Power Planning Energy Consultants - About us

Power Planning Associates (PPA) was founded in 1997 by five senior energy sector professionals with the objective of establishing a niche consultancy, working predominately at the front end of the electricity planning and restructuring process.

A particular strength of the company is our ability to combine strategic, financial/economic and technical advice as an integrated consultancy service to all of the players involved in the power sector reform and development process.

We have established a sound track record of delivering high quality advice, and have worked with a broad range of clients. These include many multi-lateral lending agencies, governments, regulators, electricity companies, oil companies and private developers. Our energy consultants often work closely with specialists in other sectors including lawyers, economists and financiers. The original team has grown and the company now employs eight full time staff who are complemented by a large number of associate consultants who bring particular specialist skills into our team.

Our experience is global, and we have worked in over 60 countries since our formation. Some of the issues faced in the power sector are common to many environments, including problems of incentivising private investment and ensuring that prices (either for sales to end customers or within the industry) are cost reflective. Other issues are specific to a particular situation, and may include matters of policy related to rural energy development, or the development of viable trading models or regulatory structures.

We advise:

governments and state-owned utilities on the optimum structure and ownership of the generation, transmission and distribution activities within the electricity sector and potential scenarios for expansion;
potential investors on the way that the electricity sector might develop (and therefore where the market opportunities really are);
regulators, helping them to gain a better appreciation of the true cost of future capital expenditure and operating costs;
system operators, regarding the development of transparent and robust system operating rules and setting these down in efficient grid code and distribution code documentation;
market operators, on market design issues, preparing market rules and market operating procedures, and providing support during market implementation;
private utilities on the opportunities that exist within the power sector and their response to price controls and other regulatory interventions; and
large consumers, regarding the optimisation of their electricity purchase arrangements across the various market platforms that may be available to them.

Our international experience has demonstrated that there is no “one size fits all” solution to the problems in the electricity sector – rather, each problem requires consideration of the organisational, regulatory, economic and technical issues which it presents and a sharply focused analytical approach to the identification of the optimum solution.