Driver for large-scale renewable energy generation (solar, wind, and hydropower)

Project overview

For the municipality of Heerlen, YER is looking for a Driver for large-scale renewable energy generation (solar, wind, and hydropower).

The Position

What will you do?

The commitment you make as a driver of large-scale renewable energy generation should be supplementary to what is already happening at the municipal and provincial level and should fit within municipal and provincial policy. Furthermore, the Province of Limburg is working on a further elaboration of the Provincial Environmental Vision, which will require coordination regarding the division of roles between the Province of Limburg's program and the South Limburg municipalities in due course.

In addition, you will act as chairman of the working group Large-Scale Generation, which consists of advisors from the participating municipalities and external expertise hired to achieve the goals. We are looking for a doer with experience in developing renewable energy projects, including preparing feasibility analyses of projects and business cases.

You will use this knowledge and experience to get projects off the ground. For each municipality and each project, you will create an overview of opportunities, obstacles, and solutions. You will translate these into the role the municipality can play and what steps are needed to move from a search area on the map to implementation. In short, a tailor-made approach.

Then you will actually take these steps together with the municipality. The objective is to create a new pipeline of projects with the municipalities that we can work on for our local energy system in the coming years.

After preparing the pipeline of possible projects, you will draw up a framework for assessment, after which a maximum of 10 priority projects will be selected, which you, as the driver, will further advance towards realization. For this, you will at least prepare a feasibility study, in which, in addition to financial feasibility, you will also look at technical feasibility, social impact, contribution to the local energy system, and what developments the energy project enables.

About the company

Your Team

The South Limburg region is one of the 30 Dutch RES regions. RES ZL is a collaboration of the 16 municipalities in South Limburg, the Province, the water board, and Enexis, who are working towards a sustainable South Limburg. This is done in three sub-regions: Parkstad Limburg, Westelijke Mijnstreek, and Maastricht-Heuvelland. Together with residents, businesses, and social organizations, we are investigating how we can save more energy, where we can generate sustainable electricity from solar and wind, and how we can gradually move away from natural gas.

RES Zuid-Limburg focuses on shaping the local decentralized energy system in South Limburg. Local generation of renewable energy is a crucial pillar in this, and solar and wind are currently the most important sources. In addition, we see hydropower as a potential source that can have an effect on the South Limburg energy system and which we therefore want to investigate further together with Rijkswaterstaat.

The current situation of grid congestion means that infrastructure and the combination of local generation and consumption are playing an increasingly important role in the RES region. Furthermore, we see that new generation projects are currently hardly getting off the ground. How can we make this happen? You will be assisted in tackling this challenge by two experienced advisors (project leaders) for rooftop solar.

Working for the municipality of Heerlen is building the Heerlen of Tomorrow

Heerlen is a city with guts. In Heerlen, we are decisive and make things happen that others deem impossible. We work with determination and conviction on large and exciting tasks that make our city future-proof. Heerlen pushes boundaries, explores new horizons, and we learn from, and proudly build upon, the past. And with those lessons from the past, we push forward to do better tomorrow. Heerlen is buzzing with ideas and initiatives, and we tackle challenges. As a city of about 90,000 inhabitants, we fulfill the central function for the Parkstad Limburg region.

Everything we do contributes to one common goal: making Heerlen an even better place to live, work, and enjoy life!

Our organization is also in full development. Together with more than 1,000 colleagues, we are working on Heerlen of Tomorrow. An organization with clear goals: efficiently collaborating on a future-proof Heerlen based on openness and trust. A way of working where collegiality, creativity, and curiosity match our tasks. An organization where the wishes, ideas, and thoughts of residents and entrepreneurs are central to our actions. If you choose Heerlen, we will roll up our sleeves together and work on a sustainable, livable city and organization.

What do you bring

Who are you?

We are looking for an independent driver who possesses the following combination of knowledge/experience, competencies, and personality:

What do you get in return?

We offer a challenging, temporary assignment from September 1, 2026, to September 1, 2027, with the possibility of extension.

For this interim assignment, we have a maximum budget of 110,000 euros. This includes travel expenses but excludes VAT. Part of the application letter should be a brief plan of approach including an hourly breakdown and hourly rate.

Offer

You will work with a team of enthusiastic colleagues within the spatial domain and can count on a good work-life balance. We also reward your commitment and performance with an attractive salary and appealing extras. Our employment conditions at a glance:

• Bachelor's degree or higher level of work and thinking;
• At least 5 years of demonstrable experience in developing renewable energy projects;
• Knowledge of the current energy market relevant to project development;
• Strong social and communication skills (both oral and written);
• Project-based work;
• Environmentally sensitive;
• A team player, who can also work independently;
• A flexible and 'hands-on' mentality.
• Competitive fixed salary, depending on knowledge and experience;
• 25 vacation days and 8.33% holiday allowance;
• 7.55% 13th-month payment;
• Travel expenses reimbursement or lease car;
• Good pension scheme;
• Overtime arrangement: payment in salary or time for time;
• The above applies to contract collaboration; self-employment is also possible, of course;
• Ongoing challenging assignments in the spatial domain;
• Intensive and personal guidance;
• Opportunity to participate in a personal coaching program;
• Inspiring masterclasses.

Project details

• Start: flexible
• Location: Heerlen, NL
• Languages: Dutch