Interview with Maartje Brans
Only innovation will get us through this transition
Since April 1, 2023, Maartje Brans is the Director of Innovation at grid operator Alliander. In addition to innovation, she also oversees the Sustainable Energy Perspective, Alliander’s technical consultancy unit specializing in energy systems. “It’s important to always keep the end goal in mind. In this case, that’s the most efficient energy transition possible, on multiple levels. Sometimes you have to take completely new paths to reach your goals.”
Which innovations do you believe are absolutely essential?
“We’re working towards the energy system of the future, and that requires at least three things. First: a significant expansion of the electricity grid. We need innovations to do this faster, more safely, and with fewer people. Second, we need to be more flexible: making better use of the existing grid. The grid will be under more pressure, so we need ways to use its capacity more flexibly throughout the day. Finally, we need to move towards a new energy system that’s more bottom-up than top-down: a system where we first save as much energy as possible, then generate and store energy locally, and finally use it when it’s available.”
What does that mean in concrete terms?
For the expansion of the grid, we’re developing tools to support our technicians. Cables are getting thicker and therefore harder to bend. It’s barely doable for one person. An innovative tool to bend cables with support helps reduce the strain on the technician and increases work speed.
To increase grid capacity, we need to explore what the grid can handle. For example, maybe more electricity can be sent through a cable in winter. Cold ground cools the cable, which could allow for a higher load. Since winter is also when capacity issues peak—because everyone turns on the heating—that would be a win-win. For flexibility, it’s important that energy is used when it’s generated locally. At the same time, we want users to use available capacity more efficiently at different times. That requires coordination—who uses what, when, and only when truly needed.”
And third: the shift to a new energy system
“The system of the future isn’t just about the electricity grid. It’s an integrated system with electricity, heat, and sustainable gases. The innovation lies in how to integrate these, which source to use at what time, and how to switch between them. How do you make a top-down system more bottom-up? Here’s an example: A home should first consume as little energy as possible. Then it generates energy, for instance with solar panels. That energy is used. If not, it’s stored. Any surplus goes to neighbors, then the street, and finally the neighborhood. That’s the top-down approach turned on its head.”
Are you collaborating with other grid operators on these innovations?
“Yes, we have to. A lot of coordination is required. We all share a similar vision of the future, despite some nuances. For example, when we try to accelerate robotics, we find there’s a lot of potential—but not yet within our sector, simply because we never asked before. We’ve now set up a Roboticalab with other grid operators to jointly explore how to develop and implement robotics in our sector.”
What motivated you to take on this role and enter this sector?
I thought: if I want to make an impact, I need that broader perspective. That’s why I consciously made the switch to Alliander—to understand another key player in the transition from the inside.”
And?
“I’ve concluded that a grid operator is really at the heart of the energy transition. What I’m trying to do now is facilitate cross-sector collaboration and merge my old and new worlds.”
How do you do that?
“One of the initiatives I launched is grid-aware housing development. Because the electricity grid is getting fuller, we risk becoming a bottleneck in housing construction if we can’t provide a connection when homes are ready. To prevent that, we promote grid-aware housing development. This means building neighborhoods where it’s pleasant and healthy to live, where energy generation and consumption are balanced, where residents live energy-consciously—both in behavior and mobility. A neighborhood where sustainable energy is affordably available at critical times and where the energy system is designed at the optimal scale.
In other words: grid-aware construction starts with designing the energy system, not the house. You don’t fully electrify a house first and then request a connection. Depending on the location, there may or may not be a heat grid, or space for wind turbines. If you want a neighborhood where energy demand and supply are balanced, there are still challenges—like seasonal storage. It has to be livable, reliable, and affordable.”
Do you mean batteries?
“There are various storage technologies. Batteries are the most well-known. The nightmare scenario is a football field full of battery containers just to get through the winter. But there are alternatives. Everyone may have an electric car—that’s storage capacity too. What can we do with that? Maybe each home has its own battery. The point is: what smart solutions can we apply to maintain balance and livability? How much space and energy does it take, and what behavioral changes are needed? These are all questions we’re exploring.”
