Accelerating Energy Infrastructure Delivery
I have started a new assignment. Over the coming months, I will be working a few days per week in an interim manager role at the Ministry of Climate and Green Growth (Klimaat en Groene Groei, KGG).
The energy transition requires a massive expansion of energy infrastructure. The challenge is so severe that the transition is now stuck because delivery of infrastructure is lagging far behind. And itβs not only the energy transition that is stuck: urban development, housing construction, mobility, economic growth, and even defense all depend on the availability of a reliable, sufficient, and future-proof energy infrastructure.
Right now, things simply take too long. Some random examples from The Netherlands (although the problem is acute in many countries):
Randstad 380 kV: planned around 2006 with completion in 2013, but only finished in 2018β2019 due to legal challenges, nitrogen regulations, and spatial planning issues.
Zuid-West 380 kV: initiated in 2009 and meant to be completed earlier, but first sections will only be operational in 2023β2025 because of route discussions, resistance to overhead lines, and nitrogen rules.
Noord-West 380 kV: planned for completion in 2018 but only operational in 2023 due to poor soil conditions, technical complications, and permitting delays.
WarmtelinQ (Rotterdam β The Hague): originally scheduled for 2020β2021, now expected in 2025β2026 because of soil contamination, complex permits, and cost overruns.
The minister has acknowledged this challenge and sent a letter to parliament outlining intentions and possible routes to accelerate the realization of large-scale energy infrastructure.
I have argued before that we need a paradigm shift. Admittedly, there is however still slack in the current system: there is still room to execute projects faster and better. On the faster I will focus in this new assignment. As an interim manager, I will lead a team at the Ministry working to tweak, tinker, and fine-tune the laws and rules on processes, procedures, and regulations to squeeze out every possible bit of acceleration; to remove the last bit of slack in the system and thus to follow-up on the letter to parliament.
The paradigm shift will become unavoidable sooner rather than later. As a strategist and analyst I am convinced of that. But for the coming months, I have the opportunity to unleash my inner policy wonk and dive deep into the rabbit hole of process and procedure in the energy transition and of the ministerial bureaucracy. Exciting, yes, seriously.
Given the nature of the assignment, there will be little I will be able to share publicly. But expect more post here on large scale energy infrastructure in general here for the months to come.