EDI is looking back at a successful and informative event.

The celebration of the 25th anniversary edition of the Gas Value Chain course this February was shared with all our Dutch alumni and relations. An evening full of information sharing and discussions between energy experts and audience. The subject of the festivities was nuclear energy, with the central question; “Does the Netherlands need to build a new plant for nuclear energy?”

Mr Pieter Boot (Clingendael International Energy Programme) opened this event with a lecture about the current role of nuclear energy in the Dutch and European economy and society.
He also asked the audience to share their opinions about the central question, most of them were in favour of building a new plant.

The second part of the evening was a panel discussion, under the leadership of Ben Warner (former GasTerra). The panel consisted of Ben Schaper (Project Director Delta), Hans Altevogt (Campaigner Energy Transition Greenpeace), Jaap Hoogakker (Senior Business Analyst) and Pieter Boot. The opinions of these energy experts were very distinct, which enriched the discussion.
Ben Schaper described nuclear energy as an excellent energy source. He is looking to build a new nuclear plant in the Netherlands. Hans Altevogt disagreed with this statement entirely. According to his vision, renewables are the future. Jaap Hoogakker, (pro solar energy) also disagreed with Ben Schaper. Pieter Boot took a neutral position during the discussion.

The evening was concluded by putting the central question to the audience again. Remarkably, many people were now against building a new nuclear plant in the Netherlands! Not a unanimous conclusion, but enough food for thought…