The eighth edition of the Energy CEO Forum & Awards Gala 2019, organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest, brought together the leaders of the top companies in the Romanian energy industry, who debated the most important challenges of the moment for the energy field. A panel of eight CEOs, along with Corneliu Bodea, CEO of Adrem, invited the more than 100 participants at the event to reflect on the common objectives, including the transition to a zero-carbon economy and the support of renewable energies.
Corneliu Bodea: “Gas is a transitional resource and will continue to be in the next 10-15 years”
Energy independence, decentralization and digitalization were some of the key terms that dominated the discussions between the stakeholders present at this year’s gala: entrepreneurs, representatives of civil society and the state energy sector. From European energy policies versus those of major competitors, such as the U.S. and China, to the resources available to Romania to transition to the dominance of renewable energies, the debate focused on the issues that can lead to energy efficiency and the fight against climate change.
Corneliu Bodea, CEO of Adrem, stressed at the forum that Romania does not yet have a system that would allow it to implement a higher percentage of renewable energies. Even if the future belongs to electricity and we will use green energies more and more, resources that can be considered transitional, such as gas, will continue to play a central role in the next 10-15 years: “This actually tells us in which directions we should invest. In order to increase the level of control of the grids, we need to invest in smart grids, to reach a point where we can rely more on renewable energies. Gas, indeed, plays a very important role and will probably continue to do so in the next 10-15 years.”:
The crisis of specialists in the energy industry
Beyond the need for investments, a fundamental challenge for the Romanian economy, which is also felt in the energy sector, is the crisis of specialists. Even in the context in which the robotization of processes and the use of artificial intelligence are on an upward trend, the need for qualified human resources is as real as possible. Regarding this topic, Corneliu Bodea stressed that there are two factors with a major contribution to this phenomenon: the emigration of specialists to Western markets but also the demographic decline, most visible in the drastic decrease in the number of students in Romania in the last eight years. Generation Z, which is now replacing a much larger generation on the labor market, perfectly reflects the gap created by the aging population. In Corneliu Bodea’s opinion, depopulation is a serious problem, all the more so in the context in which it is not possible to intervene quickly on the phenomenon:
Energy Industry Awardfor Best Digital Transformation of the Year
One of the special moments of the Energy CEO Forum & Awards Gala 2019 was the handing over of the award for Best Digital Transformation of the Year. Distribuție Oltenia (CEZ Romania), one of the strategic partners with which Adrem supports the evolution of the energy market, was awarded for a project that benefits from an impressive investment of over 95 million euros. The project is built on SMART technologies, automation and digitalization and marks the development direction chosen by the top companies in the energy sector. Corneliu Bodea had the pleasure of handing over this award to our partners at CEZ, to whom we are linked by over 10 years of strategic collaboration. Congratulations for your vision, innovation and courage!
