BR turns 18 | Opinion. George Costache (Siemens Romania): It’s time to go back to school!

The technology for high-tech energy infrastructure is available, the prosumer idea has become a global buzz topic and we have the capabilities to create various IoT applications that aim to make our lives easier. On paper, we are able to build today the society of the future in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability.

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Alongside all the investments and technological innovation, we need two foundation stones to bring energy efficiency to the next level – that is, the digitalized level. Firstly – the strategy. Secondly – the mindset.

Romania’s energy strategy is crucial for the future development of our country. It will allow us to shape the main investment directions for Romania on the long run. The energy system of the future will have to master a series of challenges: a growing share of renewable energy sources, fluctuating feed-in volumes and an increasingly decentralized production. In order to ensure a reliable power supply in an ever more complex energy system, operators will rely on technologies such as smart grids, innovative storage solutions and virtual power plant management, which will combine energy from distributed sources, including renewables, using data on demand and weather forecasts.

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Secondly, the end user will experience a mentality shift in terms of energy consumption, based on the rise of new technologies, the desire to decrease costs, but also due to greater care for the environment. Consumers as business partners are concepts for Romania, still. In my opinion, the first step to becoming a prosumer is being a responsible consumer and for this to happen we all need further education.

Our children have just gone back to school. Every morning we see dozens of children going to study, to prepare themselves for the future. It is with them that we should start the mentality change. They should understand the importance of energy efficiency beyond costs and develop the right behavior from an early age. My advice for the next ten years is to set the right mindset for our children – at home and at school – in terms of sustainability.