Corneliu Bodea, CRE: Energy consumption which is now decreasing in Romania will increase due to electrification and data centers, investments must continue
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Corneliu Bodea, founder of the Adrem group and president of the Romanian Energy Center (CRE), says that the current downward trend in electricity consumption will reverse, amid the expansion of electrification and data center activity, so for this reason investments in generation must continue. “Renewable energy is not expensive, it becomes expensive because of the way we consume it,” he said, referring to the possibility that the grid must give the customer to have different prices, which will shift consumption from the peak area to the hours of the day when the price is lower.
Corneliu Bodea said, at the Solar Energy Bucharest Summit, that we are witnessing a fairly large decrease in electricity consumption in Romania, but that the situation will reverse in five years at most, and investments in new generation capacities are necessary.
“What is happening with consumption in Romania? Because, if we were to be pragmatic and look at what is actually happening, we are witnessing a deterioration in consumption. I would not say that it is catastrophic, but it is sensitive. In the first two months of the year, electricity consumption seems to have decreased by 1.8% compared to the same period of the previous year. But if we were to look at a longer period of time, let’s say compared to a reference year of 2018, electricity consumption in Romania seems to be lower by at least 10%. 2024 compared to 2018. And then of course we ask ourselves the question: are we investing in capacities, why are we investing in capacities, where does this number come from?
Of course, we can also take into account the fact that in the last year we have been importing, we are a net importer. So here is the first area where we can replace imports with domestic production. But I am very optimistic regarding the evolution of electricity consumption and I will give you some arguments that should constitutes an encouragement for investors to continue investing,” said Bodea.
What he bases his message to investors to continue: electrification, both of transport and of thermal energy production, and the energy needed for data centers.
“First of all, we refer to the phenomenon of electrification. Both the Clean Industrial Act and the Draghi Report place electrification as one of the main methods to advance and reach an area of competitiveness in the European Union. So electrification, which means both the transformation in the transport area, but also the move from thermal energy, which today is based on other forms of energy, gas, oil, wood, to the area of electricity, means electrification and will bring a significant increase in electricity consumption in the next 5 years.
But we don’t only have electrification as a source of growth, of consumption, we also have what today seems to be the main technological development of humanity and namely data management, data centers, artificial intelligence. It is already known that this entire area of data manipulation that will become essential for the development of artificial intelligence systems consumes an enormous amount of electricity.
And that is why I believe that this will be one of the elements that will lead to increased consumption in the coming period. Even more so in Romania where we benefit from a completely and completely special situation – you know very well the internet speed, the extremely well-developed fiber optic infrastructure in Romania, the very well-developed wireless and at competitive costs. That is why I believe we have reasons to respond to investors who today are preparing to continue or start investments in renewable energy in Romania: yes, there is a positive context, yes, there is consumption that exceeds this production”, said Bodea.
The entrepreneur says that, at least at the message level, political decision-makers should talk more about electrification.
“Of course, we would like here that both the Romanian Parliament and its Government conduct a coherent policy in the sense of electrification. At least at the message level, I would like to see the Romanian Prime Minister talking about electrification, to say how important it is”, Bodea also stated.
He also referred to the role of networks and the investments that need to be made so that the customer can consume more energy, from renewable sources, when it is available, because it is cheaper and this new behavior also reduces the pressure of consumption in the current peak times, when the price is also high. He also gave the example of how consumption can be “moved” only by the possibility of applying dynamic pricing, in Denmark.
“The second aspect, also pragmatic, refers to the transport and distribution infrastructure. It is another element that can play the role of a barrier to the development of renewable energy systems or a facilitator of their development.
We know very well – and I will give you an example – how important it is to put the consumer at the center of the energy system, because traditionally this industry came from the area where the producer was located. Denmark has managed to shift 12% of peak consumption to other consumption time zones, just by ensuring the ability to bill energy at a different price during that time period. 12% is enormous, it can solve a country’s problem at certain times. This is possible exclusively by increasing investments in transport infrastructure, but especially in distribution. And especially increasing investments in the area of grid intelligence. We will have to learn to use energy and networks in a way that is aligned with the optimal moments of production.
This should be the basis of smart consumption models. Let’s consume as much green energy as possible at the best prices, and do it in a safe environment. Renewable energy is not expensive. Renewable energy is becoming expensive because of the way we learn to use it today, because of the way our energy systems today are set up to function,” Bodea said.
Corneliu Bodea is president of the Romanian Energy Center (CRE), a non-governmental and non-profit professional organization that brings together and represents, since 2011, the interests of state and private companies operating in the Romanian energy sector, in Bucharest and Brussels. More recently, he represents Romania in the powerful organization of the electricity industry in Europe, Eurelectric. Bodea is also the founder of the Adrem group, a company specialized in services and construction of energy infrastructure and solutions for industrial consumers, with over 1,000 employees nationwide.
