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Congestie in de praktijk; van problemen naar kansen

In the rapidly changing energy landscape, congestion offers opportunities and challenges. At a breakfast meeting organised by Boer & Croon, Roger Knubben, Femke Brenninkmeijer and Dick Velings, led by Hans Bongartz, explained what preconditions and measures are needed to deal with these issues. In Eneco's packed auditorium, they outlined the path from obstacles to solutions and future prospects for businesses and industry.
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Helping customers with a targeted approach

Roger Knubben, director of the Port of Rotterdam Authority's New Energy Taskforce, started the conference by analysing the grid congestion problem in the Port of Rotterdam. 'When the Port Authority approached me at the end of 2023, they did not want to sit back. They had released a budget to see how they could help their customers in the Rotterdam port area,' Knubben says. 'In the past, when companies needed electricity, they just got the connection and power, which they asked for. As a result, many companies never really looked into the grid congestion issue, which has been around since 2022, leading to a lot of lack of clarity, confusion and misunderstanding. In addition, this meant a major drag on the economic development of the companies and the port area.'

'The New Energy Taskforce is part of a wider programme to solve grid congestion. This includes work on electricity grid expansion and better demand forecasting. The Taskforce's main aim is to understand where the bottlenecks are now and how we can help companies with targeted solutions in the shorter term. A team has been put together with employees from the Port Authority, TenneT, Stedin and Deltalinqs. We extract the real information mainly by talking to the companies. Therefore, the team has a lot of knowledge of industrial processes and industrial assets, and they speak the language of the companies in the port.'

Companies helping each other
The port's electricity infrastructure is proving complex, but not insurmountable. ‘There is plenty of energy in the port,’ says Knubben. 'But actually, there has never been a real vision and no proper thought about properly organising such a large industrial area regarding net topology and structuring. Through our cooperation (Port Authority, Tennet, Stedin, industry) and thinking ‘out of the box’, we manage to create solutions for the companies.

The Port Authority also encourages companies to help each other. Knubben cites an example: ‘By sharing available high-quality steam, we can avoid investing in an e-boiler. These are also solutions we are looking at.'

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Putting in a top performance together

Femke Brenninkmeijer, CEO of inland shipping corporation NPRC and chairman of the Economic Board Zuid-Holland, focused her presentation on innovation and sustainability within the shipping industry. 'On behalf of NPRC, some 200 ships sail throughout north-western Europe daily to serve the industry. Our company is fully committed to being at the forefront of digitalisation and sustainability.' Brenninkmeijer said. In the Netherlands' Olympic success, following an interview with two top coaches in the Financieele Dagblad, she saw striking similarities with business. 'The Netherlands is a small country in terms of surface area where we can easily find each other. You can excel by bringing your knowledge and skills together in specific places. If you compare it to the business world, you see that this happens on the campuses where innovation, knowledge and finance come together,' Brenninkmeijer said.

She thinks one of the best lessons from this interview for the business community is the commitment to the greater good. 'As a company, knowledge institution or government, we are part of a bigger picture. If you want to achieve a top performance together, you work towards it together. If you do this well, then you get people on board.' 

Emission-free electric ship and red flag 
Innovation is also a key component at NPRC. As a concrete example, she cites the newly built hydrogen-electric-powered ship realised by a powerful consortium of parties. 'To get such a project off the ground requires quite a lot of effort, knowledge, cooperation, etc. And I think this ship symbolises a lot of innovative projects, where you are going to do something that doesn't exist yet and for which there are no regulations. One of those projects where everyone says: nonsense, a waste of money, far too big a risk, and you shouldn't do this,' Brenninkmeijer said. But when you can step through that resistance, you can take steps that were not thought possible. 'At times when it threatened to fail, we looked at each other and returned in the right direction. I have a lot of respect for the inland shipping entrepreneur Harm Lenten. That it all took longer than planned won't surprise anyone here. But at the end of the day, there is a ship that sails emission-and noiselessly-and that, of course, also tells a story.'  

