Lukas Falcke of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has been awarded a Veni research grant by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). Falcke studies how organisations can work together to find smarter solutions for an overloaded electricity grid.
The electricity grid is reaching its limits. Renewable energy, electric transport and data centres are growing faster than the grid's capacity. Laying new cables and building new substations takes years, which raises the question of how to make better use of the grid we already have. According to Falcke, Associate Professor in Strategy & Innovation, the answer lies not with any single party but in the collaboration between grid operators, technology firms, startups, markets and users.
Falcke studies that collaboration as an 'innovation ecosystem': a set of organisations that together test and scale up solutions such as energy storage and flexible electricity use. By following real-world pilot projects in the Netherlands and across Europe, he shows why such collaborations succeed or stall, and which lessons help to roll out solutions faster and more reliably.
Falcke: "Ever since my bachelor’s in electrical engineering, I have been fascinated by the electricity grid. It is the very foundation of our energy independence, sovereign computational power, and AI, and, most importantly, the clean energy transition. Yet, we remain constrained by infrastructure, operating models, and innovation approaches designed for a centralized, fossil-fuel-based era.
As a management scholar, I can now look at the bigger picture. My project aims to understand and support grid operators, startups, and consumers as they build 'grid innovation ecosystems.' This new model aligns the complementary capabilities of these actors, all of whom are vital to transforming our energy system."
About the Veni grant
The NWO Veni grant, worth up to 320,000 euros, is awarded to recently graduated researchers with an excellent research proposal. It gives them three years to develop their own ideas and encourages curiosity-driven, innovative research.