'Get out there, and you'll find the work'

The Dutch power grid is undergoing a complete overhaul. From high voltage down to the meter cupboard, everything needs to become stronger, smarter and faster. Circet Netherlands, which made its name rolling out telecoms networks such as fiber, is now moving further into that market under the Circet Energy name. Two colleagues are leading the way: Geert Platenburg (Director of Business Development) and Ries Modderkolk (Sales Manager Energy).

From nothing to something

Geert has been with Circet for six years, much of that time as account lead for one of the major fiber network clients. Just over three years ago, he looked ahead. "Our strength is building and managing networks. Fiber remains important, but the next big network to be built and rebuilt in the Netherlands is the power grid. We wanted to be part of that." He was given the room to develop that new business. "Business development is about turning nothing into something. You start with an opportunity or a vision, and you build a business around it, step by step." For Circet, energy is a strategic priority with major ambitions, and the Netherlands is building it together with the other countries. 

Ries joined a year ago with energy as his brief. He too has telecoms roots: he once built the telecoms network for a major grid operator. "So I know how grid operators work and how they think. That's a huge advantage in tenders." In practice, the two complement each other. Geert builds the propositions; Ries is the first to hear what customers need. "A customer will often say, quite specifically: if you can do this as well, there's more work for you. I bring that back, and we develop it together. That way, our offering grows out of customer demand, without us simply doing whatever we're asked."

What telecoms taught us

The parallel with the development and roll-out of a fiber network is striking, says Geert. "In telecoms, a handful of major providers equipped the whole of the Netherlands with an entirely new network. Now the entire power grid is being overhauled, and you see the parallels: the regional grido perators Enexis, Stedin and Alliander, and the national grid operator TenneT are facing an enormous task." What Circet learnt over the past ten years: making large-scale projects scalable right down to neighbourhood level, training people, and overseeing the entire chain, from the customer's first initiative through to delivery and maintenance. "That role of chain orchestrator is our greatest asset when it comes to scaling up and accelerating. Grid operators excel at managing the grid; we excel at organizing and delivering large construction programs. Bring those two together, learn from each other, and you can genuinely accelerate."

Ries sees that head start in the field as well. "Groundworks, engineering, permits, everything around the job itself: we understand that game. Whether it ends in a telecoms connection or a new electricity connection makes little difference."

Circet Netherlands focuses on six domains: e-mobility (charging infrastructure), distribution grids (low and medium voltage), renewable energy and storage, medium and high voltage, data and signaling (including rail), and customers with high energy consumption, such as data centers. That choice follows the energy chain, Geert explains. "Energy is generated somewhere, has to be transported, stored where possible, and ultimately reaches an end user. And that whole network has to become smart, because grid operators still can't see clearly enough where power is flowing at any given moment. By being active across the whole chain, we can help customers in more places and better understand how their challenges are connected. For our engineers, it means more varied work and continuity."

It's already visible in practice: the smart meter replacement program in households, smart monitoring of medium-voltage substations (MSR Gateway) giving grid operators visibility of their grid, the neighbourhood approach, upgrading the low-voltage grid to make districts ready for heat pumps and electric driving, and a nationwide service network keeping charge points up and running.

No borders

Circet Netherlands is part of the Circet Group, with energy teams in France, Ireland, the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany and Greece, among others. For customers in the Netherlands, that means a local point of contact, backed by the experience of an entire group. Geert: "For high-voltage work, we can draw on the knowledge and references of our Irish and Italian colleagues, who have been doing this for their grid operators for years. And for battery storage, Ries and I travelled to Italy, where colleagues have already built large-scale storage systems. Once you've seen that with your own eyes and know the people who built it, you can tell a customer in the Netherlands with confidence: we can do this, and this is how we'll approach it."

"Our customers in the Netherlands work with a Dutch team that knows the grid operators and the municipalities. And what's new to us, high voltage, battery storage, our colleagues in Ireland and Italy have been doing for years. We bring that knowledge to the Netherlands, so customers here benefit from a proven approach from day one," explains Ries.

The exchange works both ways. What the Netherlands has built up around project delivery, charging infrastructure and the smart meter replacement program is valuable to colleagues in other countries. And for customers who operate internationally themselves, energy companies and charge point operators, for example, it helps to work with a single partner that has the expertise and delivers the same quality and approach everywhere. Ries: "International players such as TotalEnergies, Siemens and Vattenfall want a partner with the scale and continuity to deliver, even as things grow. What starts here in the Netherlands can expand into other countries with the same people and the same approach." Geert: "Think global, act local. And we turn it around, too: by delivering good work locally, we can grow as a group and join forces."

An unfamiliar name, but at the table

Circet is still a newcomer in the Dutch energy market. "People don't know the name. They often mispronounce it, too, it takes a French accent," says Geert. "We're not (yet) one of the established names. Even so, our expertise has opened doors: within a year, we were sitting down with one of the major grid operators for strategic board-level talks about how they, and we, see the future of the energy transition. That's when you know that, newcomer or not, you're seen as a serious partner."

Controlled growth, working safely

Demand in the energy market is huge, and Circet Energy has the ambition to grow. But only at a pace the company can live up to, says Geert, who has an operations background himself. "We work with a five-year plan for each domain: which contracts suit us, which people and training we need, and how we build it up step by step. In fiber roll-out, we grew from 2 to 22 construction streams, fast, but controlled. We're now applying that same approach again. We only take on work we know we can deliver safely and well, because a customer gains nothing from a partner who promises more than they deliver."

Safety comes first in all of it. Virtually all the work across the six domains is electrical work, from the meter cupboard to high voltage, and volumes are growing fast. "At those volumes, safety has to be built into every process, not just written into an instruction, but part of our DNA,"says Geert. "It starts with planning: never taking on work that forces engineers to cut corners. It's in the training and certification of our people. And it's in the way we work, on site and in the office: safety above all." Ries gives an example from charging infrastructure: "When connecting a charge point, we often encounter an existing installation that we didn't build ourselves. Our engineer assesses it and isn't afraid to say: this isn't safe. We fix that first. It sometimes takes an extra appointment and extra work, but it's exactly what the customer and the grid operator should be able to expect from us."

Ries closes with what motivates him most. "Demand in this market is enormous. As soon as you get out there and talk to customers, you find the opportunities. The art is picking the right ones and delivering them so well that the customer calls us again after that first project. That interplay, from first conversation to handover, is what makes this work so rewarding."