What our partners say

CEnBER and GasTerra partnership: a sustainable win-win situation

“ The partnership with CEnBER is a sustainable win-win situation. Working together, we enable their researchers to work with the necessary data to challenge their hypotheses. In turn, we benefit from their findings to test our own interpretation of market developments and the soundness of our strategies.”

'The energy markets have changed radically over the last two decades. Liberalisation of the energy market have made economics the leading mechanism, rather than (geo-) political aspects. Research into market functioning based on economic principles, such as supply and demand, is thus essential. Moreover, as the energy system changes to become climate neutral, research into the right incentives for new technologies will prove to be pivotal to spur the energy transition.

The leading authority in this field of research is Professor Machiel Mulder of CEnBER. As a scientist who is able to translate the social and political debate into influential economic research, Professor Mulder provides essential insights into the challenges, opportunities and solutions for the energy market of tomorrow.

At GasTerra, a trading company active in the wholesale market for natural gas with over 50 years of experience, we are proud to support CEnBER to meet their objectives. For CEnBER’s empirical research, we provide actual market data. In addition, we offer internships for talented students. As such, we help to create a bridge between theory and practice.

The partnership with CEnBER is a win-win situation. We appreciate the openness of CEnBER to work together with companies. It enables CEnBER to ask for the data necessary to challenge their theoretical hypotheses. In turn, we benefit from CEnBER’s findings to test our own interpretation of market developments and thus supports the soundness of our strategies and positions.’

Anne Braaksma
Public Affairs, GasTerra BV

Major energy consumers benefit from sound scientific analysis

"The way the CEnBER scientists involve our association in the research has exceeded our expectations."

‘The larger business clients that are represented by VEMW (Vereniging van Energie, Milieu en Water; Energy, Environment and Water Association) have a great interest in how the energy market is developing. The current ‘energy only’ model, which has been the European norm since the liberalisation of the energy market, offers the best guarantees of transparent pricing. However, this model is currently under pressure now that new renewable energy sources are emerging. Conventional producers are demanding a future ‘capacity model’, which indirectly means that users will have to bear the costs of over-capacity in production.

On behalf of all major consumers, we are now calling for an objective study of whether that is desirable and necessary. To this end, we are participating in the Redesigning the Electricity Market to Foster Renewable Energy project. The fact that CEnBER’s Machiel Mulder leads the project was crucial to us. We are now closely collaborating with a passionate team of scientists. The interaction, in the form of presentations and workshops, is very useful. This partnership enables us to increase our knowledge and keep up-to-date with developments to the benefit of our members.’

Hans Grünfeld
Director of VEMW

CEnBER research on the energy market: an eye-opener

"The responsibility of energy suppliers seems so exclusive that newcomers have a hard time getting in. This insight will help us approach the right parties."

‘We are an independent energy efficiency consultancy with a clear mission: to realise energy and cost savings and thus contribute to a healthier environment for people to work, study and live in. We have plans for a system that will help our clients control their energy demand in terms of time and volume. As part of these plans we are trying to market energy flexibility as a product or concept, thus enabling consumers to buy and distribute their own energy. To study the feasibility of this idea, we asked Machiel Mulder of CEnBER to issue advice from an academic perspective on a possible business model. This worked out very well. A team of highly talented students mapped the complicated energy market. Rather than a concrete recommendation, this resulted in a series of options and possible forms of collaboration. This study has been very valuable to us as it has clearly shown us which choices not to make, so that we can avoid dead-end streets. This study has given us clear starting points on how to approach parties and further develop our proposition.’

Wouter Kok
Founder/director of Frog Energy

Student's perspective on CEnBER research: A unique opportunity to realise our ambition: linking academic knowledge to business

"In our efforts to create concrete, feasible business options, we delved very deeply into the energy market. I am proud that our academic approach has helped to provide Frog Energy with concrete tools."

‘I knew from the start that this was something I wanted to be part of. This was a rare opportunity to participate in very concrete business and practice-oriented research. The research question was extremely challenging: ‘Valorise the concept of flexibility in the energy world.’ This is a very topical and innovative field, which requires a practical understanding of the processes and mechanisms at play in a highly complex market. I immediately applied and was appointed to work on the project for two months together with three fellow researchers. We investigated the factors that influence supply and demand in the energy market and compared these with other industries, examined the supply side and drew up a competition analysis. It was very instructive and challenging, with tight deadlines and interesting evaluation moments with clients. I am proud that our research team has managed to formulate a number of clear market options for Frog Energy. It’s safe to say that we delved very deeply into the energy market.’

Leo Wijnstra
MSc in Strategic Innovation Management. Co-author of Flexibiliteit met waarde, an academic advisory report by the Business Research & Consulting department of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Groningen, initiated by CEnBER.