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Dive into the heart of the energy transition with insights from leading figures at the Paris session! Discover Finland's ambitious journey towards carbon neutrality by 2035, driven by massive wind power integration and grid modernization.
Explore Greece's unique challenges and innovative solutions for green energy, from interconnecting its numerous islands to harnessing vast renewable potential. Learn about their groundbreaking electronic magazine, "Pylons," which fuels global discussions on system resilience and the future of energy.
Plus, celebrate the esteemed Seagree Medal recipient and their profound impact on the organization, highlighting its role as a vital training ground for professionals. Gain a global perspective on cutting-edge topics and collaborative learning.
#EnergyTransition #GreenEnergy #CIGRE #Finland
Explore Greece's unique challenges and innovative solutions for green energy, from interconnecting its numerous islands to harnessing vast renewable potential. Learn about their groundbreaking electronic magazine, "Pylons," which fuels global discussions on system resilience and the future of energy.
Plus, celebrate the esteemed Seagree Medal recipient and their profound impact on the organization, highlighting its role as a vital training ground for professionals. Gain a global perspective on cutting-edge topics and collaborative learning.
#EnergyTransition #GreenEnergy #CIGRE #Finland
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TVTranscript
00:08I'm really glad to receive Mrs. Harla, the President of the Finland National Committee.
00:13Hi!
00:14Hello.
00:15Welcome.
00:16How long have you been involved in this role of President of the Finland National Committee?
00:22So I have been the President now 10 years.
00:26And before that, I have been in some other secret activities, so I have been in secret since 1990s.
00:33So I guess that it is really important for you.
00:36Yes, it has been a quite large part of my professional career.
00:39So I have written papers being working group members, study committee members and so on.
00:44What are the activities of your National Committee nowadays?
00:49So of course we take care of this National Committee administrative issues.
00:54We organize meetings, sometimes working shops.
00:57We have this Next Generation Network group.
01:01And then we review the papers for conference.
01:04And then we discuss actual topics sometimes.
01:07We know that the top leading subject on this Paris session is energy transition.
01:13Could you maybe give us some details on how your National Committee and Finland is dealing with the climate change?
01:22So our government has very ambitious climate goals.
01:27Finland aims at being carbon neutral by 2035.
01:33And building a lot of wind power and connecting this to our grid is one part of that goal.
01:40And we are really building a lot of grid at the moment.
01:43And there is a huge amount of wind power coming to the Finnish system.
01:48And that of course changes the system quite a lot.
01:51Regarding this period of uncertainty, of acceleration, how this Paris session is special?
01:59I think that teams here and these papers and these tutorials, they are very topical.
02:07And I have discussed with my colleagues here and they have told that it's not every session that there are
02:12so many actual topics.
02:14Because we need to learn new things because the system is changing.
02:17And we don't learn them from the textbooks.
02:19We have to collaborate internationally and learn from others.
02:23And hopefully also give to others something.
02:25So with what will you come back to Finland?
02:30So with many interesting discussions, papers, tutorials.
02:34And we will have a seminar after that and discuss inside our National Committee.
02:39Thanks a lot.
02:50Our journey with the National Committee leads us now to Greece.
02:54I am glad to meet the President of the National Committee of Greece.
02:59Hi.
02:59Welcome.
03:00Hello.
03:01Greece has an enormous coastline and counts more than 60,000 islands and with 200 inhabitants.
03:09Speaking about the green transition, what are the main challenges that your National Committee is facing?
03:16Yeah.
03:16Just to say in the ones that now in Greece, we cover something more than 30% of the electricity
03:22demand by renewables.
03:24So almost equally between wind and PVs, especially for the islands.
03:30We know we have a lot of islands, nice ones, but difficult to supply with electricity.
03:37So it's very costly.
03:38But so what we have decided for the remoted ones is to interconnect them.
03:44Now actually we have been connected from many, many years the western islands to the west coast.
03:49So we started actually with the first interconnection of the Cycladic islands and it started to operate on 2018.
03:58Very successful operation actually.
04:00It was the first of its kind.
