A total of 460 teams, more than 1,300 high school and middle school students, entered the competition this year. 70 competitors divided into 25 teams made it to the two-day Prague finals. During the day, the students had to develop a project on one of fourteen topics, which the organisers consider to be one of the great challenges of today's energy sector. These include the use of artificial intelligence in transmission system management, the use of drones by energy distributors, and the "Digital Twin" concept for optimizing the operation and maintenance of renewable energy sources.
Energy Olympiad gives students the opportunity to think outside the box
The winning team from PORG gymnasium in Prague, consisting of Benjamin Hudec, Ádám Sátor and Václav Verner, scored with the jury not only with their idea but also with their presentation. After last year's second place, this year they achieved the overall victory.
Second place went to students David Daniel Šlapal and Albert Schwanzer from the Brno-Bystrc Gymnasium, who focused on accumulation and its use in system control. Their idea consisted in a new control system that combines IoT elements in household batteries with a web application mapping consumer behaviour.
The jury awarded third place to the Digital Twin concept - a digital twin for grid-installed renewables that can correctly indicate preventive maintenance based on parameters and correct the accuracy of predictions or simulate the impact of climate impacts. Aleš Bláha, Vojtěch Beneš and Ivan Žemlička, representatives of the Gymnasium J. V. Jirsík in České Budějovice, came up with this idea
During the competition, the contestants had to develop a project within five hours on one of the topics considered by the organisers to be topical in the energy sector. Karel Vinkler, Director of the Strategy Section, ČEPS a.s., said that this year the standard was very high and the students were excellent. "It's great to see that energy is alive also among high school students and that they can respond to current trends, including financing, but also ESG, which is a new topic for us professionals," added Vinkler.
The final round included a lecture block in the morning, which was opened by Petr Páta, Dean of the CTU Faculty of 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 perceive their perspective on the issues and new challenges in the energy sector," said Adéla Holasová, founder of the Energy Literacy project.
Next year, the seventh edition of the Energy Olympiad will take place: the school round will take place on 17 October 2025 and the final on 6 and 7 November 2025.
