Redefining Energy

As the growth of the EV market and Energy Storage continues unabated, we wanted to know what the current State of Play in the Battery industry is.In 2023, China dominates the Li_Ion battery market and its main companies, BYD and CATL are – alongside Tesla – blazing the trail of new technologies and performances. Are there options beyond Lithium? How much progress have the battery technologies recently made? Where is the path forward for all the announced chemistries? Is vertical integration a real trend? Can the US and EU catch up?We discuss with Cormac O’Laoire, Managing Director at Electrios Energy, a Hong-Kong based expert; it becomes obvious that China and the rest of the world are on the cusp on diverging, adopting different technological pathways in term of Battery Chemistry. We talk about LFP/LMFP – Lithium Ferro Phosphate / Lithium Manganese Ferro Phosphate vs NMC – Nickel Manganese Cobalt. We talk about Sodium-Ion, Solid State… We talk prices. We try to foresee what will stay and what will go.A fascinating deep dive with one of the world’s most recognised expert on battery supply chain. Who will win, who will catch-up, who will lose. We see clearer after this thorough conversation with Cormac. ----We thank our long tem partner Aquila Capital whithout whom this show wouldn't probably exist.

Live from Brussels, on the 20th of June 2023, we were invited to interview Leonard Birnbaum. Since he came last on the show (Ep50), the whole Energy Sector has been through hell with Russia invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent near-death experience of 2022. Leonard Birnbaum is the CEO of the giant German Utility E.ON and also president of Eurelectric, the sector association which represents the common interests of the electricity industry at pan-European level.We have a very lively debate about how E.ON survived the energy crisis. What changes he had to be undertaken, how luck played its part, but also the “need for speed”. Other key lessons were the end of tolerance for weaknesses, the acceleration of digitisation and total engagement with their customers. We then moved the conversation to the proposed reform of the Energy Market that regulators are keen to put in place. Is it too little too late or, on the opposite, a solution in search of a problem. In its manifesto, Eurelectric wants to focus in the coming years on three priorities:Security of supplyStronger & more digitised infrastructureFairness of the distribution of risks & benefits between the stakeholdersLeo advocates for flexibility mechanisms rather than capacity mechanisms and support full traceability via 24/7 green certificates. Finally, when you add the electrification of transport, the key word is Flexibility, as the electrification can either be fast or global, but cannot be both at the same time. Compromises will have to be made.A great thanks to Kristian Ruby, Bruce Douglas and Emily O'Leary for making this moment possible.---This podcast is powered by Axpo an international leader in providing sustainable energy solutions for the future. In the Nordics, Axpo has been a pioneer within Trading and Origination services for the last 20 years.

Steel is essential for the equipment of the Energy Transition (Wind, EVs) but at the same time bears a very significant carbon footprint: 1.8tCO2/t steel. Pushed and/or incentivised by policies in the US and EU, the Steel industry must innovate to reduce its CO2 emissions which today represent 7%-8% of the world’s carbon dioxide.ArcelorMittal (the world biggest steel company outside China) is in the thick of it. It is not just writing reports but investing through its own VC fund called XCarb Innovation Fund. Through XCarb ArcelorMittal invests tens of millions of dollars in three major routes: Clean Electrification, new DRI (Direct Reduction of Iron), and Smart Carbon.So, we are going to talk about all future technologies that will help decarbonise the Steel sector: Advanced Nuclear, Long Duration Storage, Hydrogen, Carbon Capture Utilisation as well as a lot of other innovations in the making. Our guest is the very talented Irina Gorbounova, VP M&A at ArcelorMittal, and head of the XCarb fund. It is key to have an investor with a dual background, both VC and industrial, at the time of VC funding in down 75% yoy.Can we decarbonise Steel, with what technology? At what costs? On which horizons? Irina tackles with scientific precision all those questions. The word “hard to abate” might soon be a thing of the past for the Steel Industry. Maybe, we will just have to say: “takes time and resources to abate… but we’ve got this”.-------- ErratumWhen we discussed Form Energy, we meant to say storage of 100 hours plus which is 10 times cheaper than lithium based one.Thank you for your understanding.-------Thanks to our partner for the Episode: Pexapark And get our new media pack by emailing at info@redefining-energy.com

