The legislative framework on energy efficiency is now completed and stable, and the number of experts authorized by ANRE grows steadily. There are financing sources and the first applicant’s guides for the 2014-2020 European funds have already been launched. There are Romanian companies and experts, as well as worldwide verified solutions at hand to implement energy efficiency solutions for industry, for residential buildings and for cities. These were the focus points of the dialogue at the September 7 Energy Breakfast Club, Energy Efficiency – profit from the available resources.

Primary energy consumption down, while GDP ups

Irina Nicolau, expert of the National Regulatory Authority for Energy (ANRE), within the Monitoring Service for the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency, opened the debate with a remark: final energy consumption at national level shows an increase in energy efficiency due both to restructuring measures in economy, and energy efficiency programs undertaken. In industry, in 2014, energy consumption was higher (2.5%) compared to 2013, while gross value added in industry grew at a higher rate (3.3%).

Meanwhile, according to ANRE, the number of energy auditors, legal persons, approached 100 at the end of 2015, and the number of economic operators who have completed their energy audits exceeded, at the time, 400, in strong growth from the 2013 level.

DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION OF IRINA NICOLAU

More than half of the energy audits were carried out in services, manufacturing and food industries, although the most important energy saving potential has been identified in the energy industry, building materials and metallurgy.

European money for monitoring the industrial processes

Tiberiu Anghel, marketing manager at Enevo Group, talked about the importance of monitoring industrial processes at industrial consumers of energy, mainly in the context where Romania has available 14.1 million euros in grants to implement such solutions. He exemplified the benefits of such a monitoring system by two monitoring and energy efficiency projects recently developed and implemented by ENEVO Group. Projects submission open in October this year and is aimed at industrial plants with annual energy consumption of more than 1,000 tons of oil equivalent, from outside Bucharest-Ilfov area. Projects may be 100% funded through EU grants, up to 200,000 euros each, which means at least 70 beneficiaries will have the chance monitor their energy consumption with the latest systems and equipment.

DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION OF TIBERIU ANGHEL

Enevo Group representative detailed the benefits of a centralized system for overseeing the processes and energy consumption within a production unit, such as they appeared  in the monitoring and dispatching solutions implemented by ENEVO Group on domestic and foreign markets:

• clear picture on the distribution of consumption inside the factory, which allows an analysis of improvement in consumption
• clear picture on the equipment productivity in the unit, based on their technical specifications
• immediate action for reducing consumption
• proper planning of predictive maintenance and reducing the number of failures (increased rate of equipment availability)

“Dare to access this financing axis for it is money that helps not only to increase energy efficiency, but also to streamline all the operations”, concluded Tiberiu Anghel.

Complete solutions for energy efficiency from Servelect

Andrei Ceclan, Senior Energy Advisor at Servelect, presented the Negawatt concept, defined as saved energy and operational costs, and displayed a large number of concrete solutions already applied in industrial units and buildings, in Romania and in Latvia. Andrei Ceclan briefly described how Servelect works: “We start with a free evaluation at the client location, we identify solutions and validate them with the client, we determine what realistic expectations can we have, and set a plan for measuring and verifying the savings. Then, we implement them using resources from our own, the client’s or from third parties, and monitor on a long-term the achievement of results. ”

The major gain after implementing such a project is the guaranteed energy savings. They generate substantial reductions in utility bills, with a positive impact on the operational budget and cash flow of the beneficiary compay. NegaWatt concept can be easily picked up by energy suppliers for their beneficiaries. Servelect provides full support in implementing the relationship with suppliers.

DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION OF ANDREI CECLAN

“What we found out is that financing is not the problem in implementing energy efficiency solutions, but acceptance from the beneficiary company is. If we talk about multinationals, it is very difficult to convince them that we deliver everything – the technical solution, the guarantee for energy performance, and also the source of financing. It still does not work in Romania this top management acceptance of the fact that financing can be provided by an external source, with no impact on the company’s cash-flow. At the other end, it takes more maturity from the SMEs. They tries to use the cheapest solutions they can afford to fully finance from their own resources.”

Andrei Ceclan insisted that energy efficiency projects are self-financed projects through the immediate benefits they bring, starting from the taking the organizational measures, at first, followed then by reduced energy bills on the long run.

Efficiency gains through high quality lubricants

ExxonMobil’s long-term forecasts show that global energy demand will increase considerably in coming decades, and much of the estimated consumption in 2040 will be covered by resources freed through energy efficiency. Olivier Marechal, ExxonMobil, Lubrication Field Engineer Southern Europe, explained how Mobil lubricants help reducing energy consumption at industrial level by increasing efficiency in machinery and equipment where they are used.

In turn, Victor Năstase, Industrial Manager at Lubexpert Romania, the most important distributor of Mobil lubricants locally, mentioned the financial benefits these products bring. “We have the example of a beneficiary who has saved about $ 100,000 by using Mobil lubricants,” said the Victor Năstase.

DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION OF OLIVIER MARECHAL

Over 50 representatives from Academia Română, Aggreko, ANRE, Arelco Power SRL, Asociaţia Forumului Inventatorilor Români, ATREA România, B-TEAM, Cabur, CONPET S.A., Elsaco, Emerson Ridge Tools, Enel Energie Muntenia, Energobit ESCO, Energy Pal, ENERO – Center for Promotion of Clean and Efficient Energy in Romania, Enevo Group, ExxonMobil, Flash Group, Greenfiber International, IME Romelectrica SRL, INCDE-ICEMENERG, Lubexpert, Ministerul Fondurilor Europene, Monsson Energy Trading, Nes Proiect Europe Biomass & Energy, OMV Petrom, Premier Palace SPA Hotel, Reinvest Trade Service, Roa Grup, Servelect, Syscom Team, TDP Partners – Consultanţă fonduri europene, Tractebel, Veolia Energie attended the presentations and participated in discussions.

The event was organized by energynomics.ro and supported by our partners: Aggreko, Jereh, Matei Conf Group, Romgaz, Ridgid, SGS România, Transgaz.

Participation

This year, energynomics.ro aims to organize at least 4 more Energy Breakfast Club meetings. The schedule and the proposed themes are here.