Romanian energy consumers are invited to participate, starting today, in an unprecedented European campaign, which aims to determine the best ways to make electricity consumption more efficient in homes, through measures that do not involve costs. The campaign is run by the European research project ENCHANT, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, and is taking place in six countries: Norway, Germany, Austria, Italy, Turkey and Romania.
At national level, the project is implemented by the Center for the Study of Democracy, the initiator of the Romanian Observatory of Energy Poverty (ORSE), together with the Babeș-Bolyai University, the City Hall and the Local Council of Cluj-Napoca and the Electrica Furnizare. For the first time, the information collected about consumption will be modeled with the help of an innovative system of data interpretation based on artificial intelligence, to produce public policy scenarios adapted to the reality on the ground and the diversity of situations, rather than uniform support policies at the national level, which do not take into account the specific needs of households.
The ENCHANT research project aims to support the energy transition and seeks to understand the need and behavior of electricity consumption in homes in Europe and what information households need to succeed in making their consumption more efficient.
“ENCHANT is a research project that tries to find out what could help Romanians to reduce their household energy consumption and what are the limits of this desire. The project is part of the wider initiative – Living Lab – of the Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences of Babeș-Bolyai University, which tests the effectiveness of some measures and public policies in communities. The information coming from households will result in public policy solutions produced with the help of artificial intelligence, to be applied in support of household consumers at European, national or local level, taking into account the realities of households. The stake of these things is important, as is the participation of consumers,” said Anca Sinea, researcher of Babeș-Bolyai University, coordinator of ORSE and the campaign implemented in Romania.
She explained the benefits for Romanian consumers who will participate in this exercise: “In addition to the interesting information they can obtain regarding their own energy consumption, they will receive suggestions and recommendations on how they can save more energy in their home, which, considering the current level of energy prices, can be a welcome thing. In addition, based on the findings we will arrive at by aggregating all the data received from consumers, they will have the opportunity to influence European and national policies, by proposing public policy scenarios much more favorable to the situation of consumers”.
“In order to benefit from the trust of Romanians, the energy transition process must take into account the specific challenges and needs that our citizens have and contribute to increasing the quality of life. That’s why I invite citizens to participate in this exercise necessary to improve the decision-making process in the field of energy – a subject of great importance, especially in the period of energy crisis we are going through”, said Emil Boc, mayor of Cluj-Napoca.
“According to the repeated studies carried out by Electrica Furnizare, electricity consumers in Romania show a great willingness to change their behavior in terms of electricity consumption, declaring themselves open to receiving practical information regarding various methods of reducing energy consumption in homes. This trend shows us a huge potential that can have a major impact on the efficiency of energy consumption among domestic consumers, in the context of specific European and national objectives. The ENCHANT platform is a connecting tool between Electrica Furnizare, as an important supplier on the energy market in Romania, consumers, the university environment and public authorities in order to identify functional solutions with long-term effects,” said Darius Meșca, general manager of Electrica Furnizare.
