This year’s EU Sustainable Energy Week Awards finalists include Timea Farkas, a young woman from Cluj, PhD student at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca and Research Engineer at Servelect.
Timea is nominated in the Young Energy Trailblazer category for her efforts in supporting Romanian SMEs in improving energy efficiency, competing alongside two candidates from France and Portugal.
The winner will be decided by a public vote, open until 18 September 2022.
We invite you to support her with a vote by visiting THIS LINK before 18 September!
The Young Energy Trailblazer Award rewards young people involved in outstanding activities that support the energy transition and inspire courageous energy action.
Through the two H2020 projects it manages, GEAR@SME and SMEmPower Efficiency, Timea contributes to the removal of barriers to the implementation of energy efficiency solutions, providing technical assistance and support to Romanian SMEs in their daily efforts to reduce energy costs and consumption as well as CO2 emissions.
“In my opinion, knowledge and awareness are the main fuels of the energy transition,” explained Timea. “My aim is to help SMEs by grouping them into energy collectives so that they can motivate and support each other in achieving the energy and climate goals set for the short, medium and long term. Through my work, I encourage companies to carry out energy analyses and provide training to employees and decision-makers to gain more knowledge about the multiple benefits they can gain by implementing energy efficiency measures.”
Her passion for sustainability began during her undergraduate studies when she had the opportunity to study at Østfold University College in Norway through an Erasmus scholarship. Following this experience, she chose to focus on the study of renewable energy sources, pursuing a master’s degree in this field at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, where she is currently completing her PhD studies. In addition to her academic pursuits, her passion for sustainability led her to start her career in the energy engineering and services company Servelect, where she works as a Research Engineer.
“Timea is a very inspiring person for me and my colleagues because of her active involvement in the projects we carry out for our beneficiaries. Behind every company there are people. Timea manages to change their minds, and they start acting both within the company and at home”, says Andrei Ceclan, Senior Energy Advisor at Servelect. “Timea has also helped create the framework for action plans to improve energy efficiency, which can now be replicated in other SMEs.”
According to the National Integrated Energy and Climate Change Plan 2021-2030 (NEPC), Romania is committed to making a fair contribution to the EU decarbonization target and supporting green production processes and resource efficiency by SMEs. Not only in Romania but also in Europe, SMEs represent 99% of all businesses and increasing energy efficiency in this sector is mandatory to achieve the EU energy and climate targets. Timea’s activities through the SMEmPower Efficiency and Gear@SME projects contribute to the implementation of the European Green Pact and support the REPowerEU Plan to accelerate the transition to clean energy and increase Europe’s energy independence.