What a pleasure, what an honor to have the original Energy Gang on our show to celebrate our 100th Episode.The wit of Katherine Hamilton and the laugh of Jigar Shah were our inspiration 5 years ago when we got drunk at the Red Lion pub near Piccadilly to launch our show. The “ambitious” business plan was to create a tiny European copycat of the Gang. 900k downloads later, this is where we are.Katherine Hamilton is Chair at 38 North Solutions, a public policy firm focused on clean energy and innovation, and one the main artisan of the Inflation Reduction Act; Jigar Shah is Director at the Loan Program Office at the US Department of Energy, managing hundreds of billions USD to finance the Energy Transition.The topic of this special show is the following: Let’s assume we are in 2030, Elon Musk is on Mars, did the energy transition work? Our conversation encompasses the decarbonisation of the grid, the future of Nuclear and Geothermal, the electrification of transport, Hydrogen, and many other topics.In the end, we deliver a positive message: “We are succeeding the Energy Transition thanks to the thrust and imagination of the new generation.”

The electricity network is the bloodline of the economy. It is a very complex system, built over decades, with layers of technologies and it has to be reliable 24/7. We hardly talked about this network of wires and cables a few years back but now, in the context of the energy transition, it plays a critical role in solving the three main challenges: the three D’s – decarbonisation, decentralisation and digitisation. Operating the grid 365/24/7 is not a simple task, as the primary objective of any electricity network is reliability; any structural change is like trying to change the engines of the plane while it is flying. How can the network evolve to answer the challenges of the energy transition? How fast does it evolves? How can new transmissions be developed? How are the issues identified and what does the future looks like? How do network managers around the world collaborate and share best practises? To answer those questions, we’ve had a fascinating conversation with Fintan Slye, Executive Director of National Grid ESO, the Electricity System Operator for Great Britain’s national electricity network. Fintan has been Executive Director of UK National Grid ESO since 2018. Prior to this he was CEO of the EirGrid Group, the electricity system and market operator in Ireland and Northern Ireland. He has previously worked for McKinsey & Company and ESB Group. This is Episode 99 and we promise you a big surprise for our Episode 100. Don’t forget our sister shows: the weekly fast Redefining Energy Minutes and the deep-dive Redefining Energy Tech with Michael Barnard. Once again, we thank Aquila Capital for their continuous support.

How to optimise a fleet of hundreds of solar parks? And the work needs to start once the asset has been energised...and continue for decades. Plus, as with an iceberg, most of the work is below the surface.How to manage this complexity, what lessons can be learned from one territory to another? How are the teams trained? What is the impact of digital to optimise the economic performance?We have the pleasure of welcoming Adele Ara, Head of Global Business Operations at Lightsource bp, where she has worked for nine years.Lightsource bp is a global leader in utility-scale solar development and management. A 50:50 JV between the Energy Giant BP and the founding team, Lightsource bp is the largest solar developer in Europe and the third largest in the world outside of China. They operate more than 300 installations (from 5GW to 500GW) in 19 countries, a portfolio of 8.8GW of solar today with the aim of reaching 25GW in 2025.Adele shares with us her vision of excellence, and… there is definitely a secret sauce.Hint (in that famous quote from Peter Drucker): “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”Our partner for the episodeFEBESOL is one of the fastest growing solar companies in Germany. FEBESOL delivers residential PV systems with outstanding quality, and also installs batteries, EV chargers and heat pumps.