04:02Then we have the plan to interconnect to the big island of Crete.
04:06We connected first two years ago with a long AC cables, actually the longest such interconnection of this type at
04:17150 kV.
04:18It had an enormous result on the security of supply, but also on the power quality on the island.
04:27And now in two years we'll have a new DC link, 380 km with the metropolitan area of Athens.
04:36It's worth to say here that Crete is a very important island because they produce something like 20% of
04:41the GDP of the country.
04:44Another issue that I want to mention is that by these interconnections we can exploit the enormous wind and solar
04:53potential that exists in the archipelago of Aegean.
04:57The Greek National Committee organizes events and technical conferences.
05:01This year you have also started an electronic magazine called Pylons, tell us more about it.
05:07Yes, we started this, we already have issued two issues of this magazine, it was very well accepted by the
05:17public.
05:18Most of the papers are also published in relevant sites of high visibility and we have papers not only from
05:28Greece,
05:28but also from all around the world in specific issues.
05:33So we had already one issue of resilience of the system, another one of the new security regulations in Europe
05:43and now the next one will be possibly the green transition with emphasis in storage and electric mobility.
05:52What are your expectations regarding the Paris session?
05:57What are you here for?
05:59Yeah, just to say we had 13 papers here as a national committee from Greece
06:05and as usually I think it's a very, very professional conference and one week you can take a good idea
06:14and a global view on what is happening all around the globe.
06:19So it's very, very important for us within this limited time to have all this type of information.
06:25Thank you for coming by.
06:37I'm in the company of Dr. Rob Stephen.
06:40Welcome.
06:41Thank you very much.
06:42First of all, congrats for your Seagree Medal.
06:45What does this medal represent for you?
06:48Well, it is for me a great honor.
06:51It is the highest Seagree Award and it is, as I said when I was president, I said for those
07:00who get the medal,
07:01you almost need to walk on water.
07:02I don't think I'm anywhere near there.
07:04So for me, it was an enormous honor to receive this medal from obviously nominated from my colleagues.
07:14What does Seagree represent for you along your life, professional and personal life?
07:21Oh, well, I think Seagree is one of the best training areas ever.
07:25I think that if I wasn't involved in Seagree, I wouldn't have done one-tenth of what I achieved in
07:31my career technically and so on.
07:33And I often say that without Seagree, you're almost operating blind.
07:38You have no vision to find out where the solutions are to your problems.
07:44You have no help.
07:45And Seagree opens a world of knowledge to you.
07:48So you can then quite easily contact your colleagues, your network and find out the solutions or bounce ideas of
07:57your Seagree community.
07:59How important is it to be to take part of event of in Paris like this Paris session this year?
08:07And maybe what could you say to the young generation to come and join?
08:12Yes, I think the Seagree session is of course very important, but it is the tip of the iceberg for
08:21as far as Seagree is concerned.
08:23The working groups and involvement in development of brochures is really where you learn.
08:32In my case, I did my master's and I was quite young at about 30, early 30s and I went
08:41to the working group and sitting around the table was everybody that I had referenced in my thesis.
08:46So to actually sit and talk to them was an absolute honor.
08:50It was something which I never expected.
08:53And I found that they were quite approachable and could assist me in my queries and my studies.
09:01And from there, I think if the young people wish to get involved, the best way is through working groups
09:07and attend study committee meetings, write papers, join contributions to journals and technical brochures.
09:15And then of course come to Seagree and make contributions to the papers and the questions, don't you sit in
09:23the audience and listen, it is part of participation.
09:27And the Seagree community is a great one to assist you in your development and expansion of your technical knowledge.
09:35Regarding your own experience with Seagree, do you feel nowadays that Seagree can be a game changer in the energy
09:43transition?
09:43Oh yes, if there's any organization in the world that can do that, it's Seagree.
09:50The benefit of Seagree is that it is open, so you get free exchange of information.
09:55With a free exchange of information, you get the maximum information relating to technical knowledge.
10:02So any developments, any new developments are immediately picked up, ideas are shared and solutions are found.
10:10And as I said, if you go to any study committee, for example, on overhead lines or cables, someone in
10:17that room has a solution to your problem.
