Tools For Energy Transition Assessment: Romania

Organized by the Romanian National Committee of the World Energy Council (WEC/RNC) on February 16, 2021, in online format, the conference analyzed the set of five instruments / studies developed by the World Energy Council (WEC), namely: „World Energy Scenarios”, „World Energy Issue Monitor”, „World Energy Trilemma Index”, „Dynamic Resilience Framework” and „Innovation Insights Briefs.

Prestigious consulting companies and WEC partners, participated in the realization of these instruments / studies, among which we mention: Accenture, Marsh, PwC, Swiss Re, Oliver Wyman and so on.

Among the most important aspects highlighted at the conference are:

-The Energy Trilemma Index is represented by the Energy Security, Energy Accessibility, Energy Sustainability, elements widely debated by speakers and participants;

- WEC-RNC continues the tradition of periodically promoting studies that identify trends at global, regional and national levels, the objective of the conference being to inform the Romanian energy community on the results of the 2020 situation and medium-term forecasts;

- The three alternative scenarios in the "Great Energy Transition", initiated by WEC in 2016, with a time horizon of 2060, were named metaphorically and suggestively: "Modern Jazz", "Unfinished Symphony" and "Hard Rock" and have the role of exploring the role of innovation in the energy transition;

- In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, WEC has developed a set of medium-term post-crisis scenarios by 2025, equally suggestive: "Pause", "Rewind", "Re-Record" and "Fast -Forward ”. While long-term scenarios can provide a broader context for the response to Covid-19, post-crisis health scenarios are a set of flexible tools that can prepare for an unpredictable future and shape a post-crisis agenda;

- In the regional context, Romania is on the 25th place in the value of the index and holds the 3rd place on the energy security component, a very good position, which is in danger of losing, if the necessary investments are not made for electricity generation from conventional sources;

- From the point of view of resilience, the ability of a structure is to respond, absorb and quickly recover the initial functionality following an extreme event. Local and system-wide resilience should be taken into account;

- Romania's priority actions aim at digitizing systems, renewable energy sources, nuclear energy, energy efficiency, climate change management;

-The great energy transition will be covered primarily with hydrogen-based technology, as an accelerator of reducing carbon emissions, the wider development of all storage technologies and the acceleration of digitization;

- In Romania, consultations took place on the National Strategy for Research, Innovation and Specialization and 4 major areas of direct action were proposed: digitalization in energy, energy storage technologies, modern low-emission energy generation technologies, electric mobility;

- It was found that the take-off speed exceeded the learning speed in the case of state-of-the-art technologies;

- WEC/RNC can contribute to increase the quality of WEC tools / studies by direct involvement in WEC Working Groups and Committees and by disseminating and promoting them among the members of the Association and energy experts in Romania;

- The World Energy Council has been developing scenarios for almost two decades to support a comprehensive and quality strategic dialogue on the future of the energy systems.