The Power Markets have been created thirty years ago to respond to the Energy Deregulation drive. They have recently faced crisis, such as the Ukraine Russia war or storm Yuri in Texas, with power prices going crazy and creating a lot of financial distresses for certain producers and consumers.Meanwhile, we see the development of renewables that increase the volatility and remove the traditional reference to marginal pricing linked to fossil fuels. How to characterise the problems?Do power markets need a reform or a revolution? How can flexibility be bolstered? Can a fossil-fuel free system still deliver a marginal price? Are governments too heavy handed?All those questions are put together and debated with our guest Stephen Woodhouse, Director, AFRY Management Consulting. Stephen has 25 years’ experience in the electricity business and has headed AFRY’s global work on energy market design for many years and is internationally recognised as an expert in energy market reform and the energy transition. AFRY Management Consulting is a leading advisor for the transitions of the energy, bioindustry, infrastructure, industrial and future mobility sectors.Conclusion: let’s only touch the power markets with “fear and trembling” We thank our partners from Aquila Capital for supporting out show

The Energy Storage Market, namely large-scale batteries, is the fastest growing segment of the Energy transition. Texas, UK, California, and Australia are witnessing phenomenal deployment rates. We are talking about annual growth of 30%-40%.As more and more infrastructure investors are either considering investing in Batteries, or have already started, we wanted to make a deep dive on how to monetise that new asset class. Because revenues from batteries quite differ from wind and solar. It’s all about flexibility and optionality with a strong layer of digital.To get a better understanding of this new landscape, we have brought our friend Quentin Draper-Scrimshire to the show. Quentin is a very talented young entrepreneur, fellow podcaster, and the CEO of Modo Energy, the leading data analytics firm focussed on the commercialisation of battery energy storage. Modo Energy's customers include funds, asset owners, utilities, traders, and optimisers in Great Britain. Who will win in the race for maximum returns? Data scientists turned traders or traders turned data scientists.A wonderful look into the future, which is happening now, pedal to the metal!https://modo.energy/And we thank Aquila Capital for their continuous support.

Can we really go to Net Zero and keep energy secure and affordable with current policies, or do we need to make hard choices that politicians might not be willing to sustain over the long term? Are the new technologies going to save us or will have to rely on dirigiste policies to dampen the energy prices spikes and secure affordable power.What will it take to go net Zero? Are we too dependent on weather and unreliable energy sources? Two visions are clashing: it is Elon Musk’s Master Plan 3 vs Bill Gates/Vaclav Smil “We don’t have the tech” or it is just a question of generation: 51 years old vs 67 and 79 years old?We present a very tough but necessary debate with Doug Houseman, Principal Consultant at 1898 Burns McDonnell (a US Engineering giant), and a keen observer of the Energy Transition. Doug has a plan, and he also comments on the alternative which would be Greta’s plan (That’s where we start to differ). But as Mike Tyson used to say, “Everybody has a plan until he gets punched in the face”.Are our choices that binary? Doug advocates a nuclear renaissance, massive seawater pumped hydro systems and new transmissions. No mention of decentralized power, exponential deployment of batteries and solar, nor digital.In a simple summary: are we complexifying a simple model or are we simplifying a complex model? Blue Pill or Red Pill?

3 million heat pumps were installed in Europe in 2022 (up 38% year on year) with some markets going crazy (Poland went up 120%). The movement is not limited to Europe, as US annual sales rose above 4 million units for the first time in 2022 (more than gas boilers).As the deployment of heat pumps has reached an inflection point in 2022, we wanted to dig deep into the decarbonisation of heating. We wanted to talk about new technologies, economics and government interventions which are sometimes good (ban of new oil and gas boilers, subsidies) sometimes bad (electrons are more taxed than molecules). This silent revolution needed a voice, and that’s our friend Jan Rosenow. Jan is the European Director of the Regulatory Assistance Project, a global energy think tank working on clean energy. He is also an Honorary Fellow at Oxford University. Jan Rosenow is a global heat pump expert and has tracked heat pump markets around the world. He works with policy makers all over Europe to craft and implement more effective policies to drive the transition.And of course, we talk about Hydrogen (spoiler alert, not in great terms) References https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3jIRRzF6d0https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-022-01104-8https://www.raponline.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/RAP_Heat_Pump_Toolkit.pdfCarbonBrief:https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-how-the-energy-crisis-is-boosting-heat-pumps-in-europe/debunking mythshttps://www.linkedin.com/pulse/debunking-heat-pump-myths-dr-jan-rosenow?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&utm_campaign=share_viaWe thank our friends and partners Aquila Capital, for supporting the show