The energy of the future must simultaneously meet three big challenges: sustainability, availability and affordability. This is the essence of the energy trilemma that Gabriel Tache, Country Sales Manager Eaton Romania, spoke about during the session “Flows and Frequencies: Managing the Energy Momentum” at the 11th Energy Strategy Summit, the flagship event of Energynomics.

“Energy must be sustainable, available when it is needed and affordable,” summarized Tache. It’s a difficult balance, especially in the context of the profound changes in the European energy market.

In his view, digitization is one of the most effective and quickest ways to move forward on all three fronts. “There are studies that show that by digitizing existing capacity, up to 25% of the energy already installed can be made available without major additional investment,” he explained. This potential for optimization is essential at a time when energy systems need to absorb more and more variable generation from renewable sources without overburdening existing infrastructure.

But digitalization also brings challenges. Systems are becoming increasingly interconnected and therefore more vulnerable to cyber attacks. “As we have interconnected systems, they become easier to attack and harder to manage. That’s why our solutions include not only data collection and processing, but also the cybersecurity component,” Tache emphasized, referring to the Brightlayer platform developed by Eaton, which integrates data acquisition, data processing and cybersecurity.

Against the backdrop of digitalization and accelerated electrification, the structure of energy grids is changing fundamentally. We no longer have just traditional producers and consumers, but more and more prosumers – customers who both consume and produce energy. This transformation brings with it the need for flexibility and finer balancing of the grid.

“What we see now is a paradigm shift. We went from hourly intervals to 15-minute intervals. Basically, operationally, the complexity has quadrupled, because instead of 24 intervals we have 96. And this amplifies forecast errors – you can no longer compensate for deviations within the same hours,” explained Gabriel Tache.

This new market model, focused on granularity and flexibility, requires massive investments and innovative solutions. Eaton responds to these needs not only with digitization solutions, but also with advanced equipment for energy management and power continuity. A relevant example is the rapidly expanding data center sector, which is also driven by the development of artificial intelligence.

“In the area of data centers, there is massive investment. Studies show that by 2030, the energy consumption of dedicated AI data centers will exceed the energy needs of countries like France and Spain. In a 1 GW data center, UPSs can still represent about 1 GW – and they can also be used for network tuning,” said Tache, highlighting the potential of Eaton’s solutions in integrating and leveraging existing capacities.

DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION OF GABRIEL TACHE

Eaton is already prepared to meet other regulatory and environmental challenges. For example, from 2026, a European rule will come into force that will ban the use of SF6 gas in medium-voltage equipment, a powerful greenhouse gas. “Eaton has already had SF6-Free solutions for more than 30 years, which use vacuum and air as an insulating medium,” Tache explained. This technological capability offers customers a viable and sustainable way to comply with the new standards.

In more than 170 countries and with a global turnover of nearly 20 billion dollars, Eaton aims to be a strategic partner for the energy transition. “We need to rethink everything from how we collect and process data, to how we balance the grid and invest in infrastructure,” concluded Gabriel Tache.

For Romania, the message is clear: the energy transition is not just about new generation capacity, but also about modernizing and digitizing the existing grid so that energy is sustainable, available and affordable.

2025 Energy Strategy Summit was organised by Energynomics, with the support of our partners: AJ Brand, Elektra Renewable Support, ABB, Adrem Asset Management, Alive Capital, BCR, DEKRA, Distribuție Energie Electrică Romania, E-Infra, Eaton Electric, Electrica Furnizare, EnergoBit, Enery, Enevo Group, Enexus, European Investment Bank, Evryo, Exim Banca Romaneasca, Delgaz Grid, Genesis Biopartner, Huawei, ING Bank, Jantzen Renewables, Keno Energy, Leader Team, LONGi, Nano Energies, Prime Batteries Technology, Procesio, Procredit Bank, Relians, Renomia, Romgaz, Schneider Electric, script.ai, Sermatec, smartPulse, Solar Today, SolaX, Think Blu Solution, Voltika, Wiren, YEO, AIployees, Aqua Carpatica, Alexandrion, Carbon Tool, Imsol.