Energiesysteem

Energiesysteem is a serious game that simulates the challenges municipalities face when transitioning to sustainable energy. In just over an hour, players experience firsthand how the electricity grid responds to the greening of multiple municipalities that share a single substation — making the interdependencies and collective action problem immediately tangible.

The game unfolds in eight turns, during which players must sustainably transform their municipality using a combination of energy generation, storage, and heat solutions, while simultaneously managing and upgrading the regional grid infrastructure to prevent congestion. The core learning objective is insight into what grid congestion actually is, why bottlenecks appear in some scenarios but not others, and how stepwise, coordinated sustainability efforts — paired with timely infrastructure investment — can prevent these bottlenecks from occurring.

The format is designed for diverse audiences, including municipal councils, policy teams, and regional stakeholders, and can be played in a relatively short session, making it well-suited for decision-makers who need a practical, experiential understanding of energy system dynamics without requiring prior technical expertise.