Brenninkmeijer stresses the importance of (regional) cooperation in tackling major transition tasks, such as energy transition. As chairman of the Economic Board Zuid-Holland, she sees it as a straightforward task for the business community, knowledge institutions, and the government. 'A big challenge, besides grid congestion, is the affordability of electricity. Especially when you see how high Dutch electricity and grid tariffs are compared to those of the countries around us. That really is a big red flag. And it should not stay red for too long, otherwise we will start losing business.' Because of this, energy has become a huge strategic issue that needs to be addressed at the highest level, both within companies and politicians. 'As Economic Board Zuid-Holland, we therefore endorse the importance of a strong lobby to finance the cost of necessary investments from general resources. In this, we combine with as many other parties as possible to convey the same message and reinforce it ’, explains Brenninkmeijer. 

Dick Enec

Leading the way and taking all of the Netherlands with you

Dick Velings, managing director of B2B at Eneco, emphasised the importance and potential of sustainability for corporate Netherlands. With years of experience, he and his team help companies realise their climate ambitions.

'Eneco has been working on sustainability for over 20 years and was already building wind farms before everyone worked on energy transition. As a result, we have accumulated a huge base of sustainable generation, a lot of knowledge, and insights.'  

According to Velings, sustainability in the Netherlands is sometimes seen as a drop in the ocean. 'But if you can do it in the Netherlands, other countries will soon be able to make those steps, too. So we shouldn't lag behind because it's just a little bit, but rather lead the way because with that little bit, it might be easier, and a lot of value can be created elsewhere with innovations here.'

By 2035, Eneco wants to be climate-neutral together with its customers. ‘Because Eneco has many customers, we contribute to a large share of Dutch CO2 emissions,’ Velings explains. 'This brings with it an enormous responsibility. We are determined to take the whole of the Netherlands with us in the necessary sustainability transition and want to innovate and lead the way in this transition. Guts, leadership and trust are key to this.'

Integral solutions and energy management 
Partnering with businesses and industries also requires different ways of dealing with each other. In recent years, Eneco's role has evolved from energy supplier to partner in which we support companies with knowledge and concrete action perspectives. Velings: ‘To have affordable and sustainable energy now and in the future, companies must look at energy and sustainability integrally and strategically. Through intensive cooperation and tailor-made solutions, together we ensure that companies can realise their climate ambitions and continue their business activities with affordable and sustainable energy now and in the future. Even despite grid congestion, for instance.'

Emergy management is key here
On a sunny day, everyone generates power at the same time. If we are not busy consuming then, that power is worth nothing. And there are times when there is precisely no power.' You can make smart use of that. The key to the solution is energy management: how can incoming and outgoing energy flows be balanced? 'That can obviously be done for one company (behind the meter), but it can also be done for groups of companies, like the companies in the port. But then you have to have the vision and the belief that your assumptions and your view of the future are correct. Digitalisation and smart control via Eneco's Virtual Power Plant are essential.

'Eneco has some 10,000 customers with office buildings that are not yet sustainable enough; legislation requires office buildings in the Netherlands to have at least energy label C since 2023.'

‘We can solve that with an integral solution: a single signature for power, batteries, solar panels, charging stations in front of the door, heat pumps and possibly a heat buffer. Those are the solutions we need now to accelerate together,’ Velings said.

Velings closed with several practical examples, including those of Albert Heijn, PepsiCo and Heineken.  


No innovation without trying
The speakers emphasised the need for innovation, vision, and collaboration to turn the challenges of grid congestion and sustainability into opportunities. Knubben conveyed to the audience that solutions do exist if everyone is willing to cooperate and understand each other. Brenninkmeijer showed how innovation can make great strides even in a traditional sector. Look at what is happening outside the industry and how you can bring that inside.

Velings closed with a clear message: ‘No innovation without trying. I dare say that there is a solution for almost every business sustainability situation, including congestion. You just have to start.'

Congestion is a challenge with sustainable opportunities. 
The conference showed that grid congestion offers not only challenges but, above all, opportunities. It encourages sustainable innovation and collaboration. ‘Congestion forces us to look for new solutions,’ said Velings. Whether it is port restructuring, developing zero-emission ships or integrating renewable energy solutions for businesses, the future is open to those willing to seize opportunities and work together on innovations.