EIT InnoEnergy Master’s programme leads alumna Emilia Chojkiewicz to position at the European Union.
The EU Agency for the Cooperation for Energy Regulators (ACER) is an Agency of the European Union. Its broad goal is to promote integrated European energy markets.This includes monitoring the implementation of EU legislation in the Member States, upholding transparent energy markets through surveillance, fostering cooperation amongst National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs), and protecting consumers and ensuring a high degree of security of supply within the low-carbon transition.
As one of the EU’s decentralised agencies, its headquarters are located in the beautiful city of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Courses that made an impact on my career
For my second year in the EIT InnoEnergy Master’s in Smart Electrical Networks and Systems (SENSE), I studied at KU Leuven in Belgium. During the second semester, I took two elective courses which changed my career trajectory: Electricity and Gas Markets, and Energy Law. The former introduced me to ACER through a guest lecture on gas markets from two of my now-colleagues; the latter introduced me to the role of the EU’s energy policy, in establishing the agency and shaping its activities.
My role
I applied to one of the agency’s 6-month traineeship and was selected for a position in the Infrastructure, Gas and Retail department. My work mainly focuses on data, market and policy analysis. I have had the chance to contribute to ACER’s note on high energy prices as well as the 2020 Energy Retail Market Monitoring Report (MMR).
All in all, I have been learning a ton! It has been a particularly dynamic time at the agency, with the high energy prices creating a buzz. Furthermore, the European Commission is set to propose a new policy package for hydrogen and decarbonised gas markets in mid-December 2021. It’s been a fascinating experience to watch the development of the new legislation, which will also likely impact the agency’s activities.
Meeting fellow EIT InnoEnergy alumni
Another programme alumni who graduated in 2017, Marco Pavesi, also works at ACER as a policy officer in the Electricity department. He shares: “I started at ACER in April 2020, in the middle of the first COVID-19 wave. Notwithstanding the hard beginning, it has been a truly enjoyable journey so far. I have the opportunity to work on key topics such as: the definition of alternative bidding zone configurations, the monitoring of the 70% target capacity to be made available for cross-zonal trade and the drafting of the Electricity Market Report, just to name a few.
Ever since attending the course on electricity markets during my first year of Master’s at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, I have felt that this is exactly the area on which I would like to bring my contribution and make a real impact. And being at ACER is exactly about that! ”.
How did InnoEnergy prepare me for this position?
Had I not taken the two courses during my time in Belgium, I never would have known about ACER! Other than that, however, the Master’s programme equipped me with a wide variety of skills that I now apply to the job. These include hard skills, data analysis and visualisation, to soft skills, like presentation and communication. The programme also gave me many interdisciplinary perspectives and knowledge of the energy sector which is valuable every day of the job. All in all, whether at ACER or elsewhere, I feel empowered to make my mark on the energy transition!
by Emilia Chojkiewicz, Master School graduate