The story so far
ENTRNCE, which began as an idea in 2013, has grown into a full-fledged company within the network organization Alliander. Its mission is to stimulate and facilitate the consumption of locally generated sustainable electricity at times when it is available. In other words, maximizing local simultaneity. By better aligning generation and consumption, both geographically and temporally, the electricity grid can be used more efficiently. Alongside efforts to expand the grid, better utilization of the grid is a critical condition for achieving the energy transition.
Achievements to date
Under the leadership of Rob van der Horst, ENTRNCE launched its platform in 2017. Since then, many milestones have been reached. An ecosystem of complementary service providers has been developed around the platform, and numerous applications have emerged, all focused on local simultaneity. Examples include the self-supply model used by local governments, the cost-price-plus model introduced by cooperative suppliers and energy cooperatives, and energy sharing among businesses within the same industrial park (energy hubs).
New challenges for the energy transition
Building on this foundation, the platform’s usage is scaling up further. Scaling up is the primary goal to maximize ENTRNCE’s contribution to the energy transition. This new phase presents fresh challenges and significant changes. Additionally, Rob has taken on broader responsibilities within Alliander’s mission. As a result, it is time for Rob to hand over the leadership of ENTRNCE to Stefan Koppers and Jaap Boekema. Stefan will take on the role of General Manager, and Jaap will serve as Operations Director.
In their words
Rob van der Horst:
“It has been a privilege to build this company. I have worked with immense passion and joy alongside my colleagues on ENTRNCE, but more importantly, on addressing the societal need that the platform fulfills. With Stefan and Jaap at the helm, we have a strong and complementary management team, which also formed the core of my management team. I can confidently take a step back while remaining closely involved in developments and our mission in decentralized energy markets from my new role.”
Stefan Koppers:
“In recent years, we have built a solid foundation, making the added value of the ENTRNCE platform increasingly evident to a growing number of stakeholders. From here, we are ready for controlled scaling. Collaboration is, in my opinion, essential to this process. By partnering with complementary service providers and maintaining close contact with our users, we aim to achieve this growth. Only together can we realize decentralized energy markets and optimize grid utilization.”
Jaap Boekema:
“Our ambition is to scale up our solutions further for both existing and new target audiences, while ensuring our current users are not adversely affected. This places high demands on our platform and how we design, develop, and manage it. Our organization and approach to collaboration with partners must support this. To achieve our ambition, we must remain both decisive and agile. This will allow us to continue reaching our goals. We achieve this through collaboration, both within our organization and, crucially, with our users and partners.”
Over the past years, Stefan and Jaap have worked closely with Rob to bring ENTRNCE to where it is today. Stefan will focus on long-term vision, growth strategy implementation, and developing partnerships. Jaap’s focus will be on product development and organizational growth.
Both leaders look forward to taking ENTRNCE to the next level. The emphasis will be on scaling up, further professionalizing the organization, expanding existing partnerships, and establishing new ones. Only through collaboration can the full potential of the ENTRNCE platform be realized, thereby maximizing its contribution to the energy transition.
