During the day, students had to develop a project on one of six topics that the organisers consider to be the big challenges of today's energy sector. "The contestants simulate working on projects in a real environment. Even there, knowing where to look for information, not being afraid to ask more experienced people and artificial intelligence is an advantage. But they know how to critically evaluate the information and work with it further. But a good idea is just the beginning. If the economics don't add up, no investor would invest in the project. And last but not least, they have to present the project creatively," says project founder Adéla Holasová.
The final was decided by hundredths of a point
The winner was the team of students Simon Klinga, Tomáš Čermák and Vojta Dvořák, who competed under the banner of the Brno-Bystrc high school. The students won over the expert jury with their unique idea of growing algae to capture CO2 and then convert it back into electricity. The perfect presentation and practical demonstration to the jury members also contributed to the victory.
The second and third place was decided by only one hundredth of a point, which eventually went in favour of the team from PORG high school consisting of Benjamin Hudec, Ádám Sátor and Václav Verner, who developed a concept for transforming biogas stations into hydrogen production plants and storing surplus energy in form of biogas.
David Orlík, Jonáš Tomešek and Martin Obšil from Wichterle High School at Ostrava-Poruba, who participated last year and finished second, had to settle for third place this year. This year, the team came up with an idea for a solution for processing waste by pyrolysis into hydrogen and biogas, which would significantly help with the accumulation of surplus energy.
The final round included a lecture block in the morning, which was opened by Prof. Petr Páta, Dean of Faculty of Electrical Engineering. The individual partner companies followed with their lectures. "At the same time, these experts were available to the students as advisors and mentors during the day. It is an interesting experience to meet active students and to get their perspective on the issues," adds Holasová.
The general partner of the project is ČEPS (The Czech Eneregy Transmission System). The expert guarantors are Faculty of Electrical Engineering of Czech Technical University in Prague, ŠKO-ENERGO, ČEZ, a. s., GasNet, s.r.o., E.ON, Sev.en Česká energie, the Energy Regulatory Office, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics of Technical University of Ostrava and Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication Technologies of Brno University of Technology. Media partners - Czechoslovak Journal of Physics, Ámos vision and Oenergetice.cz.
The 7th annual Energy Olympiad will take place in 2024, with the school round to be held on 18 October 2024 and the finals on 7-8 November 2024.
Photos are available via the link here. Photos courtesy of Energy Olympics.