The national energy system shows its technical limits, being subjected to an unusual thermal stress, and among the causes for the limits in the production of electricity and for the high prices on the energy markets are elements such as inconsistencies in the adoption of a National Energy Strategy, bureaucracy and a populist approach, says Alessio Menegazzo, CEO and country manager of PPC (formerly Enel) in Romania.
“Subjected to an unusual thermal stress – with temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius for several consecutive days – the national energy system is showing its technical limits. The causes for the limits in electricity production, as well as for the high prices on the energy markets, are multiple , but it boils down to elements such as inconsistencies in the adoption of a National Energy Strategy, bureaucracy and a populist approach, all of which contribute to postponing the collective benefits brought by the energy transition, a process that is already happening in other EU states”, wrote Alessio Menegazzo on Linkedin, according to Agerpres.
According to him, the increase in the number of Romanian citizens who invested including their own money to become prosumers lessened the effects of the difficulties in the production sector, but also generated – growing – problems for the management of the networks, by inducing imbalances in certain time intervals.
“The law proposal that calls for the adoption of storage solutions for decentralized domestic production is an opportune one. Storage offers the opportunity for an orderly energy transition, one that is resilient to moments of shock determined by the weather, technical or commercial limitations,” the PPC director pointed out.
In his opinion, a well-planned and coherent energy strategy, which would allow the maximization of benefits for all customers, must go together with investments in the digitization of networks, a process that must be accelerated and encouraged accordingly.
“The energy transition without a strategic planning is already generating unfortunate cases in Europe. For example, in the case of the Netherlands, an accelerated policy of electrification and installation of variable production sources, but not correlated with the strengthening of the transmission and distribution networks or with significant investments in storage solutions, led to major technical imbalances, to long waiting times for new connections or, in certain situations, to actions to limit production through dispatching orders. In Romania, these imbalances (as well as the lack of well-planned policies ) already generate challenges in the operation of networks, as well as dissatisfaction among prosumers. Local storage solutions can alleviate these problems, by providing a ‘buffer’ space between the production level and undersized networks, as well as a ‘bridge’ between the production hours of peak (day) and peak consumption (evening),” explained Menegazzo.
He points out that the installation of storage equipment for prosumers will bring multiple advantages, both from a technical point of view, through efficient energy management – by prolonging the use of locally produced electricity, so that it is consumed even during hours without solar radiation – as well as from a commercial point of view, optimizing commercial exchanges between customers and suppliers. The benefits, he says, will not be limited only to prosumers, but will help the electricity networks, reducing congestions, managed with increasing difficulty.
“In this context, the support of prosumers can and must continue through different solutions, according to the place of consumption. We can envisage subsidies similar to the one existing today, but which also include storage solutions or – taking into account the decrease in costs for electrical panels – subsidies they can turn predominantly to storage solutions, an aspect that will generate the same beneficial effect of lowering the price of technology, in the medium term,” the PPC official pointed out.