The 4th semester electrical engineering students of the Faculty could participate in a special and extremely practical program during the spring semester. In the framework of the Electric Power Engineering course, students had the opportunity to try themselves in a complex, real-time energy production-market simulation game (Energetica). Through the interactive educational platform developed by ETH in Zurich, students could experience in practice the challenges and decision-making situations faced by market participants in a modern electricity system. In the simulation, in which a total of 116 students participated, over a period of one month, the participants had to perform in various producer and trading positions: they created a strategy for investments in generation capacities, the development and management of their power plants, they traded electricity on the virtual market, while constantly balancing economic profitability, grid stability and sustainability aspects. During the game, special attention was paid to environmentally friendly thinking and the spread of green energy. The students had to experience the challenges of decarbonization in practice: they had to maximize profits and the share of renewable energy sources in a simulated market environment, as well as reduce emissions, without compromising the stability of the grid and security of supply. This approach has highlighted the fact that achieving sustainability and climate protection goals is now the cornerstone of modern electrical engineering.

The game's universe – the distribution of hydropower potential among possible power plant locations

This is the first time that the developers have operated the game with so many players, so the students and teachers (Balázs Tóth and Dr. Dávid Raisz) have also worked closely with them to ensure a smooth implementation, as well as feedback on experiences and the coordination of the conditions of next year's similar competition. Of this year's players, 3 received an offered grade and another 24 received extra points when evaluating the completion of the subject.