10:20If they haven't got it, they are working on it.
10:22And you just need to find that person and work with them to find the solution.
10:26So the energy transition, I think, will be handled.
10:30I think Seagree will be the forefront organization to solve those issues.
10:35Thank you. Thank you, sir, for coming by.
11:09Well, Seagree has adopted many changes in on different aspects.
11:15If we if we consider, for example, the operations, the daily operations of Seagree, the pandemic has led us to
11:24introduce more telework for our staff.
11:26And the good news was that we were ready to do that we we had implemented it before marginally.
11:34But now, of course, with the pandemic, everyone is working from home or elsewhere from from the office.
11:40So this is the first aspect.
11:42So this is the first aspect.
11:42The other aspect, the other aspect, the governing, sorry, the governing bodies of Seagree.
11:50Well, the second aspect is that the governing bodies of Seagree, the administrative councils, steering committees, technical committee have changed
12:01their way to work together.
12:03So they have used video conferences, web webinars, this kind of things to discuss, which was not done previously.
12:11So this was really something new.
12:14And the third aspect is that, of course, the sessions have had to be designed in a different way with
12:21different formats.
12:22So these are the main aspects of that have been changed.
12:26Talking about the previous sessions, what was your impression on the virtual centennial session?
12:33Well, the virtual centennial session was, in fact, not the first virtual session we had.
12:38That's right.
12:39In 2020, we already implemented the e-session, which was fully digitalized, but using very conventional tools with our own
12:51staff,
12:51because we had no time to ask for professionals to do that.
12:57And we implemented many webinars, 83 webinars, during 10 days.
13:02So we had only to recruit temporary staff to operate five channels in parallel.
13:09So in 2021, the virtual centennial session was radically different, because we wanted to introduce more quality,
13:19to introduce more professional staff.
13:23And we went, we came here at the Palais des Congrès.
13:26The Palais des Congrès had organized studios.
13:30So, and we also added Sigret TV.
13:33This is where Sigret TV was born last year.
13:37So yes, this session was completely different from the previous one.
13:43And we tried to get to go close to what we are doing now, introducing new technologies.
13:49But of course, with people attending remotely.
13:53Yes.
13:54Fortunately, this year, Sigret session is back to a face-to-face event after these two years of virtual conferences.
14:02What is what can we expect from this session?
14:05Well, this session is the reconnection of all our delegates.
14:12When we ask those delegates who didn't attend the E session or the virtual centennial session last year,
14:21and I attended the 2018 session.
14:24We asked them, why didn't you connect?
14:27Well, they say we are really fed up with virtual events, virtual conferences.
14:33We want what we want is face-to-face to network with our colleagues, to meet again, to shake hands.
14:40So we are very happy that today we can realize this dream or this expectation.
14:46And that's why they are telling us here that they want to meet the family, the Sigret family.
14:52One of the main topics this session, of course, is energy transition.
14:56Can you say a few words on how climate change and decarbonization are in the center of Sigret Works?
15:03Yes, this is important because power systems are at the center of the energy transition.
15:12You have seen that our keynote speaker, Archad Mansour from EPRI has shown us that,
15:20of course, he took the example of the United States, but this can be applied to the global world.
15:28The power sector is the one that had made the biggest effort to decarbonize its activities.
15:36The other sectors like transportation, buildings, they are very far from achieving the 2050 goals of net zero emissions.
15:49So what will happen is that these sectors will have to react very quickly to change their supply.
15:58Instead of being supplied by fossil fuels, they will switch to electricity, which will put more pressure on power systems.
16:09And when you discuss this kind of issue at a global level, Sigret is for sure the best way, the
16:17best forum to put experiences,
16:20to put expertise together and try to find the best solutions or share on the best solutions.
16:27Of course, it may be different from one continent to the other, but with the same goal,
16:32with the same objective of achieving net zero emissions very, very soon.
16:38At the scale of power systems, it's very, very now, it's tomorrow.
16:42Sigret can be the game changer.
16:45Exactly.
16:46Sigret is a game changer.
