Robert Futter has spent more than two decades helping South Africa's biggest energy users build smarter strategies and procurement plans. Now, he says, those strategies are finally becoming real — and the tools businesses rely on haven't caught up. That's why he co-founded Florion, South Africa's first energy intelligence platform, designed to help companies navigate a fast-changing and increasingly complicated energy landscape.
South Africa's electricity market is in the middle of a major shift. New technology, market reforms, and more flexible contracts are opening doors for businesses to cut costs and reduce emissions. But this same change brings new risks. Under the old system, companies could manage energy fairly passively. Today, small mistakes in forecasting, contracts that underperform, or disruptions in the power network can mean tens of millions of rand in costs that didn't need to happen.
"Traditional energy management tools were built for a very different environment and haven't kept pace with the complexity businesses now face," Futter said.
Florion is designed to solve that problem. Unlike older tools that focus on one specific task, Florion pulls together data from across the entire energy system — mixing grid power, solar, and traded energy — into one clear view. It tracks energy costs and forecasting, checks whether contracts are performing as promised, monitors how much renewable energy a company is using, measures carbon tax exposure, and helps with ESG reporting. With electric vehicles becoming more common, this kind of smart energy management will only become more important.
The platform has already signed on a large mining and beneficiary client, one of the country's most energy-hungry industries. And as South Africa's electricity market continues to open up — including the planned introduction of a Wholesale Electricity Market — Futter says having a single, trusted picture of your energy position will be essential for any business that wants to stay competitive.
"Florion is the first South African solution designed specifically for this challenge," Futter said. "We help businesses understand exactly what has happened, what is happening now, and what is likely to happen next."