Entering 2026 with new energy
On Thursday, January 15, the Energy Barn on Zernike Campus was packed with energy professionals from government, business and knowledge institutions. This time not for a Barn Talk, meeting or project meeting, but for the joint New Year's reception of Entrance – Center of Expertise Energy and New Energy Coalition.This year, it was organised jointly for the first time to bring together the networks of both organisations and look ahead to 2026.
New perspective for the region
Jan-jaap Aue, Directeur Engineering, Life Sciences & ICT from Hanze – where Entrance falls under, and Marieke Abbink-Pellenbarg, CEO New Energy Coalition., opened the New Year's reception together. Marieke discussed the opportunities and challenges of the coming year. The Economic Agenda that came from Nij Begun The plan will play a key role in the coming years, particularly for Groningen and North Drenthe. It gives the region the opportunity to develop a new perspective for a strong region. Marieke indicated that she looks forward to working on this together with the triple helix, as the combination of government, business, and knowledge institutions is called. Together, because we need each other to use energy as the enabler of the economy to increase broad prosperity in our northern region.
Optimism from Diederik Samsom
Diederik Samsom, Activist, Politician, Strategist, and Entrepreneur for a Sustainable Future, then gave a keynote speech on Europe's green power. He explained that he has to search hard to find positive news at the moment due to current geopolitical developments. But fortunately, there are also developments in the energy transition that make him optimistic. He cites climate change as his first example. At first glance, it's not something to be optimistic about, and it's something scientists are looking at with disbelief. But he adds: "The consequences of climate change are hitting us in the face more and more often. And we as humans act when we're hit in the face more and more often and harder." This leads to his second point: a breathtaking innovation curve we're currently experiencing. As humanity, we're currently experiencing exponential growth in innovation and sustainable technologies, having surpassed the IEA's solar energy forecasts in recent years. The third positive development he mentions is the end of Europe's naiveté. Because of this development, we're reducing our energy dependency. In relation to Russia, this has been successful, and now we in Europe also plan to reduce our dependence on the United States over the next four years.
His tip for accelerating the energy transition? Look at your own New Year's resolutions and step them up a notch. "I wish you a wonderful 2026," he concluded his keynote.