Smaller parties can support one another in the energy transition

Corné Groen, Consultancy Manager at Vicoma, was recently interviewed about how small players can help each other in the energy transition.

While large companies in the Port of Rotterdam are taking steps toward the transition to sustainable fuels and energy sources, many small industrial players are still feeling their way. Corné Groen, Consultancy Manager at Vicoma Consultancy & Engineering, is calling on these companies to seek collaboration. “We’re visiting a lot of smaller companies that are often clustered close together. For these companies, it makes more sense to build a hydrogen supply facility together than to do it on their own.”

According to Groen, not every company has the necessary knowledge or network. “At Vicoma, we do have that knowledge and those contacts, and we can facilitate partnerships.” We are a consulting and engineering partner, not a networking organization, but if companies are planning to take steps toward the energy transition, we can help them connect with other companies in the area. The condition is that we are brought in early enough to contribute our ideas, rather than being invited to participate in the implementation only after the plans have already been finalized. “By then, everything will be set in motion, and it will be too late to talk to the neighbors.”

These discussions are already taking place here and there, but not enough, according to Groen. “A customer who wanted to switch from natural gas was planning to build a wind turbine to power an electric water heater. I drove over there, and right next to the gate was a row of cooling towers running. So I asked, ‘Have you called your neighbors yet to see if you can get some heat from them?’”

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Vicoma has a group of consultants who focus specifically on new business cases. For example, they are contributing their expertise to a consortium that is examining hydrogen imports in Amsterdam. “The question was: How can you integrate existing assets and hydrogen technology? That’s when you really become a sparring partner.”

The full interview can be found in Industrielinqs 2 on pages 20 and 21.