Romanian Energy Awards 2018: Celebrating Excellence

The Diplomat - Bucharest celebrated performance and exceptional accomplishments in the Romanian energy field, awarding 17 performers in both conventional and renewable energy, with the seventh annual event bringing together the who's who in the ever demanding industry, at the JW Marriott hotel in Bucharest.

2018-07-02 12:05:49 - From the Print Edition

The Awards Gala is an elite event and platform to recognize, reward and celebrate the success of the most prominent firms acting in the energy and natural resources field in Romania.

Based on rigorously-researched information and a judging panel comprising renowned leaders in the business, government and the academic scene, the event established itself as a must-attend in the Romanian energy events calendar.
The event was supported by ACUE, AFEER, CEZ Group, CRE, E&Y, Intrarom, Romgaz, Tinmar, Transelectrica, Domeniile Samburesti and Zarea.
The best managers, practices and projects were awarded within 17 categories by the judging panel, formed of:
Iulian Tudorache, State Secretary, Ministry of Energy
Zoltan Nagy, VicePresident, ANRE
Valeriu Binig, Partner, E&Y
Bogdan Chiritoiu, President, Romanian Competition Council
Corina Popescu, former State Secretary in the Ministry of Energy
Radu Dudau, Director, Energy Policy Group
Opening the Awards Gala, Iulian Tudorache, State Secretary with the Ministry of Energy, thanked the jury and the organizers for keeping up the tradition of highlighting the year's accomplishments in a most demanding and challenging vital industry.


DEAL OF THE YEAR - ELECTRICA

Kicking off the awards celebration was the ‘Deal of the Year' category, awarding a project that impacted the energy sector or the energy business community. Vying for the top honour were Electrica, Premier Energy/Forte Gaz, Transeastern Power/ OMV Petrom. Receiving the award on behalf od Electrica was Alexandra Borislavschi, Chief Corporate Governance & M&A Officer with the company. Electrica closed a memorandum with Fondul Proprietatea to acquire the stakes from Electrica's subsidiaries, respectively SDEE Distributie Muntenia Nord, SDEE Distributie Transilvania Sud, SDEE Distributie Transilvania and Electrica Furnizare, for 752 million RON.


ENERGY PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR - MARIANA GHEORGHE

This award recognizes the activity of an individual that was directly responsible for creating and instituting innovative and effective programmes, projects, or technologies and/or has otherwise significantly helped the public or private sectors meet their goals.

The award for ‘Energy Personality of the Year' went to Mariana Gheorghe, former CEO and president of executive board of OMV Petrom, for her impressive career and outstanding results during the 12 years with the company. Speaking to the capacity-filled room via video message, she said: "Good evening to all. I′m very sorry I′m not with you, but I′m there with my soul. I want to thank the organizers and the jury who have given me this very honourable award. It is still proof that OMV Petrom is a wonderful company for which I have had the opportunity to work for over 12 years. It is a company that can make a difference in the energy sector in Romania and in the region. It is a trustworthy company, a trustworthy provider for the Romanian economy and one of the largest investors in Romania. I wish you the most beautiful achievements!"


ENERGY MANAGER OF THE YEAR - SORINEL BOZA, CE OLTENIA

This award recognizes the achievements of an individual that demonstrates leadership and commitment to the energy sector, creating a positive impact with the business they manage.
The award was presented by Iulian Tudorache: "We're used to hear in Romania that winter is not like summer. When winter comes to Romania, we all look at one industry, one energy producer who is always there to save the day. Last year we were once again saved by CE Oltenia, a profitable company in 2017."

The award for ‘Energy Manager of the Year' went to Sorinel Boza, general manager and president of the board at CE Oltenia, for his ability to transform the company in a profitable one after three year of losses.

Complexul Energetic Oltenia has been a reliable energy supplier for the National Power System for over 40 years, and is ready to meet the task for the next 40 years as well, only based on coal reserves discovered so far, company officials say. With Government Decision No. 1024/2011 estabishing a dual administration system (the Directorate and the Supervisory Board) under the authority of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business Environment, Complexul Energetic Oltenia provides over 95 per cent of the lignite locally, and plays a significant role in the Ancillary Service Market, as it generates safe electricity which is not dependant on weather conditions.


OIL AND GAS COMPANY OF THE YEAR - BLACK SEA OIL & GAS

This award honours a business organisation demonstrating superior performance in the development, delivery and innovation of oil and gas field, products and services.
Competing for the top prize were Black Sea Oil & Gas, Conpet, Delgaz Grid, Sand Hill Petroleum Romania. The award was received by Mark Beacom, CEO of Black Sea Oil & Gas, after the company took over the EX-1 Voivozi and EX-5 Adea oil blocks in Western Romania.

He said: "It's an honour to receive this award. One of the action that we took was to get some support for our project, with EBRD as shareholder. Our project is trying to extract gas out of the Black Sea, as this industry is one of huge potential for Romania. We have our problems, regulatory issues, not big issues, but enough to stop us from advancing. We're working with the government to pass a law which will allow us to get going. Again I would like to thank you for this award. Thank you very much!"


