Generating energy as a university: how do we do it?

Who are you?

My name is Brent Boog, I am 31 years old and I live in the city centre of Groningen. I have a background in the maritime sector and also worked for several years as a sustainability coordinator at a large healthcare institution.

What is your role within the University?

I have been working for the University of Groningen since January 2025 as Policy Advisor for Energy & Sustainability at the Real Estate Organization and am also a member of the Energy and Sustainability (E&D) programme team. Within the E&D programme, we work on four overarching themes: New Construction & Renovation, Management & Maintenance, Energy Management and Energy Generation. I am involved in the latter theme. In addition to energy generation, I also focus on energy storage.

What does energy generation mean?

Energy generation is the process of converting raw materials such as wind power, sunlight or fossil fuels into a usable form, such as heat, cold or electricity. The choices we make in this regard as the UG are laid down in sustainability objectives based on the Sustainability Roadmap of the Green Office and the Energy Vision & Policy Document of the Real Estate Organization.

How will energy generation affect us at the University of Groningen?

The most concrete example at the moment is the connection to WarmteStad's sustainable heating network. A lot of work has already been done on this at the Zernike Campus, and it is still in full swing. As a result, access roads were temporarily closed and you had to take detours in various places. This was necessary in order to lay the pipes underground and to our buildings. You can see how this works in the animation.

We are constantly looking for new opportunities for energy generation. This includes generating energy using our own solar panels and participating in local solar parks and/or wind turbines. In addition, we already heat and cool several buildings with sustainable heat and cold using a ground coupled heat exchanger. The most recent building to be connected is the Anda Kerkhoven Centre.

What do you like most about your job?

What I like most is translating our objectives into projects. The choices we make now will determine how our university's energy needs are met in the future. We work closely with local partners such as WarmteStad, the municipality and other users of our campuses.

What is the biggest challenge in your work?

What I like most about my role is also the biggest challenge: the question ‘Are we, as the University of Groningen, currently making the best choice for the future?’ To some extent, this remains difficult to predict. One thing that is certain is that we at the University of Groningen want to keep costs under control, but also want to meet our energy security and sustainability ambitions. Finding the best balance between these two is a wonderful challenge!