Inside Our Dutch Team — Meet Frans, Senior Project Developer

I am jointly responsible for the development and realisation of solar parks and battery storage systems.

There are three main milestones in every project: securing land, obtaining the necessary permits, and connecting to the electricity grid. In a densely populated country like the Netherlands, every square metre of land has been carefully allocated — and naturally, everyone has an opinion about it. To make any changes, open and constructive dialogue is essential. Topics such as biodiversity, sustainability, and water retention frequently come up.

Engaging with various stakeholders requires a good degree of diplomacy, which I personally find adds an enjoyable and rewarding dimension to the work.

That’s an easy one for me. I’m particularly enjoying a project near my birthplace — in a town called Heino — where I managed to secure land for a solar park with battery storage.

In the Netherlands, the power grid is overloaded. However, by combining generating electricity with battery storage, opportunities still exist. Through smart charging and discharging, we can make better use of the electricity grid and align feeding in and consumption more effectively.

While it may sound logical to shift away from fossil fuels and focus on wind and solar, the variable nature of these sources means the energy transition isn’t as straightforward as it seems. That’s why it feels especially meaningful to be contributing to practical solutions like this.

What I really appreciate about ABO Energy is that multiple disciplines work under one roof, which makes collaboration easy and efficient. As a financially strong and internationally active company, we have both in-depth knowledge and a solid reputation. This ensures that, despite our relatively new position in the Netherlands, we are quickly taken seriously.

Another aspect I really value is how ABO Energy actively encourages collaboration between its international offices. Colleagues from other countries are easy to approach, which is valuable and instructive when dealing with complex issues.

Our Dutch team is small but highly connected, with around ten people. There’s a great mix of young professionals and colleagues with many years of experience, plenty of opportunities to learn from one another.

The atmosphere is open and collegial, with short lines of communication. That makes it easy to support each other when tackling the challenges we face in the field. We believe that through creativity and teamwork, anything is possible.