The conference “Energy Efficiency – How to start, Whom to Contact” gathered in Oradea more than 40 specialists from the region interested in the topic proposed by energynomics.ro. Experts from companies, representatives of the municipality and the regulatory bodies have presented case studies and declared their openness to collaboration in the 6th edition of the communication campaign “Energy Efficiency for big results”.
Oradea Municipality has investments of more than 120 million euros in district heating, rehabilitation projects of public buildings that include the energy restoration of two hospitals, worth 16 million euros, a project to install electric vehicle charging stations, as well as other programs. However, the local authorities are facing some problems in attracting European funds, said Mircea Mălan, deputy mayor of Oradea, in the opening of the event.
Investments in district heating of over 120 million euros
”There are difficulties that we encounter in getting projects from ideas to reality. We managed to achieve these projects through a joint effort, together with the local council, our local partners and all government and local institutions.”
Oradea is the only city in Romania that submitted the request for the third stage of the thermal rehabilitation program, two years ago. “We wanted to start to work. At this third stage we did not receive a response to the request for funding. We have another important project, of 19 million euros, which implies that a district will move to geothermal energy, in combination with heat pumps. It is an efficient system, and as a reserve we will maintain the centralized system. For this we also have submitted the funding application, and instead of a clear answer, we receive all kinds of strange notifications… The only conclusion we can draw from here, from the local level, is that at the central level they are not really get ready for this rhythm. By saying this I do not mean that we are great and others are not doing the right thing. There is no political connotation in what I say. I’m just saying that if we look at the topics of our discussion today – automation, cogeneration, cyber security, electric mobility, etc, we will find that almost all the projects that public authorities carry out are based on European funds.”
ENGIE implements the 3D policy in Romania: Decentralization, Decarbonization and Digitalization
ENGIE is in an active process of implementing the global efficiency strategy, through the 3D approach: decentralization, decarbonization and digitalization, said Alin Nicolae, Head of Energy Efficiency Solutions & Design, ENGIE Romania.
In Romania, ENGIE has two wind farms with a total installed capacity of 98MW and an annual output of 260 MWh. ENGIE Romania owns the gas distribution in the southern part of the country, as well as the 300 million cubic meters gas deposit in Mures. The company has about 1.8 million customers, and it supplies 36 TWh of natural gas and 1.5 TWh of electricity annually. The company has 3,700 employees in Romania and a turnover of over 1 billion euros.
DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION OF ALIN NICOLAE
“Our ambition is to be a world leader in the transition to 0 carbon emissions. As a novelty, we want to bring the energy performance contract to the market, we are in a pilot program, we are trying to find the easiest option for the customer, financing solutions and reduced consumption”, he said, presenting the solutions of the ENGIE group.
Europe is developing dozens of waste to energy projects
Control Point was established in 2005 and is active in fields such as industrial automation, electrical installations and photovoltaic solutions; the company based in Brasov would like to have more local projects. “Currently, most projects are being carried out outside Romania. We are Valmet partners for automation solutions. We started from automation solutions, and subsequently developed other solutions, including for the agro-industrial sector. We have a lot of projects in the western part of Europe, and we would be glad to have more projects in Romania as well”, said Control Point representative Daniel Bertalan.
Control Point has more than 50 projects implemented or in the process of being implemented in the area of thermal and hydro, as well as in other segments of the energy market. “Control Point builds electrical installations, from commissioning to maintenance. We most recently entered the PV segment, where we are integrating photovoltaic solutions,” said Bertalan. The company can install photovoltaic systems on production halls or large commercial buildings.
He also presented the services in the area of waste recovery and management, including through the production of biogas for energy recovery through biological treatment and other processes such as incineration.
DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION OF DANIEL BERTALAN
”From a ton of inorganic municipal waste can be obtained about 1,100 KWh electricity, or heating for centralized systems. Ferrous and non-ferrous metals can be recovered from the ash of the combustion process. In England we currently run a 68 MW project”. He also presented projects of the company in the area of use of organic waste. “We use 32,000 tons of biomass or organic waste for producing up to 3.8 million cubic meters of biogas annually, or the equivalent of 660 KWh per ton of electricity,” he said.
