to move in this direction by offering more and more experts specialized in renewable energies. This is important for us internally. We have passed ISO 14001 environmental certification and are working with our subsidiaries to reduce our carbon footprint on a daily basis.

How has digital changed the way you work?

Our digital transition has been a strategic priority for several years. We are investing heavily to digitalize our processes as well as our tools and raised funds in 2020. The pandemic situation has pushed us to accelerate our digital transformation: contracting with electronic signature, management of timesheets and expenses, monitoring of mobilizations, invoicing, documents submission, etc. The reinforcement of HSE procedures and the difficulties linked to transportation and mobilization on site brought their share of challenges. In this period, we must continue to mobilize at all costs the experts our clients need because these projects supply regions, and even entire countries, with energy. The responsibilities and the impacts are enormous.

The digitalization of our operational processes has enabled us to better coordinate with our customers by taking, for example, the decision to have engineers work from their homes without requiring them on site. The context prompted us to reinvent ourselves and to show great flexibility for a successful management of our clients’ projects. Altea Energy and its subsidiaries were ISO 45001 certified in 2020, an international standard for occupational health and safety. This was a great reward for our teams who have shown their adaptability since the beginning of the health crisis.

Today, the digital challenge for our clients is to know in real time where their projects are, to have regular monitoring of the mobilization and performance of their consultants and to be able to access this information at any time. This is a necessary condition for the successful management of their projects.

Finally, between digital evolution and ecological transition, this is a fast evolving sector?

Yes absolutely, that is why we have invested heavily in digital. The market is evolving and we want to have total transparency whether it is towards our consultants or our clients. We are a dynamic company and we are convinced that the digitalization of services for this industrial sector is a priority for the future. Our challenge is to automate our operational processes to reinvest time and added value in the human relationship with our employees, clients and consultants and thus ensure that everyone moves forward together.

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