Discuss the following questions about industrial customers.

1 What are the largest five industries in your country or region? Use those listed below to help

you. What are their products? Who are their clients?

 

2 How are they supplied with power? Do some of them have their own power plants or are they supplied by other energy companies?

3 Which consume(s) the most energy? Rank them on a scale of 1–5 according to how much electricity they consume.

4 What do large industrial companies want from energy companies?

 

 

Audio

2

Paul Robben from AECP – the Association of European Chemical Producers – is talking to Anna Smith from the energy company ELEC. You are sitting in on the meeting.

Listen and say whether the following statements are true or false.

1 AECP has established an energy procurement unit.

2 Its aim is to harmonize the terms under which it does business with its various suppliers.

3 AECP wants there to be one key account manager at ELEC.

4 A key issue for AECP is security of supply.

5 AECP expects its requirements to remain constant.

 

 

Listen again and complete notes for the minutes of the meeting under the following headings.

1 Members of AECP
2 Development of wholesale prices
3 AECP’s objectives
4 Forecasts on AECP’s future energy consumption
5 Next step

16 | UNIT 2 Markets and customers

 

These graphs show developments mentioned in exercise 2. What does each graph show? If you are not sure, listen to the dialogue again.

0.20

 

0.16

 

 

56.62

 

0.10

 

Graph 1 Year 1 Year 2 Graph 2 Jan Feb

 

0.20

 

0.09 0.10

 

 

Graph 3 Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5 (now)

Graph 4

(now) Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5

 

Match the statements that have the same meaning. Then decide which graph each pair refers to.

	It’s going to grow.	a	It’s held steady.
	It has remained stable.	b	It’s been volatile.
	They’ve doubled.	c	We expect it to rise.
	It has fluctuated.	d	There’s been a 100% increase.

5

decline • fall sharply • fluctuate • hit a low and then recover • remain stable • level off • fall back and then pick up again • peak and then fall back • increase steeply • rise steadily •

Match the expression with each graph below. Add any expressions that you know.

Fluctuate

UNIT 2 Markets and customers | 17

This graph shows the development of the EEX electricity spot price in 2009. Continue the following description. Use expressions from exercises 4 and 5.

The graph shows the development of the EEX electricity spot price in 2009. The price started at …

 

 

Choose a graph describing a trend from your own company on a subject that you are familiar with. Present it to the other students. Use phrases from the box.