On 26 May 2014, the University of Oldenburg shone in royal splendour: Dutch King Willem-Alexander and his wife Queen Máxima visited the EWE research centre NEXT ENERGY - now the DLR Institute of Networked Energy Systems.

"Hartelijk welkom!" and "Welcome to the University of Oldenburg!" were the words spoken as the King and Queen drove up. They were welcomed by the then Prime Minister Stephan Weil in front of around 150 onlookers.

Willem-Alexander and Máxima then took part in a tour of the NEXT ENERGY laboratories and a German-Dutch energy symposium as part of their two-day working visit to German. The royal couple learnt about the state of battery technology, e-mobility and the thermal and electrical energy flows in residential buildings - for example between photovoltaic systems, home storage, electric cars and fuel cell heating. Finally, Willem-Alexander and Máxima visited Germany's first battery exchange station for electric vehicles. This was set up in Oldenburg in 2011.

The symposium concluded with a declaration in which 40 experts from Germany and the Netherlands spoke out in favour of increased cooperation between the two countries in the field of the energy transition. One result is the cooperation between the Oldenburg Energy Cluster OLEC e.V. and its Dutch partners, the New Energy Academy and the New Energy Coalition, which continues to this day.