The Youth Day of the Russian Energy Week International Forum was held in Moscow

On October 15, Moscow hosted the Youth Day of the Russian Energy Week International Forum. 1,000 young professionals, students and schoolchildren, as well as heads of government authorities, industry companies and universities discussed youth work practices and formed the youth agenda of the fuel and energy complex for 2022.

The organizers of the REN Youth Day are the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, the Roscongress Foundation, the Moscow Government, the Russian Society Znanie and the Reliable Change Foundation. The co-organizer is the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh).

The program of the final day of the Russian Academy of Economics brought together events aimed at popularizing the fuel and energy sector and engineering and technical education, developing the competencies of future and current specialists, exchanging best practices in working with youth and shaping youth policy.

The semantic center of the Youth Day program has traditionally been the "Dialogue on Equal Terms" organized by the Russian Society Znanie, which is a live communication between participants and representatives of the country's leadership, the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation and the heads of energy companies.

Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, discussed with the participants energy trends, energy transition issues, the use of renewable energy sources and the development of new technologies in the industry.

"The decline in the share of hydrocarbons in the economy is an obvious and inevitable trend. For our country, which is a leading global power in the field of energy, the energy transition is a chance to remain a technological leader and ensure both the diversification of traditional energy and the development of clean energy. This will reduce emissions, improve the climate situation and provide an order for our science. The strategy in force in Russia allows us to develop new areas in the field of traditional energy, as well as renewable energy sources, clean nuclear energy, and hydrogen energy. It is young people who will implement these tasks to ensure the competitiveness of our country in the context of the energy transition.", " He said Alexander Novak.

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation answered the questions of the meeting participants regarding the transition to electric vehicles, nuclear energy, modernization of the industry and the dialogue between the government and business in the energy sector. Alexander Novak also took part in the award ceremony for the winners of the Breakthrough Energy hackathon.

The guests of the youth also included Alexey Likhachev, CEO of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, Grigory Berezkin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the UST Group of Companies, Alexander Dyukov, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of Gazprom Neft, Anton Maksimov, Director of the Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Anton Maksimov, Director of the Precourt Institute of Energy, Winner of the Global Energy Prize and Cui.  In a lively dialogue with students and young specialists, demand management in the electric power industry and the balance between "green" and traditional energy were touched upon.

A special place on the agenda of the Youth Day was occupied by the competitions of the CASE-IN International Engineering Championship: the REN Cup and the MediaTek Special League.

The youth teams of 12 companies took part in the REN Cup competitions.  They developed solutions for the transfer of subordinate energy facilities of their companies to remote control and described its technical and economic impact on the company and the industry. While working on the case, the young specialists interacted with the technical staff and focused on the digitalization strategies of their companies, as well as studied the Energy Strategy for the Development of Russia until 2035 and the Digital Energy project of the Ministry of Energy.

Competitions of the MediaTek Special League,organized  The Reliable Change Foundation and the National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University were held for the first time as part of the Russian Academy of Sciences Youth Day in 2019. The main idea of the MediaTek League   development of communication between industry professionals and the general public.  The participants, students of 8 universities, made a rating of fuel and energy companies on the subject of  their attractiveness as potential employers, and for companies with critical indicators has developed recommendations for achieving a leading position in the labor market by 2030.

The championship title was won by the team of the TPU AVA School of Energy Engineering, which developed a rating of the best employers in the nuclear sector, which was led by JSC Power Machines, Balakovo NPP and Leningrad NPP. The leaders of the employer rating according to the silver medalists of the WeWatt LNG team were ALROSA, SIBUR and PJSC Polyus. According to the bronze medalists of the PNRPU BERGBAU team, SIBUR, LUKOIL and SUEK are the best fuel and energy sector employers. 

The second engineering competition of the CASE-IN championship at the REN Cup Youth Day has been held since 2017.    The participants of the REN Cup of 12 youth teams of fuel and energy companies solved a case study on the transfer of subordinate electric grid facilities of the fuel and energy complex to remote control, which is provided for by the Russian Energy Strategy for the period up to 2035. 

The Northern Lights team of PJSC ROSSETI North-West became the winner of the title of champions of the REN Cup, silver medals were won by the NLMK Olympians, and bronze medalists were "Not random people" from the Udmurt branch of PJSC T Plus.

"In the Year of Science and Technology, we celebrate that there are talented and motivated young people in Russia, who are already the driving force behind new energy thinking. The Russian Ministry of Education and Science is interested in ensuring that engineering and technical professions increase prestige and remain in demand for modern youth. To this end, we carry out and support projects aimed at popularizing engineering and technical education and attracting young specialists to the fuel and energy and mineral resources sectors,  said the head of the Department for the Organization of social projects of the Department of State Youth Policy and Educational Activities of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. Oleg Dyachenko,  ̶   The Championship "CASE-IN"it increases the level of engineering literacy of young people, allows young people not only to offer their innovative solutions, but also to implement them in production."

