From Planning to Progress: Unlocking the Execution Challenge of the Energy Transition

For the first time, the balance between supply and demand has fundamentally shifted. Grid operators face long waiting lists for connections. This has direct societal and economic consequences: solar panels that cannot be connected, electric fleets that cannot be charged, and industrial sites that remain idle.

Grid operators must increase their execution power while becoming more selective and data-driven. Digital capacity planning, asset optimization, and demand-side flexibility are no longer optional, they are essential. Energy planology is also critical: infrastructure planning must be embedded early in spatial and economic development. This adds complexity, requiring alignment between grid operators, local governments, developers, and broader coalitions of stakeholders. Efficiency in core processes, design, procurement, and execution must also improve. Time, materials, and skilled labor are structurally scarce. Waste of these is killing for targets and timelines. 

Execution power is not just a matter of capacity; it is the ability to translate urgency into action at scale. Without strong operational execution, strategic ambitions stall, delays accumulate, and trust erodes, both in the sector and in society. The energy transition may be systemically driven, but it is locally delivered. Only when plans are turned into timely, tangible results, by the right people, in the right places, can we keep pace with the transition’s exponential growth.**

In fact, the most influenceable progress over the next five years lies not in long-term system redesign, but in strengthening operational excellence and maximizing the use of the existing grid. Faster connection times, smarter scheduling, better utilization of flexibility, and data-driven decision-making offer the highest immediate impact. This is where acceleration is both necessary and possible.

Internal improvements alone are no longer enough. The scale and speed required for the energy transition can only be achieved through strong, scalable alliances. That means actively orchestrating collaboration across boundaries. Bringing together energy producers, governments, developers, regulators, and civil society not just to coordinate, but to co-create.

This requires a shift from passive alignment to proactive orchestration: taking ownership of the 'orchestration', defining shared outcomes, and building partnerships that are both strategic and executable. Strong alliances enable speed and focus, especially when powered by shared data, digital platforms, and real-time insights. The ability to work with the outside world (effectively and at scale) is not a nice-to-have. It is the accelerator for impact. It requires grid operators to take orchestration seriously: to step into ownership, define direction, and make collaboration executable.

The energy transition is not just a technical upgrade. It is a human transformation. As grid operators accelerate digitalization, innovation, and collaboration, new capabilities become mission-critical. Advanced systems like real-time planning tools, AI-driven asset monitoring, and integrated customer data platforms are reshaping daily operations. But these technologies only create value when people know how to use them.

That’s why competency development is at the heart of the transition. Roles in data analytics, cybersecurity, digital engineering, and operational planning are rapidly growing. Alongside the need to translate insights into impact. It’s not just about skills, but about mindsets: adaptability, systems thinking, and cross-functional collaboration.

Working in the energy transition means working in constant change. Technologies evolve, priorities shift, and system dynamics are in flux. That requires a growth mindset: the willingness to learn, to adapt, and to engage with the unknown. Flexibility, curiosity, and resilience are just as essential as technical expertise.

New functions are emerging in stakeholder engagement, congestion management, and flexibility services. These require a blend of technical proficiency and human strength, clear communication, contextual awareness, and the ability to act across silos. In the end, people are the real engine of the energy transition. Tools and platforms may enable, but it is human capability, and the mindset to keep growing, that drives lasting change.

A lot of the potential impact in this huge transformation is lost in bad translation of goals into work, planning and coordination failures, lack of focus, doubled projects within one company, missed/ not managed dependencies, and many more. Organizations must execute their strategy, moving from central goals, to plans, to planning, and on to execution with discipline and clarity. Many organizations have bold transition roadmaps, but struggle with following through. That’s why strategy and performance management matters: setting clear goals, enabling regular feedback, driving shared accountability, and embedding continuous learning.

Real impact comes from building value delivery chains with meaningful internal and external stakeholders. Working on a common goal. Partners who are aligned on shared purpose and delivery outcomes. When everyone rows in the same direction, transformation becomes not just possible, but sustainable.

A major hurdle is the need to make hard, and sometimes unpopular, decisions through effective portfolio management. Prioritization for the greater good, not just for short-term wins or departmental preferences, is where many organizations falter. Without this, momentum stalls. The transition will accelerate by applying focus on those projects with the highest impact, not by doing everything at the same time.

Beneath every structure lies a culture. That culture determines what actually gets done. For decades, energy organizations have focused on technical consistency and regulatory compliance. But the sense of urgency has changed. The pace and complexity of the energy transition expose the limits of the current culture. What once worked - stable processes, slow consensus, rule-following - is now holding organizations back. The system demands something fundamentally different: a culture that is adaptive, accountable, and driven by impact.

This isn’t about tweaking behavior. It requires deep cultural transformation. A shift from passivity to ownership, from process to performance. That means clear roles, embedded feedback loops, and courageous conversations that surface informal resistance and drive realignment. Crucially, the four transformation themes outlined earlier - execution power, strategic orchestration, human capability, and focused delivery - are not stand alone domains. They are culture-shaping forces. When organizations commit to operational excellence, embrace strong partnerships, invest in people, and prioritize what truly matters, culture begins to shift. These are not side projects. They are the scaffolding of a new mindset.

Strong leadership, skilled professionals, and secure digital infrastructure remain essential. But without cultural alignment, even the best strategies stall.

A cultural shift also means becoming truly customer-driven. Grid operators are moving from a connection-based model to a service-oriented one: managing expectations, communicating transparently, and offering predictability in a constrained system. Tools like capacity maps, customer journey design, and proactive communication help customers and developers make faster, better decisions, and reduce systemic friction.

In the end, culture is not a soft layer. It is the invisible architecture of transformation, and the hardest to (re)build.

The energy transition is one of the defining execution challenges of this decade. It’s not just about infrastructure or innovation. It’s about how organizations respond to pressure, deal with complexity, and stay aligned under constant change, make decisions and grow in competency's and agility.

We don’t claim to be subject experts in the energy sector. But we are experts in guiding transforming companies in turbulent and challenging environments, like the energy sector is. We understand the internal dynamics of organizations that transform, how strategy stalls, culture drifts, and collaboration breaks down. And we know how to help leaders navigate that.

At Highberg, we work side by side with teams in the heart of the transition. Turning ambition into action, complexity into clarity, and pressure into progress.

If you want to learn how we help organizations take the next step—let’s talk. Contact Sjoerd Hogenbirk,  Ralph den Bosch and Bob Verstraten. 

On October 9, 2025, the Dutch energy and utilities sector will come together in Utrecht for The Energy Exchange 2025 – an afternoon full of inspiration, practical insights and powerful conversations.

At the Highberg Energy Exchange we bring together innovators, leaders, and changemakers from across the energy sector for an afternoon of inspiration, practical insights, and powerful conversations.

Join us for this event, where the urgent need to confront the energy transition head-on takes center stage. With the clock ticking on climate goals, this premier gathering of leaders, innovators, and experts is a critical platform to drive action now. Sign up here.