“In Western Europe such plants are being built for many years, either based on incineration, or on composting or anaerobic digestion, and our hope is to see as many projects implemented in Romania as well.”
Bădiță, Photon Energy: I hope that Romania will have new big projects
Photon Energy was established in the Netherlands and operates on markets in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania through local offices, coordinated from the regional office in Prague. It has operations in Australia and Peru and is listed on the stock exchanges in Warsaw and Prague, said Lauru Bădiță, Country Manager O&M Romania Photon Energy.
The company is active in more than 10 countries around the globe and offers complete services, from design, EPC, construction, operation and maintenance of photovoltaic parks, said Bădiță.
”In Australia we have large projects, of over 100 MW, as we are present on this market since 2010. In Peru we have projects for decontamination of water using solar energy. In the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Australia we have our own PV projects, and in Romania we currently offer maintenance services. We expect with great interest, however, the second wave of renewables in Romania, which will be financed either by long-term bilateral contracts (PPAs) or by another means. We are service providers on the installation side of photovoltaic panels, financed through the AFM program. There is hope that Romania will have new, bigger projects”, he said, presenting the company’s solutions.
DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION OF LAURU BĂDIȚĂ
Photon Energy has developed a dedicated department in the area of monitoring and control, with which it can track from one dispatch center all the parks under monitoring: “Any error can be noticed in real time”. “We have our own software platform, thus customers and technicians can view online what happens with the production, for different periods of time. Also, our specialized Cardio Inverter division can repair string inverters in just a few days. Up to now, we have repaired over 4,000 inverters from different brands”, Bădiță said.
ANRE – advanced discussions for ESCO contracts
In various ways, ANRE participated in local and international working groups in the field of energy efficiency. “At ANRE level a working group was set up that wants to promote the contracting of energy performance through ESCO type contracts”, said Bogdan Anton, from the Department for energy efficiency in ANRE. “We are already in advanced discussions to establish the legal basis and we have seen what the barriers are, but also what opportunities are emerging for carrying out such contracts, which are very beneficial to local authorities. Their promotion relieves the budgets of the public institutions of the money necessary for investments”, said Bogdan Anton.
European energy consumption is growing less than the GDP
According to Eurostat studies, in 2017, compared to 2016, primary energy consumption and final energy consumption increased by 5.7% and 4.2%, respectively. However, these growth rates were lower than the rate of economic development, with GDP increasing by 7.0% (compared to 2.0% of the EU average). It is evident that this increase in energy consumption was determined by the economic development at national level and was achieved under the conditions of increasing energy efficiency.
DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION OF BOGDAN ANTON
The fact that GDP has grown more than consumption reflects the implementation of energy efficiency measures.
Moreover, since 2007, both in the EU and in Romania, there has been a disconnection between GDP evolution and the evolution of primary energy consumption, which demonstrates an increase in energy efficiency. “Energy efficiency plays a very important role, both at EU and Romania level. The same standard of living, the same results are obtained by consuming less”, he said, presenting the latest regulations in the field of energy reporting and auditing.
Enevo gets 60% of its revenue from export projects
Enevo is a company with 100% Romanian capital, founded in 2014. It has 50 employees, mostly engineers, with multiple specializations – from energy engineers to programmers and specialists in industrial telecommunications. “This allows us to approach our projects quite completely, from design to what type of router to use in a facility, in order to provide a secure connection,” said Gabriel Dobre, representative of Enevo Group.
The company has four divisions – Engineering & Consulting, Automation & Protection Electrical Stations, Process and IT & Telecom Automation and Cyber Security. The turnover is 5 million euros, 60% of which comes from exports. Much of the turnover comes from Romania, but also from the Middle East and Morocco.
DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION OF GABRIEL DOBRE
”So far we have implemented 60 projects that include SCADA systems for photovoltaic parks, private dispatchers for renewable power stations, rehabilitation of medium voltage power stations,” he said, presenting the company’s services.
Beautiful buildings with no respect to energy efficiency targets
“We are a company born in 1997, and since then we have evolved and succeeded in laying the foundations of an innovative system, moving from the direct execution part to the R&D part, implementing structural projects, including through the Horizon 2020 program,” said Horia Ban, general manager and associate of Termoline.