OIL AND GAS PROJECT OF THE YEAR – ROMGAZ

This award recognizes a project in the oil and gas sector that has been planned and executed with excellence, delivering significant benefits to stakeholders and community.
This category comprised three nominees: OMV Petrom, Romgaz and Shandong Kerui Petroleum Equipment, with Romgaz emerging as the winner of the category.
Accepting the award, Vasile Ciolpan, director of energy trading, said: "We feel honoured to receive this award from you. We thank you very much. We all give credit to our colleagues who made the discovery of the largest onshore gas field in the last 30 years in Romania."


CUSTOMER-CENTRIC ENERGY COMPANY OF THE YEAR - TINMAR

This award honours a public sector organisation or a private company demonstrating superior performance in implementing customer-centric strategies in energy and power projects, products and services. It refers to benefits generated by digitalisation in distributed energy resources and marketplace, preventative and condition-based maintenance and predictive outage, smart grid and smart pipes and customer interaction. This category comprised two nominees, with CEZ Romania as runner-up and Tinmar as a winner.

The award was presented by Radu Dudau, director at Energy Policy Group: "For several years we have anticipated that the retail energy market is going to change. The classic supply of energy is going to change. The energy services have become more complex, in a favorable way for the energy consumer. The company we are awarding today has taken a surprising step forward."

The award was accepted by Adrian Pavelescu, head of corporate development with Tinmar, after the company's initiative to promote the idea of personalized care for employees and clients. He said: "This award honours us. We are a challenger in the market and we have proven that we can be a reference name in the Romanian energy sector."


ENERGY COMPANY OF THE YEAR – NUCLEARELECTRICA

This award honours a public sector organisation or a private company demonstrating superior performance in the development, delivery and innovation of conventional or renewable energy projects, or energy products and services.

This category welcomed nominated companies such as CE Oltenia, Hidroelectrica, Nuclearelectrica and Tinmar. The winner was Nuclearelectrica for its strong performance on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE) and with deputy general manager Dan Laurentiu Tudor receiving the award."I am honoured to receive this award on behalf of the company," he told the audience. "It is a recognition of the quality of Nuclearelectrica′s activity in a dynamic environment with strong energy companies. My colleagues deserve this award, they are professionals who do their job with excellence every single day. Any strong company is heading for the future, and our investments demonstrate that we are intensly active locally, at the same time receiving support from the Romanian energy system. Thank you!"


AWARD FOR INNOVATION IN ENERGY – ROTTCO

This award honours the performance, leadership and innovation for new products that deliver improvements in energy productivity. A wide range of products are eligible for consideration in this category, including appliances, lighting control systems and energy management systems.
The nominees for this category were Rottco and Tinmar. The award for innovation in energy went to Paul Pop, owner of Rottco. The company was awarded for its Synergy project (the interconnection of independent gas stations in Romania into a national and interactive network). Pop said: "I am surprised and honoured at the same time for receiving this award. Knowledge, courage, commitment and determination are key elements to success. Thank you!"


TECHNOLOGY PROVIDER OF THE YEAR - RINGHEL TEAM

This award recognizes a new technology or design that results in significant resource savings, new approaches in energy practice or innovative changes in energy management.
Ringhel was the lone nominee in this category, for its innovative services provided to customers. The award was accepted by Mihai Darzan, general manager of the company, who said: Thank you for the invitation and the award. I′ll be very short. We make sure our clients get their energy bill and then is paid. Thanks again for the award."


ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM OF THE YEAR - LISSCOM BRASOV

This award recognizes an organization that is demonstrating excellence and innovation in environmental management and sustainable practices in business. The nominees for this category were Lisscom Brasov, Schneider Electric and Stratum Enclosures.


The award was presented by Zoltan Nagy, vicepresident of ANRE: "As the head of the energy efficiency department at ANRE, I wanted to personally congratulate the winner of this category. This company has already won numerous awards so it's not something new for them. The winner is Lisscom Brasov and I also want to congratulate the Cluj-Napoca City Hall for their involvement in this project."
The award for Lisscom Brasov's project to optimise energy consumption for selected sites in the city of Cluj-Napoca was received by Stefan Opris, marketing manager, Lisscom Brasov.

He said: "I feel a great honour to be standing here in front of you. Thank you to the organizers, thank you to those who have developed this project. I must also thank those who have given us the opportunity to run energy efficiency projects in Romania. My younger colleagues have started such projects ten years ago. They refused to leave Romania and wanted to do something for us all. I would like to give them a round of apllause, because they deserve it. Thank you again!"


BEST DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION PROGRAM OF THE YEAR - E.ON

This award honours the achievements of those companies that have successfully planned and executed the digital transformation of one or multiple areas of their business through the use of digital and disruptive technologies.
Competing in the category were: E.ON, RCS-RDS and Ringhel Team. The award went to E.ON for their E.ON Flash project.
The award was presented by Anca Albu, manager Advisory Services – Performance Improvement, with EY: "Digital transformations take time, but the winner of this category managed to do something innovative in three months. Under the logo ‘No queues, no paper, free energy like you', the winner was E.ON Flash by E.ON Romania."
Accepting the award, CEO Frank Hajdinjak said: "We are very proud of this project. Some of our competitors are now trying to copy it. Thank you very much for this award."


