CNR-CME organized “Digitalization of processes in the energy field” conference in partnership with Transelectrica and the Polytechnic University of Bucharest

The “Digitalization of processes in the energy field” conference, organized on April 25, 2023, by the Romanian National Committee of the World Energy Council (CNR-CME), in partnership with Transelectrica and the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, analysed the current state of the digitalization process in the Romanian energy sector and the development directions of the field.

The topics discussed at the conference had a high technical content. Due to the special importance of the energy field, it is particularly targeted by the digitalization process, and the speakers tried to bring a large amount of information on the status of projects, trends, and future directions of the digitalization of the energy sector. The challenges, barriers and risks encountered in the development of the digitalization process at all levels of activities and aspects related to Cyber security were also highlighted: the electricity and natural gas transmission and distribution network, the service providers for the implementation of the projects digitalization, SCADA systems, relay protections, consulting, issues related to the impact of these measures on energy customers, etc.

In his opening address, Ioan Dan Gheorghiu said: “In our energy sector, the digitalization process has started to be promoted from top to bottom, that is, at the National Energy Dispatcher, where it is most needed this one, where some people work whom I called “heroes” and whom I knew from the time when they used classical methods and operated the National Energy System by phone and verbal messages. Today it is much more difficult to operate an energy system with so many state and private players in the electricity market. Now, a unified and harmonized system is needed, to have the complete picture of what is happening in real time, starting from the production, transport, and distribution of electricity. As you know, it is a complex system with many problems that arise every day because of what we must implement today to achieve the EU’s goals, namely the integration of renewable energy sources into the national energy system. This fact creates extremely great discomfort. It is one of the reasons why there is a growing need for digitalization of energy processes and real-time monitoring with top-down and bottom-up information.”

The conference, moderated by Prof. Sergiu Iliescu from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, Faculty of Automation, had as speakers: Dragoș Șeuleanu – coordinator of Knowledge Transfer, Communication, Cluster, ELI Center – NP; executive director, Magurele High Tech Cluster and Prof. dr.ing Mihai Sănduleac – Faculty of Energy, Polytechnic University of Bucharest.

Șeuleanu emphasized that “digitalization tends to become a standard related to the requirements of the nuclear field, with an emphasis on transformation and balance, it is an imperative and entered the nuclear field a long time ago. The speed of expansion, penetration and acceptance is the prerogative of our generation. We are already moving towards jobs based on artificial intelligence. It is very important to prepare the future generations in this regard, to know how to transfer knowledge and adaptation, to know the risks encountered in the development of the digitalization process and to overcome them”.

In a presentation of the most relevant aspects regarding the digitalization of electric energy systems, Prof. Mihai Sănduleac emphasized that “Digitalization is a trend closely related to the Smart Grid paradigm”, he offered some typical examples of digitalization in the electric energy system (smart metering, management operative through the EMS/DMS-SCADA system, the digital integration of various components and platforms that exchange information with each other within the power systems). It also highlighted the main trends in the digitalization of energy processes.

The most important aspects highlighted during the conference showed that the technological advances achieved through the digitalization of processes, the development of modern communication systems and the development of IT platforms ensure the possibility of controlling energy processes, adopting effective measures to ensure security in energy supply, ensuring customer satisfaction, as well as efficient counting of services performed. Also, special attention must be paid to the training of personnel to meet these demands, with reverberations on all levels of educational training. Digitalization in the field of energy will become more and more important and useful, it will have an increasingly complex role, and specialists will bring as much information as possible regarding digitalization, especially to students. The Faculty of Energy within the UPB is considering increasing the number of disciplines, subjects, and laboratories regarding digitalization, so that future generations know this field very well. The implementation of digitalization projects ensures increased efficiency of electricity activity.