Energy Unplugged by Aurora

In this episode, Nick Carter, Managing Director at Akaysha Energy and Weijie Mak, Aurora’s Head of Consulting in Australia join Hugo Batten, our Managing Director in APAC & California.  Akaysha is a battery developer that has just had a major investment from Blackrock to help fund storage developments across APAC. Prior to Akaysha, Nick has worked at Macquarie, Tesla and AGL, as well as Toyota and General Motors. The focus of the discussion is very much on the nuances of battery and hydrogen investment cases in Australia and across other key Asian markets.  Main topics include: •The evolution of battery investment cases in the next few years •Supply chain and CAPEX increases •The transaction with Akaysha and Blackrock that made news in Australia •Akaysha’s business plan when it comes to hydrogen Support the show

In this episode, our Managing Director in APAC and California, Hugo Batten and our CEO, John Feddersen are joined by Elliot Mainzer, President and CEO of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). Elliot has had an impressive career in energy, spending time at Enron, 18 years at the Bonneville Power Administration where he rose to CEO, and over the last 3 years being the CEO of CAISO. Main topics include: •Californian energy markets - reality versus plans •Market design in CAISO evolving over the very long-term  •Innovation in storage investment cases in CAISO Support the show

This is a special podcast episode featuring one of the speakers at the Aurora Hydrogen Conference 2022, taking place on Wednesday 9th November in London. Our Co-Head of Advisory in Central Europe, Thekla von Bülow speaks to Alexander Voigt, CEO and Co-Founder of HH2E. Alexander is a serial entrepreneur and one of the pioneers of the global energy transition. He has studied physics and started his career at an engineering bureau working on solar thermal solutions. He has founded several companies in the energy sector such as Solon in the solar space, Younicos in the battery space, Lumenion in the high temperature heat storage space, and as well as STOFF2 & HH2E in the hydrogen space. Thekla and Alexander discuss: • What does HH2E do? And what role will it play in the European hydrogen space? • How can the growth of the hydrogen economy be accelerated and what are the main hurdles? • What is the right way to integrate hydrogen in the wider energy system? • What will the future of the European hydrogen landscape look like, and what will be the role of non-EU imports? This discussion will be continued at our fully booked Hydrogen Conference on Wednesday 9th November in London. We hope to see you there! Support the show

In this episode, our Research Lead in Aurora’s Australian office James Ha is delighted to be joined by Frank Jotzo, Professor at the Australian National University and our Managing Director for Australia and California, Hugo Batten.  Frank is a professor of environmental economics at the ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy, the inaugural director at the Centre for Climate Economics and Policy, and Head of Energy at the ANU Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions. He has been a lead author of the IPCC’s 5th and 6th Assessment Reports, and is the co-editor-in-chief of the journal Climate Policy. He has advised both the Australian and Indonesian Governments, and contributed to the Garnaut Climate Change Review. Main topics include: •Australia’s NetZero commitments and whether they are squaring with the goals of the Paris Agreement •Decarbonising the Australian economy and views on carbon pricing •Energy policy and the role of economic modelling Support the show

In this episode, our Founder and CEO, John Feddersen is delighted to welcome Jimmy Glotfelty, Commissioner on the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT).  With a distinguished career in public service in the electricity sector, Jimmy has been appointed as Commissioner on the PUCT in August 2021. Previously, he had several public senior roles including Senior Policy Advisor to U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, Energy Policy Director to Texas Governor George W. Bush and Legislative Director to Congressman Sam Johnson. He has also served as Founder and Executive Vice President of Clean Line Energy. Jimmy and John discuss: •The PUCT’s role in the US energy system •The impact of the Russian war in Europe and effects seen in the US •The Government’s role in enabling the electrification of the vehicle fleet Support the show

This episode is second in a series on global project finance, organized in partnership with SMBC Group. With a number of 4 episodes covering Europe, Australia, Asia and the US, this series is hosted by Aurora, with guests from SMBC Group, various law firms and Aurora. In this episode, we have our Managing Director in APAC & California, Hugo Batten talking to Jeremy Hasnip, Head of Energy Transition at SMBC, Elizabeth Charlesworth, Partner at Herbert Smith Freehills and Rowan von Spreckelsen, Principal at Aurora.  Main topics include: •An overview of the project finance space in Australia •The largest areas for debate and negotiation at the moment  •The impact of a higher-inflation and higher cost environment on typical project finance terms •The financing of newer technologies and the largest impediments to debt funding of storage Support the show

In this episode, our Managing Director for Australia and California, Hugo Batten is joined by Benn Barr, the Chief Executive of the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) and James Ha, Aurora’s Project Lead in our Sydney team. AEMC is the rule maker in the Australian energy markets and decides on any proposed rule changes in Australia’s electricity and gas markets. Prior to joining the AEMC, Benn was Deputy Director General in the Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy.  Main topics include: •The current priorities for the AEMC including the role of rule makers and the impact of the current crisis  •The role of market modelling when it comes to challenges around market re-design •The pros and cons of capacity markets Support the show

This week on Energy Unplugged, Fraser Thompson, Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer of Sun Cable joins our Managing Director for Australia and California, Hugo Batten and Weijie Mak, Aurora’s Head of Consulting across Asia-Pacific for our podcast episode.  Fraser is the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer for SunCable. He also founded AlphaBeta, an economic strategy consultancy headquartered in Singapore which has now been acquired by Access Partnership. Prior to this he spent 9 years at McKinsey, in particular, at McKinsey’s Global Institute.  The main topics discussed include: •Key fundamentals of the Sun Cable project •Long-term trends in energy markets •Fraser’s career and the value of doing a PhD Support the show

This week on Energy Unplugged, we explore the debates surrounding the technical and topical issue of Locational Marginal Pricing (LMP).  Drawing once again on the knowledge of some of Aurora’s global leadership: Dan Monzani, Managing Director of UK and Ireland, is joined by Hanns Koenig, Head of Consulting for Central and Eastern Europe, Hugo Batten - MD for Asia-Pacific and California and Oliver Kerr – Head of USA. The main questions the team sought out to answer are as follows: • What is LMP? • What is the context surrounding the economic/ market design for LMP? • What are the pros and cons of LMP? Support the show

Jeff Dimery, Managing Director & CEO of Alinta Energy joins our Managing Director for Australia and California, Hugo Batten, in our latest #EnergyUnplugged podcast episode. Jeff has had a long and distinguished career in Australian energy. He has held senior roles at AGL (another Australian “gentailer”) and is now the Managing Director and CEO of Alinta Energy, one of the major vertically integrated utilities in the Australian market. Hugo and Jeff discuss the following topics: •Unprecedented times caused by the current crisis facing the Australian energy market •The role of utility in decarbonising energy markets •Market design, focusing on capacity markets Support the show