Connect - Schneider Electric
Connect - Schneider Electric
Connect - Schneider Electric
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1 GLOBAL<br />
DESCRIPTION OF THE GROUP, AND ITS STRATEGY, MARKETS AND BUSINESSES<br />
SPECIALIST IN ENERGY MANAGEMENT<br />
> 1. Global specialist in energy<br />
management<br />
<strong>Schneider</strong> <strong>Electric</strong> offers integrated products, systems, services, software and solutions in order to make energy safe,<br />
reliable, effi cient, productive and green.<br />
As a global specialist in energy management, with operations in over 100 countries, the Group enjoys leadership<br />
positions in Utilities and Infrastructure, Machine Industry and Manufacturers, Non-residential Buildings, Data Centres<br />
and Networks, and Residential..<br />
1.1 Effective management of energy resources, a global challenge<br />
With economic, industrial and urban growth and the increase in the<br />
world’s population, the need for energy is rising exponentially, along<br />
with CO emissions.<br />
2<br />
Today, out of the world’s 7 billions inhabitants, only 2 billions have<br />
access to adequate energy infrastructure and 2 billions will attain<br />
middle class status in around ten years, while 1.3 billion people –<br />
300 million homes – still have no access to electricity. In addition,<br />
the planet could have 2 billions additional inhabitants by 2030.<br />
The increase in the global demand for energy seems set to carry<br />
on rising.<br />
1.2 Towards smart energy management<br />
The electricity grid is becoming smarter, and users need to be<br />
connected simply and safely.<br />
From mobile telephones to the internet to home automation,<br />
technology is constantly making communication easier and faster.<br />
This trend towards connectivity is growing throughout the world.<br />
But no matter how technical products or solutions may be, users<br />
want them to be easy to install, use and maintain. They want to<br />
have access to reliable and safe energy that keeps their installations,<br />
infrastructure and equipment operating at an optimal level.<br />
A new, more “intelligent” electricity grid is emerging: the smart grid.<br />
The traditional grid, which was simple and linear, with centralised<br />
energy output and passive consumers is now changing into a more<br />
complex, interconnected and active model.<br />
With renewable energies each consumer can produce his or her<br />
own energy, but the various and irregular sources now have to be<br />
connected to the central grid.<br />
16 2011 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC<br />
At the same time, renewable energy sources are still insuffi cient and<br />
the energy mix is unlikely to change much over the next 25 years:<br />
unless radical changes are made much faster than expected,<br />
two- thirds of energy will continue to be produced from fossil fuels.<br />
By 2050, the energy equation will therefore be: a doubling of<br />
worldwide energy demand, and at the same time, a need to<br />
halve CO emissions at the global level in order to combat climate<br />
2<br />
change. Under these conditions, economic development requires<br />
more effective management of our resources and especially energy.<br />
This is the business of <strong>Schneider</strong> <strong>Electric</strong>.<br />
Demand response makes energy visible and offers everyone the<br />
chance to affect their own consumption.<br />
<strong>Electric</strong> vehicles are revolutionising the perception of mobility, both<br />
in terms of access to energy, and its use and storage.<br />
Real-time grid management allows consumption levels to be<br />
anticipated and supply to be adapted accordingly.<br />
To meet regulatory, environmental and profi tability requirements,<br />
energy must be safe, reliable, effi cient, productive and green.<br />
This will require integration: an entire system, not just the individual<br />
components have to be taken into account. The era of intelligent<br />
energy management has dawned, and <strong>Schneider</strong> <strong>Electric</strong> has the<br />
vision, products and services and ambition necessary to play a<br />
major role in this energy revolution.