Končar turned to renewable energy sources, which have significantly impacted exports, even before the European Union’s policy was defined, began Gordan Kolak, CEO of Končar, his lecture titled ‘How Končar Successfully Utilized the European ‘Green Agenda’ at the 11th Lider Conference ‘Smart Know What Export Is For’.
– Today, Končar, as the largest domestic net exporter, remains a leader in the development of renewable energy sources, electrical networks, and public electromobility – emphasized Kolak.
If we are to develop the Croatian economy, we must start from home, he added, continuing that every Končar production facility is located in Croatia and that will not change.
– At home, we must build all the competencies needed for further growth and development. We will be a reliable partner in digital transformation. Not only in our own, but in the digital transformation of the entire society, and through strong development, we will contribute to the very goals we have defined – said Kolak.
If we timidly increase the capacities of renewable energy sources, he added, we will not, as a country, reach where we want to be regarding sustainability and all the challenges we face concerning climate change that affect not only Croatia but the entire world.
– We like to think that Europe is first in renewable energy sources because we strive to be a climate-neutral continent, but we are not first in that. We are second behind China in terms of such investments. The changes happening in China are so rapid that no one can keep up. It is estimated that China accounts for 58 percent of the total renewable energy market. There is no solar panel in Europe that did not come from China, and there is no construction of power plants in which some Chinese company did not participate. All European companies cannot meet the needs of climate policies through a paradigm shift in energy without China. We need to significantly invest in those capacities and create a world where it is important to invest in such systems. The question is how much is the declarative orientation that we will make a significant turnaround, while not asking the industry what our capacities are and what we need to achieve that – warned Kolak.
The last panel at the conference touched on the importance of applying ESG principles in export business. It also featured Željko Marić from Ferro-Preis, who spoke about how the industry in which that company operates is somewhat demonized.
– Modern foundries fall into the ‘demonized’ production in Europe, while we are, on the other hand, an excellent example of a circular economy. We use as much as 70 percent recycled material in our production, our carbon dioxide emissions have been reduced to levels of larger residential buildings, and about 70 percent of the energy we consume comes from renewable energy sources. In addition, we have various environmental management certificates, and if everyone followed ESG like us, that would all be our comparative advantage – said Marić.
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Krešimir Paić from Eccos Engineering spoke about how the main job of his company is to help others use electricity more rationally with the help of data.
– Our core business is to help people pay less for electricity, and we once did that for Dalmacijacement or Cemex. We analyzed their consumption and provided data on when and how much they consume the most, and thanks to our data, they were also able to predict consumption. As a result, they received discounts from electricity suppliers, and when there was a crisis, their owner closed other plants that did not have that data – said Paić, adding that similar analyses are now being done for the electrical infrastructure of data centers in Frankfurt, which now consumes about 600 megawatts of electricity, equivalent to the power of one Krško.
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Data is key for ESG, added Uroš Zajc from Dun & Bradstreet, who analyze sustainable criteria for suppliers and partners of various companies. Such data, he said, is being sought by an increasing number of companies.
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Snježana Poljanek from DHL International emphasized that sustainability is one of the company’s business priorities, and since 2021, they have been showing key sustainability indicators through their reports. They also notice sustainability trends among other exporters, and as Poljanek concluded, over 60 percent of their regular customers are interested in sustainable fuel in air transport, while over 66 percent of new customers want sustainable packaging and sustainable transport.
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