Annelies Huygen now Professor by Special Appointment in Organisation of energy markets

Annelies Huygen is now Professor by Special Appointment in the Organisation of energy markets at Utrecht University. This is a special chair that is funded by TNO. She recently worked as a Professor of regulating energy markets a the University of Amsterdam.

The core of her teaching and research assignment is to study the organisation of the energy markets, with the potential for innovation, the entry of small businesses and the position of small consumers, such as households and 'prosumers'. Prosumers are people who are both producers and consumers. At the moment, the legislation and regulations are still largely based on the traditional organisation of the sector: energy, originating from a few large producers, is transported to passive consumers. The situation has since changed radically: small consumers, even families, can now also produce, store and/or sell electricity.

I am very pleased that Professor Annelies Huygen has been appointed and will become a part of our research group. The involvement of small parties and energy-producing households is essential for support and affordability of the energy transition.

In many countries around us, cooperatives of citizens and companies play a major role in the production and trade in sustainable energy. This is not yet the case in the Netherlands. The center of gravity still lies with large producers and large consumers. This is also visible at the Dutch Klimaatttafels, where consumers and small businesses are hardly represented. That's too bad. A level playing field for all parties, including small producers and consumers, is of great importance for two reasons. First of all, the energy transition cannot take place without innovations that make new, clean technologies cheaper and better.

A level playing field on energy market

These are of extra importance for the Dutch economy, because they - even more so than in countries around us - depend on the fossil industry and their supplying companies. Something else must replace this activity. A level playing field, in which small, new parties can enter the markets under the same conditions as large parties, is essential for this. This free entry must also apply to the smallest parties: households. Their involvement is essential for support and affordability of the energy transition. However, there are still many barriers to entry for smaller parties in the legislation.

The chair will be embedded in the Water and Sustainability research programme and the Utrecht Center for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law at the Department of Law. In addition, there will be collaboration within the strategic theme Pathways to Sustainability of Utrecht University. The teaching and research will take place within the department of Law and the department of Economics.