Energy Management | Master's specialisation

Get equipped to work on the sustainable energy transition from a governance perspective.

Throughout history, energy has shaped society, being the driving force behind most economic activities and our day-to-day lives. It remains a key driver of global politics and trade, and the needed transition towards renewable energy sources has only made the global energy market more complex. How can you deal with this growing complexity and govern the transition to a sustainable energy supply at different scales? The specialisation in Energy Management will help you to understand and recognise opportunities and problems related to the transition towards a more sustainable configuration of societal energy systems, including energy markets, regions, cities, communities, and industries. You will understand that changing the energy system is not restricted to developing and replacing technology, but rather a combination of using and replacing multiple energy technologies, social rules/traditions/habits, entrepreneurship, and public policies.

What is Energy Management?

When addressing the energy sector’s sustainability challenges, using a systems perspective is key, simply because of the complexity and interconnectedness of society and the market. Within this specialisation, you will dive deeper into the global energy system, including the underlying governance structures and interdependencies – and use these insights to find implications for change in the energy sector. You will learn to look at this system at all levels, from investigating the influence of the changing energy market on geopolitical relations to the trend of individual citizens actively participating in the energy transition as ‘prosumers’ (producers and consumers). Your ability to integrate socio-economic, political, legal, environmental, and technological perspectives into one interdisciplinary approach will make you a highly sought-after professional.

Research topics you can focus on within this specialisation:

Assessing the effectiveness of renewable energy support policies in Europe
Analysing the social acceptance of onshore wind energy projects
Researching approaches to accelerate the expansion of the energy infrastructure needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

The course Energy Management will provide you with fundamental knowledge in the domain of energy and will be followed by all MEEM students. If this field has caught your interest and you choose the specialisation in Energy Management, you will delve deeper into relevant cases regarding energy governance, using a variety of interesting frameworks. For example: how can you prevent congestion in the electricity grid now that it becomes overloaded due to the energy transition? What are the justice and equity implications of the clean energy transition? What is the link between gender and energy demand and/or poverty? How far does the responsibility of governments reach when it comes to energy prices? And what are the legal implications of switching to a hydrogen economy? These are just a few of the many types of questions you might deal with within this specialisation.

What will you learn?

As a graduate of this Master's and this specialisation, you have acquired specific, scientific knowledge, skills and values, which you can put to good use in your future job.

Knowledge
After completing this Master’s specialisation, you:
- have an in-depth understanding of the key concepts and theories of governance, policy studies, and law in the field of energy, as well as organisational theory, operations management and financial analysis;
- have social science insights in a variety of clean(er) and treatment technologies relevant for energy management;
- have knowledge of the relevant key concepts, theories, strategies and management systems for corporate energy management, including Corporate Social Responsibility.
Skills
After successfully finishing this Master’s specialisation, you:
- can evaluate the complex governance of social change due to the spectrum of actors, interests, and energy technologies and can map the relations between them;
- can study social dimensions of the energy transition using social science methods;
- can explain the energy system and its elements and assess the energy transition as a societal challenge.
Values
After completing this Master’s specialisation, you:
- can address social energy challenges critically, but constructively;
- are aware of the collaborative nature of addressing social energy challenges;
- are imbued with the understanding that changing our energy systems is a basic requirement for decarbonising our societies.

Other master’s and specialisations

Is this specialisation not exactly what you are looking for? Maybe one of the other specialisations suits you better. Or find out more about these other Master’s:

Master's in Sustainable Energy Technology
Master's in Philosophy of Science, Technology & Society
Master's in Public Administration
Master's in European Studies

Courses & research