16:48Sigret is a global solution for a global problem because CO2 emissions, wherever they are produced,
16:58they have a global impact.
17:00Last word.
17:01What can you wish for Sigret for the future?
17:04My wish is that Sigret, which is well recognized by the experts that are inside Sigret,
17:13should be more recognized by other stakeholders, which play also a role in power systems,
17:21but not a technical role.
17:24They have to decide which way to go, which roadmap should be taken to decarbonize.
17:29But they should know also what are the impacts, what are the requirements in terms of power systems.
17:36And Sigret should be much more known and understood by them.
17:42So my dream is that Sigret is no longer a secret society, but...
17:50Take its place into the society.
17:52Take its place into the society and globally.
17:54Thank you for sharing this point to us.
17:57Very important.
18:07We are honored to welcome the president of Sigret, Michel Ogonet. Hi.
18:11Hi.
18:12As we know, these past years have been challenging for Sigret.
18:16After two years of digital sessions, here we are back face to face for this session.
18:23How has the organization adapted itself?
18:27So first we had to change the type of staff that we were using inside the central office.
18:33People with new skills able to use these new tools and also to develop these new tools
18:37and basically to support new services which are given to our members.
18:41I mean the object of those new tools is basically to allow to have better circulation of information,
18:47better organization of meetings and collecting more members through the membership tool.
18:52For that also we had the support of consultants who helped us to develop those tools and to create them.
19:00So the purpose of that is also to increase our membership, to increase the awareness of the organization.
19:07And by that also attract sponsors who will be happy to see their brand associated with Sigret.
19:13Because there is win-win.
19:14It's for us it's income and for them it's more customers.
19:18Energy Transition is one of the top subjects this year at Paris Session.
19:23How can the work of Sigret help its members to address this issue like all over the world now?
19:31Basically for the members of Sigret, it's a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the investment of the world,
19:38to contribute to the energy transition and to contribute to a net carbon society.
19:43And the work of Sigret basically goes that way.
19:46It focuses all the energy of its members, depending on what study committee, what sector they work,
19:54to work in one direction, which is improvement of equipment, improvement of systems,
20:00improvement of market rules, bringing together experience in order to ensure that the future network,
20:06which is much more complex because we are now going from end to end,
20:09from consumers, consumers to power plants.
20:13Some people say from turbine to toaster.
20:17These are bringing new challenges.
20:19And those new challenges, in fact, in order to meet them and to meet them quickly,
20:25Sigret is there to share the knowledge that will bring solutions to those problems.
20:29Last but not least, let's talk about the rate of women and young engineers' presence.
20:35What will be the main action taken by Sigret to make it grow?
20:39Well, in Sigret, we have a next generation network and we have a women in energy group.
20:47The idea behind those groups is to increase diversity, but also the next generation network is the future of Sigret.
20:55And it's really our goal to capture as many students as we can and to keep them in the organization.
21:03And the best people to do that, in fact, are our next generation.
21:08Also, they bring a different view to problems. They bring different solutions.
21:13They have a lot of dynamism. And we started with a few countries.
21:18Now we have more than 31 countries with next generation networks.
21:23And the last one that was developed in Belgium started in a year and now they're already 65.
21:28So they really are the future of Sigret.
21:31Women in engineering, in energy, sorry, it's a bit more complex because here we are suffering from the beginning.
21:37That is to say there are not enough girls which are, you know, incentivized to go and study after mathematics,
21:45to go into engineering.
21:46So I think the first thing is also to be able to promote energy and basically our contribution to mankind,
21:56which is the case today,
21:57so that we can attract young people and attract young women to our business.
22:03And in Sigret, where we only have 9% of women, we still had at the study committee heads 25
22:09% of the chairs, which were women.
22:12We show that women find their way in Sigret and we must continue to do that and promote, in fact,
22:20women in our organization.
22:22But it starts at school, it goes on and we must continue each time we have an opportunity to be
22:29able to promote the women in a position.
22:31Thank you, Mr. Aragonet, for these inspiring messages.
22:35Thank you very much.
23:03Thank you very much.