How do you get people to change their behavior?
“We all need to realize that flexible energy use is the solution. We must avoid peak usage at the same time. Charging your car is a good example. It’s better not to all plug in at 6 p.m. when we’re also cooking and heating our homes. You could say: ‘I need 200 km range by 7 a.m.’ So you charge a few hours overnight—when it’s cheaper because demand is low. That makes it attractive and frees up capacity during peak hours.”
There’s still a lot to gain from flexibility. But even if we all change our behavior, that’s not enough. It’s not just about using energy differently, but about designing the energy system differently—and for that, we must collaborate.
The biggest mistake we can make is trying to solve our problems in isolation. We must recognize that we exist within a larger system, and everything we do has ripple effects. So we have to do this together—within the sector, across sectors, or in a triple helix model, where academia, research institutions, and business work together on solutions. In short: if you want to tackle grid congestion, you need collaboration in all forms.”
More and more companies and projects are waiting for a grid connection. How is Alliander dealing with this?
“The key is that we’re working very hard to expand the grid, but we also acknowledge that it’s not happening fast enough. This means we have waiting lists for businesses, and we’re asking companies to work with us on making their energy use more flexible so we can connect as many as possible with the capacity we have. One great example is a horticulturist who said, ‘I need my lights on 20 hours a day, but it doesn’t matter which 4 hours they’re off.’ So when he turned them off, we could supply other companies with power for those 4 hours. Of course, that’s not possible everywhere. But the key is focusing on what is possible. There’s more potential than we think. People are generally willing to contribute, but behavioral change is hard.”
How do you see Alliander’s role changing over the next decade, and what role does innovation play in that transition?
“I believe we’ll evolve into a system operator. The future energy system and how to integrate it is a key part of our innovation portfolio. I think we’re leading in innovation in this area. We’re now experimenting on a small scale to see if and how it works and to understand the challenges. This includes grid-aware housing development and starting to design a neighborhood by designing the energy system first. Also, by integrating different energy carriers like heat and electricity—actively managing the grid to optimize its use.”
What in the energy sector inspire you most?
“We have waiting lists for grid connections—grid congestion is basically a queue. Who else deals with that? Hospitals, for example—how do they manage scarce access to care? Theme parks also deal with queues. How do they handle them? Often with time slots, encouraging visitors not to crowd the same attractions. It’s interesting to see which sectors face similar issues and how they handle them.”
In what situations could that knowledge be useful for Alliander?
“Our grid is built with redundancy. When we do maintenance, the consumer doesn’t notice—power is barely interrupted. Rijkswaterstaat used to operate similarly, doing roadwork at night to avoid traffic disruption. That’s no longer feasible, so now roadwork happens during the day. We as grid operators still prefer to avoid outages, but in the future that may no longer be possible. We can learn from how Rijkswaterstaat communicates and how the public responds.”
Alliander is a partner of Arnhem Electricity Week. Why is that important?
“Electricity and Alliander are inseparable. Electricity is what we do. Arnhem is also home to key electricity players like Alliander, Tennet, and DNV. We see it as a positive development to give attention to the electricity transition and position Arnhem as a center where several key players are located. It also helps attract companies and new talent to contribute in the future.”
If you could give one message to professionals and new talent who want to make an impact in the energy sector, what would it be?
“I have two. Always look beyond your own patch. See what’s happening elsewhere and make an impact all the way. For this transition, we need people who see the bigger picture and can translate that into their own story. Second: Keep the long-term perspective in mind and work backward from that. If we just keep doing what we’ve always done and keep expanding the grid, it’s not sustainable. That also puts affordability under pressure. There’s also a spatial limit. So always keep the end goal in mind. Sometimes you have to take new paths to get there. That’s my plea—because only with innovation can we get through this transition.”