Seeing is Believing: Experiencing Europe's Energy Transition First-Hand

There is only so much a presentation can convey. To truly understand Europe's energy transition, you have to stand in the middle of it. That’s exactly what our study tours are designed to do. Over the course of a week, we take a small group of guests out of the meeting room and into the markets and assets where the energy transition is happening.  

Learning in six days across four countries 

Last month, I hosted a delegation from Japan, with representatives attending from Kyuden, OCCTO and Eneres, alongside members of the Volue team. Over the course of six days in Norway, Luxembourg, Denmark and Sweden, I’m pleased to say we spent very little time in meeting rooms. Instead, we went to the places where the transition is actually taking shape. 

We stood on the floor at Nord Pool and watched the market in real time. We sat with Statnett to understand how a national grid stays balanced as renewable output rises and falls. We saw how JAO allocates cross-border capacity, how the Nordic RCC keeps the wider system secure, and how the Baltic Cable moves power between two countries through a single HVDC link. We also visited the Middelgrund offshore wind farm and felt the sun on our faces at the Karlshamn power plant. One significant detail stayed with the group: almost every journey we made along the way was electric, from the buses, ferries, trams, and even the taxis. No one had to describe the electrification of society to them. They were living it. 

Demonstration, not a sales pitch 

This distinction matters more than it might appear. The moment you show people how European operators genuinely run their markets and grids, the sales conversation falls away. These tours have never been about pitching a product. Our stakeholders, partners and customers demonstrate how they use their systems, often supported by Volue’s technology, and our guests reach their own conclusions. 

And they do. I have seen the same moment play out many times. Someone turns to me and asks, “These tools you have in Europe — why aren't we using them in Japan?” In the same breath, they begin to work out which capabilities would transfer to their market and which would not. They arrive at that judgement themselves, and it carries far more weight than any argument I could make. 

Trust is built in the informal moments 

There is also a cultural dimension to this that I have come to value greatly. For our Japanese visitors, a tour of this kind is also a form of recognition: an acknowledgement of skilled people doing good work. That changes the atmosphere entirely. Over dinner, on a walk between two visits, in the informal moments around the formal programme, people relax. And when they relax, they raise the questions they would rarely put forward in a formal meeting. 

Those questions are where the real value lies. The shared meals, the time spent together, the simple experience of seeing something side by side; it is this that builds a level of trust that no presentation can manufacture.

The outcomes that endure 

What everyone takes home is substantial. People genuinely learn. Relationships are markedly stronger than they were six days earlier, and each participant leaves with a clearer sense of which ideas are worth pursuing in their own market. I have run many of these tours for several years, and the pattern holds every time. Theory has its place, but seeing is believing.  

And because of that, we will continue to run these programmes, and to build on the partnerships that come out of them. Because for me, the best way to understand the energy transition is still to stand in the middle of it. 

In their own words 

I can describe what these tours achieve, but it carries more weight coming from the people who took part. Here is what some of this year's delegation had to say: 

Shigehide Fuwa, Ph.D, Eneres Co., Ltd, said:  

“I highly appreciated the clear intent that this was a serious, knowledge-driven inspection rather than a sightseeing trip. Having opportunities to communicate with European experts during the site visits provided invaluable insights into their way of thinking. This study tour has truly become one of the most memorable and valuable experiences of my life.” 

Kyuden International Co. / Kyushu Electric Power T&D, comment: 

“We truly appreciate Volue’s excellent arrangements. We were able to meet the right people at each organisation, and our questions were addressed appropriately and in depth. The preparation on both sides was excellent — by sharing detailed questions well in advance, each organisation was able to prepare presentation materials to address our questions and arrange the appropriate speakers.”