Since 2017, as part of the REN Youth Day, students and young professionals have been presenting a Youth Global forecast of energy development. This year, the winners of the project presented a consolidated forecast.:  teams from St. Petersburg Mining University, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, as well as PJSC Gazprom Neft, JSC NK Neftis and JSC SO UES.

"This year, the guys raised the most pressing topics on our agenda – the future of hydrogen energy, the prospects for generation based on renewable energy sources, and also analyzed the work of new energy carriers and key energy supply problems in the Arctic. The use of digital technologies to improve the efficiency of energy system management has also become an integral part of their work. All the participants of the forecast are great fellows", – the State Secretary - Deputy Minister of Energy of Russia concluded Anastasia Bondarenko.

Deputy Director of the Department of State Youth Policy and Educational Activities of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Alexander Vedekhin He stressed that the opportunity for the project participants to join the industry professional community at REN is the best reward for perseverance in their work.

"Motivated and talented young people, who certainly include our contestants, determine the key role of science, technology and higher education in solving the challenges facing the Russian economy and industry. Moreover, they are able to see the changes taking place in the world and, thereby, influence the industry agenda of tomorrow. I urge you not to stop there and continue to develop your competencies.", – said Alexander Vedekhin.

Every year, Youth Day becomes a platform for discussing the youth policy of the industry. At the "Fuel and Energy Complex for Youth" round table, 33 major fuel and energy sector employers presented plans for the implementation of projects in 2022, and together with representatives of the leadership of the Ministry of Energy of Russia, the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, Rosmolodezh, and ANO Russia – Land of Opportunities, they formed the "Fuel and Energy Complex for Youth" plan for 2022.

In particular, the CEO of the presidential platform "Russia − the land of opportunities" Alexey Komissarov He spoke about the support of the "CASE-IN" championship as one of the events of the "Fuel and Energy Complex for Youth" plan. The "International Engineering CASE-IN Championship" has been included in our platform since 2019. It allows schoolchildren to get additional USE points for admission to 42 universities, students can enroll in master's and postgraduate studies on preferential terms, as well as receive invitations to practice or internship from an ever-growing pool of employers. For young professionals, the championship serves as an engine for professional and career growth. Now all our projects and contests are available to the participants of the "CASE-IN" championship. In addition to the championship, every student, student or young professional can find an interesting project that will allow them to learn something new and realize their potential. We already have many examples where CASE-IN participants have achieved success in our other projects, Olympiads and competitions. We expect that the initiatives of the Russia – Land of Opportunity platform will be in demand and useful for the youth of the fuel and energy complex."

Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs Pavel Abramov He said that there are 40 million young people in Russia, and issues of their support are widely discussed at the government level. "Rosmolodezh, in cooperation with its partners, places great emphasis on this work. In particular, we are holding an All-Russian grant competition for young people from 14 to 35 years old, where children can try their hand at various fields: volunteering, mass media, healthy lifestyle, family institution and much more. Our winners have the opportunity to receive grants of up to 3 million rubles. By conducting such projects, we encourage young people to make new big discoveries, help them discover their talents at the federal level and climb the career ladder.", – he emphasized.

Director of the Reliable Change Foundation Artem Korolev He shared the results of a study on youth policy conducted among 44 fuel and energy companies.: "64% of companies have a targeted set of students, and the most common formats of work with universities are targeted programs, recruitment of interns, joint events (52%); support for projects and competitions of the presidential platform "Russia – the land of Opportunities", in particular the CASE-IN engineering championship, the Leaders of Russia management competition, Student of the Year competition and others (25%); and 19% implement scholarship programs at universities, purchase equipment, etc."

During the day, interactive #ENERGYLAB sessions were held at the Youth Day site, during which teams of students and young professionals prepared technological and social projects and defended them to experts.

The best ideas were presented at the final session "Energy of Youth Initiatives – 2022" to the participants and guests of honor: Anastasia Bondarenko, State Secretary, Deputy Minister of Energy, and Anton Serikov, Deputy Director General of ANO Russia - Land of Opportunities.

Among the student's ideas, the following were awarded: developed by SPbPU named after Peter the Great project of mining floating complexes for offshore field development, the information energy platform of St. Petersburg State University, the innovative technological landfill "Energoyamal" of St. Petersburg State University, the project of M.V. Lomonosov NArFU "Hydrogen Find", the "Smart Greenhouse on solar energy" of St. Petersburg State Technical University "LETI", the career guidance board game "EvoEnergy" of St. Petersburg State University and the project "School International Youth Energy Cooperation" MGIMO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.