INDUSTRY-UNIVERSITY COLLABORATION INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR - ABB

This award recognizes successful examples of great achievements in industry-academia-government collaborative activities by universities, public research institutes, companies and other entities and honours them for their outstanding contributions to the promotion of such collaboration and their success in pioneering achievements.

The category comprised five nominees: ABB, CE Oltenia, CEZ Romania, Deloitte Romania, Transelectrica, with ABB emerging as the winner, for opening its first robotics centre in Romania, set up by public-private partnership with the Polytechnic University of Bucharest. Accepting the award was Tomasz Wolanowski, country managing director, who said: "Thank you very much for this award. It was not a big project in terms of investment but it was an important one in terms of transferring knowledge between industry and university. On behalf of ABB Romania, we promise this is just the first step. Thank you!"


BRAND OF THE YEAR IN ENERGY - CEZ ROMANIA

This award recognizes the popularity aspect of an energy company brand. The nomination process for this award was conducted online exclusively, with online voters proposing and assessing the nominees.
The big winner was CEZ Romania and the award was received by Martin Zmelik, CEO of the company. He thanked the organizers and the jury: "It is a very important reward because it was based on the feedback of our clients, partners. We built this brand through our day-to-day activity. I would like to thank our team and our employees because I truly believe our brand is appreciated by Romania and our clients."


ENERGY FINANCING AWARD - BCR AND EBRD

This award recognizes the exceptional achievements of a financial institution that demonstrated a successful track record of financing the energy sector. The finalists for this category were BCR/ EBRD, EBRD / Expert Petroleum, Greenfiber, Shandong Kerui Petroleum Equipment, Transelectrica, Transgaz / EIB.

The award was presented by Joshua Burke, commercial attache and deputy senior commercial officer with the US Embassy in Romania: "It's such an honour to be here tonight and to celebrate with you, to be with industry experts and to honour incredible partnerships with very difficult set of competitors."
The ‘Energy Financing Award' went to BCR and EBRD for financing the waste lubricant oils recycling plant of Green Oil and Lubes. The award was accepted by Ramona Kurko, head of energy and utilities, Corporate Banking at BCR and Iustin Ivanescu, principal banker at EBRD.

"Thank you so much for this award. It was an honour to finance this project. Energy is a strategic sector for BCR and Romania. Thank you so much," said Kurko.


EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT – PROF. DR. ENG. NICOLAE GOLOVANOV

This award recognizes the lifetime achievements of an individual that demonstrates commitment to the energy sector creating a positive impact with the business theywork in.
The award was presented by Corina Popescu, member of directorate at Transelectrica: "I am honoured to be able to present this award. We are at a time when young people need role models, role models that can give them confidence. The personality I am talking about has formed dozens of generations of Romanian specialists. He is one of the people who puts in a lot of effort to promote and support young students."
The winner was Nicolae Golovanov, professor at the Faculty of Power Engineering, at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest.
He said: "For me this award was a total surprise. There are many people who have made a very important contribution to this energy sector, extremely important figures that have developed this system. I am very honoured to be among these extraordinary people."


ASSOCIATION / NGO OF THE YEAR – CRE

This award recognizes the achievements of an association or non-profit organization (NGO) whose activities have had a positive impact on the energy sector.
This category comprised two nominees: Romanian Energy Center (CRE) and EFdeN.
The award went to Corneliu Bodea, CEO Adrem and president of CRE,
the most important non-governmental organization in the Romanian energy sector. He said: "Thank you so much. I have been working for 25 years in the energy sector but I've started receiving awards in the last couple of years. I'm enjoying every single award and I think we deserve it. Thank you!"


JURY SPECIAL AWARD – EFdeN

Pioneering new projects, technologies and concepts help shape the new energy world and drive the transition in the energy industry forward. The solutions honoured with the Jury Special Award are trendsetters and reflect the rapid development of the industry.
The ‘Jury Special Award' this year went to EFdeN and was received by Vlad Dinu, a young student from EFdeN.
EFdeN is a team of students and young proffesionals who work together in order to achieve their goal of educating people about energy efficiency and sustainability by building working product concepts such as sustainable solar houses, electric car charging stations and green campuses powered by photovoltaic panels.
Dinu said: "Thank you so much. It is an honour to be here and to represent the work of over 60 students. We at EFdeN build the houses of the future, which we hope will push the energy sector forward. We are trying to be a positive example, to show that it can be done. We want to do a good job and work with the private sector to do extraordinary things."
The seventh edition of the Romanian Energy Awards Gala enjoyed a significant presence of managers in energy, representing the largest companies and projects, both Romanian-based and international, covering all energy fields. The Diplomat - Bucharest team sends the warmest thanks to all who have contributed to the success of the event and invites you to the next year′s edition of the Romanian Energy Awards Gala.