R.C. (Ruven) Fleming, Dr
Ruven Fleming is Associate Professor of Energy Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen. He serves as Scientific Coordinator of the Groningen Centre of Energy Law and Sustainability (GCELS), contributing to the Centre’s research strategy and academic development. He also leads the Centre’s Hydrogen Research Line, bringing together legal and other researchers working on the regulation of hydrogen and its role in the energy transition.
His research examines how European and international energy law responds to technological change and the energy transition. His work covers hydrogen and power-to-gas, energy storage, security of gas supply, carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), energy investment and trade law, and energy democracy. He has worked on hydrogen regulation since 2016, when he began leading the legal research in the Horizon 2020 project Store&Go. His work also addresses the conceptual foundations of energy law, including the development of a methodology for understanding energy law as a distinct field of law.
He edited the Cambridge Handbook of Hydrogen and the Law (open access) and edited Hydrogen Regulation in Europe (Oxford University Press, 2025). He is the author of Shale Gas, the Environment and Energy Security (Edward Elgar, 2017) and co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Energy Law, Climate Change and the Environment (Edward Elgar, 2021) and Sustainable Energy Democracy and the Law (Brill, 2021). His articles have appeared in, among others, the Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law, Energy Policy and the European Energy and Environmental Law Review.
His research has been funded by EU Horizon programmes, the Dutch Research Council (NWO) through GroenvermogenNL (Hy-SUCCESS, HyTROS) and the Just Transition Fund, and he has led or co-led the legal research in interdisciplinary consortia with universities, public authorities and industry. In 2026, he was awarded the NeVER Energy Law Fellowship (NELF) for 2027–2028 to conduct research on the regulation of hydrogen in the Netherlands.
He helped create the LLM Energy and Climate Law, coordinates its course on energy investment and trade law and he is Secretary of the Examination Board of the North Sea Energy Law Partnership. He supervises PhD research in the fields of energy law, hydrogen regulation and related areas and is actively involved in the development of collaborative and interdisciplinary research initiatives.
He is Adjunct Professor of Energy Law at IE Law School in Madrid and was Visiting Associate Professor at Macquarie University, Sydney, where he co-initiated joint PhD projects between Europe and Australia on hydrogen trade and regulation. He contributes to international networks, serves on an editorial board and scientifc advisory bodies and is a member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law. He advises national governments and parliaments on energy law and the legal framework for the energy transition, including a 2022 legal report on the Energy Charter Treaty for the Dutch House of Representatives, and is a regular invited speaker at academic and professional conferences.
Beyond his academic work, Ruven Fleming is actively involved in European energy research and industry networks. He is a member of the European Research Institute for Gas and Energy Innovation (ERIG) and participates in its working-group activities. Through Hydrogen Europe Research, he contributes to the development of research priorities and work programmes for the European hydrogen sector. He is also a member of MARCOGAZ, where he contributes to the development of industry guidelines through the working groups on Hydrogen in the Transmission System and Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS). These activities connect his academic research with the regulatory and practical challenges faced by the European energy industry.