FIS European Energy User Group Meeting
Last week, I attended the annual FIS European Energy User Group meeting, held in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, near the FIS office. The two-day event was well-attended by FIS customers and partners, showcasing FIS’s ongoing developments for the energy sector.
The conference centered on three key FIS products for energy companies: the FIS Energy Trading and Logistics Platform (formerly Aligne), FIS Energy Portfolio Manager (formerly XDM), and FIS Market Data Analyzer (formerly MarketMap Energy).
Alongside FIS customers from across Europe, partners like Project Advisory Team and NTT Data were present, and the event received sponsorship from FORRS, Value Creed, ETIA Consulting, and ETRM Services.
FIS delivered strategic updates on its product roadmap, cloud-native transition, and AI-enhanced reporting capabilities. Product enhancements highlighted new functionality, improved scalability through elastic computing, and advancements in technology and security.
Numerous customer and partner presentations covered topics from credit and PFE to expanding futures trading and innovative approaches for minimizing downtime on cutover weekends for 24×7 power trading companies.
The keynote, delivered by FORRS, was titled Europe’s Urgent Need for Flexibility. It offered an in-depth analysis of the energy transition, focusing particularly on Germany, and explored 5-, 10-, and 15-year outlooks. FORRS discussed how renewable generation demands greater flexibility, noting that insufficient flexibility can lead to grid instability, increased renewable curtailment, and frequent negative power prices. They identified demand-side management and expanded storage capacity as critical sources of flexibility. FORRS concluded with essential implications for ETRM systems, emphasizing the need for enhanced data management, scalable performance, and real-time position and P&L capabilities to meet the demands of a transitioning energy market.