Energy Unplugged by Aurora

This week we have a very special episode on Energy Unplugged where we focus the discussion around a book. Our Managing Director in APAC & California, Hugo Batten and Kimberly Liu, our Head of Research in California are delighted to be joined by Katherine Blunt, Energy Reporter at The Wall Street Journal.  Katherine is the author of “California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric and What it Means for America’s Power Grid”, a history of Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), one of California's major utilities.  Main topics include: •PG&E and its major challenges were over last 10-15 years •The future of PG&E and how do they resolve their current challenges •Regulation of transmission as one of the central challenges identified in the book  •The challenges of regulating the energy transition Support the show

In this episode, our Managing Director for Central Europe, Hanns Koenig is joined by Nils Aldag, Co-Founder and CEO, Sunfire, a leading manufacturer of electrolysers. Nils spent his entire professional life at Sunfire, company he co-founded in 2009, right after graduating from EBS Business School in Germany. He has been Chief Executive Officer since 2020 and previously he was Chief Commercial Officer and before that Chief Financial Officer of Sunfire.  Nils and Hanns discuss: •Sunfire business and the motivation for founding a hydrogen start-up  •The interaction between alkaline and solid oxide electrolysers and when solid oxide is expected to enter the market at scale •The European hydrogen space and where is the largest hydrogen demand coming from •Whether we are on track to meet the REPowerEU plan's target to produce 10 million tonnes and import 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen in the EU by 2023 Support the show

In this week’s episode, we’re delighted to welcome Julien Dumoulin-Smith, Managing Director at Bank of America’s (BofA) Securities, in a conversation with Julia Hoos, Aurora’s Head of USA East.  Julien is a Managing Director in Bank of America’s Equity Research team covering US power, utilities, and alternative energy. He is a double ranked #1 analyst in both utility and alternative energy categories of the Institutional Investor All‐America Research Poll for several years. Julien has a BS in applied math and an MBA both from Columbia University. Main topics include: •The current state of the US power markets and the impact of the inflation reduction act (IRA)  •The differences between vertically integrated and competitive power markets in the US•The future of batteries in the short and long term  •The potential for carbon capture and storage (CCS) Support the show

This week on Energy Unplugged, we focus on what it takes to launch a successful hydrogen production project. We’re delighted to welcome Dalia Majumder-Russell, Partner at CMS UK in conversation with Emma Woodward, Project Leader on Aurora’s Advisory Team. Dalia is a partner in CMS’s Energy team in London, advising a wide range of investors, developers, utilities, lenders and governments on energy projects and infrastructure for over 10 years. She has extensive experience of negotiating power, gas and hydrogen offtake agreements and advising on carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) projects in the UK and internationally.  Dalia and Emma discuss: * Key considerations for what it takes to launch a successful hydrogen production project * Financial aspects developers should take into account for a bankable project * Pieces of the puzzle policy makers need to consider  * Transport and storage – key issues and risks Support the show

This week on Energy Unplugged we have a special episode with focus on the UK Government’s Net Zero Strategy. Our Managing Director in UK & Ireland, Dan Monzani is delighted to be joined by Chris Skidmore MP.  Chris is a senior Conservative MP and former Minister for Energy and Climate Change from 2018 to 2019 when he signed the UK’s Net Zero targets. Chris is the chair of the independent review of the UK's trajectory to Net Zero which was reported to the UK Government last Friday, the 13th January.  Main topics include: •The arguments for doubling down on Net Zero now when the voters’ main concerns are related to the cost of living •Are gas-free homes by 2033 possible? How quickly we can get to a tipping point on heat pumps?  •The funding commitments and the financial strategy for Net Zero •Net Zero and the energy security crisis Support the show

In this episode, Emma Woodward, Project Leader on Aurora’s Advisory Team is joined by Catherine Raw, Managing Director of SSE Thermal to discuss low-carbon flexibility with focus on hydrogen and gas CCS within the power sector.  Catherine joined SSE in April 2022 where she is responsible for the strategy, performance and development of the company’s flexible power generation and energy storage activities. Previous to SSE, Catherine was Chief Operating Officer for North America and Chief Financial Officer for Barrick Gold and Managing Director and Fund Manager at Blackrock. Emma & Catherine discuss: •The importance of low-carbon flexibility in the power sector  •Additional system needs and how thermal technologies might be able to provide low-carbon capacity •The work SSE is doing in this space •The progress needed in 2023 in order to support the development of low-carbon flexibility in the power sector Support the show

In this Energy Unplugged episode we discuss the implications of the US Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Our Head of US Oliver Kerr is joined by Martin Anderson, Aurora’s Head of Research in US, Felix Chow-Kambitsch, Aurora’s Head of US West and Julia Hoos, Aurora’s Market Lead for PJM. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) is the most significant piece of climate legislation in the US in over a decade, and aims to support accelerating the energy transition.  Main topics include: •The state of the energy transition in the US and key differences compared to the European approach  •How quickly can wind and solar scale given the constraints around supply chain and interconnection issues •What determines whether solar will take the production tax credit or the investment tax credit •The impact on power prices, on new build vs the existing assets and variations across markets Support the show

In this episode, we focus on an increasingly very hot topic which is battery business models in Europe. Our Managing Director for Central Europe, Hanns Koenig is joined by Aurora’s experts Marise Westbroek and Ryan Alexander.  Ryan leads our European research team and one of their most popular reports this year has been the European Battery Markets Attractiveness, which looks into market and policy drivers for shaping the attractiveness of various markets for batteries across Europe. Marise is a Project Leader in our advisory team and specialises in flexibility markets. Over the past years she had led a massive multi-client study with focus on investing battery business cases in Germany, Netherlands and Belgium in particular.  Main topics include: •The current market conditions for batteries, the impact of supply chain constraints and the high power prices across Europe •The characteristics developers would need today to be successful in such a complex market •Revenue streams development and implications on trading strategies for batteries •Individual and co-location business cases •Regulations and market design Support the show

In this episode, our Managing Director for Europe, Middle East & Africa, Manuel Koehler is joined by Horatio Evers, Managing Director, BASF Renewable Energy.  BASF is the biggest chemical company in the world and in his current position, Horatio is responsible for the strategic direction and overall achievement of BASF’s Net Zero targets. Horatio is passionate about collecting, refurbishing and driving old racing bikes and through this reduces his CO2 output. Horatio and Manuel discuss: •BASF’s journey to decarbonisation and the company’s Net Zero targets •What kind of partnerships are important for BASF •The main changes that would need to happen at the policy level and why  •The implications of the energy crisis in Europe on BASF from a renewables perspective Support the show

In this episode, our Managing Director of Aurora in APAC & California, Hugo Batten is delighted to be joined by Sheldon Kimber, CEO and Founder of Intersect Power and our Founder and CEO, John Feddersen.  Intersect Power is one of the most successful and dynamic clean infrastructure companies in the US today. Sheldon has had a hugely impressive and diverse career in energy, spending time at Recurrent, Calpine and at Accenture before founding Intersect Power. He also lectures at the Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley. Main topics include: •Intersect’s thinking about the future of energy markets and decarbonisation •The US energy markets and the future of utilities in California •The energy crisis in Europe  Read more from Sheldon on The Nexus of Deep Decarbonization here: https://www.intersectpower.com/the-nexus-of-deep-decarbonization/ Support the show