The best projects of the young specialists were: an intelligent power control system for the combined—cycle gas unit of PJSC Mosenergo, the Center for the Development of Volunteerism "We don't care!" – Rosatom State Corporation, the project of PJSC Tatneft "Artificial Muscles", the project of Gazpromneft Lubricants LLC "BIO decomposable canister of its own production", the project of PJSC Gazprom Neft "T PLUS" "Communal jungle" and the project "Course for greening the region" of PJSC Tatneft.

Meetings of youth industry associations were held at the Youth Day site: the community of #Young_engineers of the Fuel and Energy Complex, the BRICS Youth Energy Agency, and the Youth Council of the Electric Power Industry under the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation. Round tables and foresight sessions were held throughout the day, including a panel session "Exchange of best practices in the work of inter-corporate youth communities of young professionals", as well as an open lecture hall.

Universities organized their own events: St. Petersburg State Electrotechnical University "LETI", Irkutsk National Research Technical University, St. Petersburg State University of Economics, Kuzbass State Technical University named after T.F. Gorbachev, Lipetsk State Technical University, National Research Moscow State University of Civil Engineering.

The leaders of the All–Russian community of Young Fuel and Energy Engineers, created in 2020, gathered at the New World - New Competencies educational program to develop proposals for the development of R&D in fuel and energy companies. The program was organized by St. Petersburg State Electrotechnical University "LETI".

"Your work is not just a training of intelligence: the authors of the best ideas will present them at the international conference "Young Fuel and Energy Engineers: Developing the Energy Agenda of the Future" in December in St. Petersburg, and will also publish their work", the Deputy General Director of ANO "Russia - the land of opportunities" addressed the young engineers Anton Serikov.

According to tradition, the final of the All-Russian Competition of final qualifying papers on electric power and electrotechnical subjects, organized under the auspices of the RNC CIGRE Youth Section and PJSC ROSSETI FGC UES, was held on the fields of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. The Reliable Shift Foundation, the operator of the competition, gathered bachelors and masters from 14 leading technical universities at the finals. The winners of the competition were bachelors of KuzSTU, KGEU, TPU and undergraduates of Peter the Great St. Petersburg State Technical University, KSTU, IGEU named after V.I.Lenin.

The Content Foundation for the Development of Expert and Analytical Activities, together with the Youth Council of the Oil and Gas Industry under the Ministry of Energy, held a panel discussion on the topic: "Industrial corporations and Generation Z: how is industry motivation formed in Russia? ESG, CSR, and the talent pool from school." The participants of the discussion came to the conclusion that for modern teenagers, when choosing their future field of activity, not only financial but also environmental indicators of companies, their activities within the framework of the climate agenda and social responsibility play an important role.

Program  The Youth Day also included activities for schoolchildren.  The Foundation for the Promotion of Housing and Communal Services Reform and the Green Brush Vocational Guidance Project conducted an Ecoquest, Smart Home, Second Life of Waste, Eco-lifestyle, Mission Protection, and Cool Decibels for them. The students also solved crosswords and puzzles on housing and communal services, ecology, and energy efficiency.

At the end, the honorary guest, the Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation, joined the participants of the Youth Day. Nikolai Shulginov. He presented awards to the winners and prize-winners of the Youth Day contests: the champions and prize-winners of the REN Cup and the MediaTek Special League, the winners of the Youth Global Forecast of Energy Development, the IT Championship of the oil Industry, the All-Russian competition of final qualifying papers on electric power and Electrotechnical topics, and the captains of teams who won interactive sessions on creating youth projects for the development of the fuel and energy sector.: #ENERGYLAB.

"The talented young people who participated in the competitions are a solid foundation for the development of our energy sector, our fuel and energy complex. I got acquainted with a number of works and I am sure that the winners of the contests are really immersed in energy.", " He said Head of the Ministry of Energy.

The International Forum "Russian Energy Week"The celebration of the dynasties of workers in the electric power industry has concluded: the ERA of Russia Association presented the results of the project "Labor Dynasties - 100 Years in the Electric Power Industry" dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the GOELRO plan. Nikolay Shulginov presented awards to the representatives of the dynasties, noting that more than a million people work in the electric power industry, one third of them are young people under 35 years of age. 

"Many people came to the energy industry, so to speak, "by inheritance," because their parents or their parents' parents chose this path at the time. And choosing a profession from generation to generation creates a safety margin for the industry and arouses deep respect.", – concluded Nikolai Shulginov.

The next Youth Day will be held within the framework of the International Forum "Russian Energy Week" in 2022.