Advanced Software Solutions Coming to Region’s Electricity Market – Regulations, But Also Creating Value, Important

The end-user is the one who influences the production and distribution of energy, is educated, knows what clean energy sources are, has a lot of knowledge, and now also the option of choosing who delivers the energy, Stefan Krneta, founder of the Banjaluka-based startup Dwelt, explains the current situation in the market of electrical energy and trends that are coming to our region as well.

Together with other participants in the panel on the hybrid energy future at this year’s Trebinje Energy Summit, Krneta emphasized the importance of good technological solutions in energy and how much they can facilitate the entire process of energy transition. Because, if modern technologies have infiltrated the banking sector, why would energy be left behind?

– We see, for example, that each third house has a solar panel and that households create the way they will use energy. Blockchain is something that can’t be stopped. The hybrid energy future is determined by the end-user and the solution lies in the technologies that can facilitate the way to the future – Krneta said.

He believes that BiH, but also the countries of the region, have the knowledge and the technologies, but the power companies need to open themselves to new software platforms and technologies in general.

– If we analyze this more deeply, the digitization of energy is really lagging behind other sectors. We see that some old software solutions are still being used, and the market demands from us to open to new technologies – Krneta emphasizes.

Modern technological solutions, Krneta says, can be implemented in distribution system operators and in the domain of supply and distribution of electricity.

– We must let the technology find its way and follow its implementation. Software platforms are much more flexible than we think, and we can set them up to suit the needs of any given power company. I therefore believe that we shouldn’t come across obstacles in implementation, from the moment of the production to the delivery of electricity – Krneta concluded.

Stjepan Sucic, the director of development at Koncar KET, said that the existing network could not accommodate all the coming trends and that this posed a challenge – how the upcoming solutions could fit with the traditional work conditions.

– The insufficiently liberalized market should be kept in mind as well. If all the solar power plants, wind farms, hybrid and electric cars were connected to the network, the system would probably collapse and that is why the extension of the network and the infrastructure should be done gradually. We need to continuously follow the trends when it comes to consumers’ needs, those who want to be increasingly active in this process – Sucic pointed out.

According to him, three segments need to be considered: the implementation of technology in energy transition, followed by the creation of good business models, after which a campaign should be undertaken so that the customers are convinced of the importance of the enhancement of energy systems.

– We need to engage them to be prosumers. The end goal is for the purchaser to be our partner and to be educated about all these processes.

Marko Vukobratovic of the Osijek-based company Base58, which implements modern technologies in energy, believes that the purchaser is active now and free to choose the supplier.

– The multitude of such actors makes an energy network active. Those of us who carry the technologies must think outside the box and seek solutions outside the domain, solutions which will be hybrid in nature.

He says, however, that technological companies should not go too far in that process either, because a non-regulated system is not stable.

– In order not to go too far, we should ask the question of how to limit this, how to reduce the space for the research of our solutions to the size of a playground. We need to know how far we can go, so that everyone involved would be happy.

Creating value, but also regulations

Uros Salobir of the Slovenian transmission system operator ELES believes that smart energy networks are the future and that we are looking at an integration of this system, which will later on enable investing less and getting more.

– However, we need to be aware that regulations can remove some barriers, but cannot create the value of these services. We need to be focused on creating the value of the future services. That’s what the money should be put in. Whichever system we create, we should be aware of the business and all the parties involved. The value is the engine and we need to find it.

Savo Minic, the director of Kaldera, pointed out that it was a quick transition that the regulations couldn’t follow that fast.

– This is usually packaged into frameworks, which help us move down the path of good solutions. The needs of the end-consumer are not the same in BiH, not even in RS, and we are a very minor example. There’s a range of factors that will influence the legislation and the adoption of acts, so that the system would be sustainable.

The Trebinje Energy Summit SET 2021 was organized by Elektroprivreda RS and the SET company on May 20-21, under the aegis of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH, the Government of the Republic of Srpska and the Koncar company, with the general sponsorship of Elnos Group and the support of Infinity Group and Dwelt.

The eKapija portal is the media sponsor of the 2021 Trebinje Energy Summit.

Teodora Brnjos

SET doo Trebinje

ELES Slovenia

Kaldera

Base58 Osijek

Dwelt Banjaluka

Končar

Končar Ket

Stjepan Sučić

Marko Vukobratović

Uroš Salobir

Savo Minić

hybrid energy future

energy software

prosumer

energy software platforms

digitization of energy

Trebinje Energy Summit

SET 2021