“We are partners in the consortium of 23 European research organizations, universities within the HORIZON 2020 project: BIM4REN – Building Information Models for RENnovation, for a period of 4 years. Energy efficiency is a priority component of the renovation projects and for this purpose is implemented the BIM – Building Information Model system and within it: BEM – Building Energy Model. Thus, the energy efficiency starts from the design phase and continues to the execution phase and then to the monitoring of a building. The buildings to be renovated are firstly scanned with 3D laser, thus obtaining both the “as build” 3D architecture project and the energy image of the building. According to European law, renovated buildings must be energy efficiently designed and executed to result nZEB – nearly Zero Energy Building”, he said.
DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION OF HORIA BAN
”In Romania, the reality is far from expectations, though we have the legislation. From 2018, new public buildings should be buildings with energy consumption from conventional sources almost equal to 0, and from 2020 all new buildings must meet this standard. All the problems start from the design – the designers are not trained in the field. In Romania all the buildings must be beautiful, it does not matter that they do not meet the energy standards”, he said. The executors of the projects do not pay attention, starting with the design stage, to the isolation of the buildings. At the level of designers, builders as well as verifiers in design or execution, no attention is paid to the thermal bridges of buildings, which generates energy inefficiency. A large percentage of the newly built buildings have no shading system, which generates a waste of energy needed for extra air conditioning, in addition to a thermal discomfort during the summer. Renewable energy sources used for heating & air conditioning of buildings represent a very small percentage of the total energy sources used for heating & air conditioning, and the renovation (retrofit) is often based on a thermal rehabilitation of the facades, without interventions to insulate the roof, heating systems, air conditioning… A good example is represented by renovated schools and kindergartens where the heating system cannot be regulated, said Horia Ban.
Termoline company found in Oradea City Hall an open partner to the novelties in the implementation of energy efficiency investments, both in new buildings and for the renovation of existing ones. Thus, together with the ZEPHER cluster they were designed and are under construction 4,000 m² for the Emergency Reception Unit of the Oradea County Hospital, an nZEB building with a heating-cooling system based on heat pumps using as primary energy sources the 230 energy piles also with a structural role in the foundation of the building. This is the first building in Romania to use structural piles for obtaining and especially for seasonal storage of thermal energy; for interior heating-cooling a system T.A.B.S. (Thermally Activated Building Structure) is used. Also, it was finished the design works for the renovation of two hospitals in Oradea, each with about 20,000 square meters, which will operate based on geothermal heat pump systems and the recovery of energy from geothermal waste heat. Inside, radiant ceiling systems are used, both for heating and air conditioning.
The conference was organized by energynomics.ro with the support of our partners: Control Point powered by Valmet, ENGIE Romania, Enevo Group, EximBank, Ridgid Emerson, Photon Energy, Termoline.
Over 40 people from organizations like ANRE, Bjorn, Camera de Comerț și Industrie Bihor, Celestica, Compania de Apă Oradea, Control Point, Danfoss SRL, Dynoteq, Emerson Ridgid, Energocell, Enevo Group, ENGIE Romania, ETA-2U, EximBank, FAIST, ICPE Electrocond Technologies, P Plus 2002, Phoenix Contact, Photon Energy, Plastor SA Oradea, Pomarione, Primăria Arad, Primăria Oradea, Solarvest, Termoline, UAMT have participated at the discussions.
About the campaign
Between February and November 2019 we scheduled seven conferences aimed to highlight the need for and the benefits of implementing energy audits, with examples of actions and technologies for increased energy efficiency.
Each conference features top speakers and themes such as: legislation and regulation in energy efficiency, financing for energy efficiency projects and support for public authorities and SMEs.
Conferences in 2019
- February 26, Iaşi – Energy Efficiency – Present Opportunities – follow-up article
- April 3, Constanța – Energy Efficiency – On-Going Projects and New Ideas – follow-up article
- May, 22, Craiova – Safer Economics through Energy Efficiency – follow-up article
- June 19, Brașov – Energy Efficiency – Sustainable Consumption through Automation, Monitoring and Control – follow-up article
- July 2, Timișoara – Energy Efficiency – Sustainable Consumption through Automation, Monitoring and Control – follow-up article
- November 7, Cluj-Napoca – Energy Efficiency – Verified Approaches, Credible Partners