Energy Unplugged by Aurora

In this week’s episode of Energy Unplugged, our Managing Director for UK and Ireland, Dan Monzani is delighted to be joined by Dan McGrail, Chief Executive at RenewableUK. Dan joined RenewableUK as Chief Executive in May 2021. Previously, during his time as a senior leader at Siemens for close to two decades, Dan played a critical role in the innovation and manufacture of key energy technologies including wind turbine blades and efficient thermal engines. As well as being the CEO of Siemens Engines until last year, Dan was also the Chair of the Association for Decentralised Energy from 2016 to 2019. The main topics include: •How broadly should green hydrogen be defined •What is needed to hit the government’s new offshore wind targets •The disruptions in the global supply chain  •The current debates around market design Support the show

This week, we have a special Energy Unplugged podcast episode on the topic of the current energy price crisis and the implications for market design.  The Head of our Berlin office, Hanns Koenig is joined by two very distinguished guests: Lion Hirth – Professor of Energy Policy at the Hertie School in Berlin and Robert Gross – Director at UKERC (The UK Energy Research Centre) and also a Professor of Energy Policy at Imperial College London. Lion is one of the leading thinkers on power market design in Europe and Rob is an authority in power market design in Great Britain.  Main topics include: •What is going on in the European power markets at the moment •Why are power prices so high and what are the implications for market design •Splitting markets for renewables and conventional generation •Gas price caps for the power sector and the windfall tax Support the show

In this episode, our Managing Director in Australia and California, Hugo Batten is delighted to be joined by Rob Wheals, CEO and Managing Director of APA.  APA is an energy infrastructure business with gas pipeline, electricity, solar and wind assets and the 30th largest publicly listed Australian company on the Australian Stock Exchange. Prior to APA, Rob had a varied career across tech, consulting, telco and energy.  Rob and Hugo discuss: •The long-run impact of the current price/security of supply crises in Europe and Australia •The major steps needed to deliver a more orderly transition •Hydrogen and the timeline of cost competitiveness Support the show

In this episode, Hanns Koenig, our Head of Commissioned Projects for Central Europe, is joined by one of the leading voices of the Polish energy sector - Monika Morawiecka, Senior Advisor at The Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP). RAP is a think-tank advising predominantly governments in creating better energy sector regulation. Prior to RAP, Monika had a distinguished career in the energy sector, with more than 15 years at Poland's largest utility PGE. Her roles at PGE included Head of Strategy at PGE Group and CEO of PGE's Offshore Wind division, PGE Baltica. Hanns and Monika discuss: •The current state of the Polish energy market •The energy crisis and the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine on the energy transition in Poland •The role offshore wind can play in the Polish energy mix Support the show

This week on Energy Unplugged we’re doing a deep dive on capacity markets with some of Aurora's leadership from around the world. Our Founder and CEO, John Feddersen is joined by Dan Monzani – MD for GB and Ireland, Hugo Batten - MD for Asia-Pacific and California and Oliver Kerr – Head of USA.  The main questions we’re trying to answer are: 1) What are capacity markets?; 2) Why are they used?; and 3) When do they work? As in Europe capacity markets have largely won the debate, the focus is on markets outside Europe.  Main topics include:  •The core elements of capacity markets, procurement targets, timings & frequency of auctions •Political context and in what ways does it matter •Key strengths of the capacity markets Support the show

This week on Energy Unplugged, Hugo Batten and Oliver Kerr are joined by Jacob Mays, Assistant Professor at Cornell University’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Prior to this role, Jacob studied at Harvard, Winconsin-Madison, and Northwestern. He’s been a management consultant, worked at FERC, and writes energy papers across a diverse range of topics. Listen to this ep to hear them discuss:  - The role of energy modelling  - Market design, in particular Jacob’s view on the wholesale-only vs capacity market plus wholesale debate  - The role of academics in the energy transition Enjoy! Support the show

This week on Energy Unplugged, our MD for Australia and California Hugo Batten is joined by Founder and CEO of Edify Energy, John Cole. Edify has originated, financed and delivered 950 MW of utility scale solar PV and battery storage projects, with a strong pipeline of renewable, storage and green hydrogen projects to follow. John was recently included in The Australian newspaper’s Top 100 Green Power Players list. In this episode, Hugo and John discuss: •The current crisis, impact of the federal election, and redesign of the Australian market •Edify and the Riverina asset •John’s career, having co-founded 2 very successful renewables businesses in both UK and Australia Enjoy! Support the show

This episode is first 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 Ana Barillas, our Head of Iberia talking to Caroline Lytton, Managing Director, Head of Power & Renewables Global Structured Finance EMEA at SMBC, John Dewar, Partner at Milbank London and Casimir Lorenz, Principal at Aurora.  Caroline has started working in project finance in 2003, she has always been focused on infrastructure having 12 years’ experience in oil and gas. 3 years ago she was asked to head up the SMBC power and renewables business.  John has lots of experience in the sector, and with Milbank, which has one of the largest renewable practices in the world. He became a partner in the late 90’s and has worked on a series of IPP projects in the UK and Europe. At Milbank John works on renewable energy projects but also in the hydrogen space and the in EV and battery space.  Casimir leads the renewable energy practice of Aurora’s consulting team for continental Europe and he has been active in the energy space for the last 10 years. Before joining Aurora 4 years ago he did a PhD in Energy Economics followed by a post-doc at the German Institute for Economic Research focussing on policy consulting.  The main topics include: •The level of activity right now in the project finance space  •The impact of a higher-inflation and higher cost environment on typical project finance terms •Merchant risk and the biggest uncertainty in power markets at the moment •Managing the policy and regulatory risk in the power sector from a project finance perspective Support the show

This is a replay of an older episode with Nora Mead Brownell, Former Commissioner FERC, Former Chair PG&E and Founding Partner of ESPY Energy Solutions. Nora will be one of the keynote speakers at the Aurora Spring Forum 2022 on 14 July. If you want to hear more from Nora and many other industry leaders, join our Spring Forum 2022 on 14 July in Oxford, UK.  The topic is: Delivering the energy transition in a fractured world: Navigating price volatility, geopolitical risk, and supply chain disruption. Spaces are limited and are filling up quickly so book your ticket now! For more details check auroraer.com/events/spring-forum/ Our CEO John Feddersen discusses the energy transition in the US with his special guest Nora Mead Brownell, Co-Founder of ESPY Energy Solutions. Nora is a former commissioner at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) where she was nominated by President George W. Bush, and among many other previous roles she has also served as the Chair of the Board of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). Topics covered include: • Women in the energy sector, and ESPY Energy Solutions as a women-owned business • The balance between state and federal responsibility in the US power sector • Upcoming US elections, and how the energy sector will look Support the show

This is a replay of an older episode with Greg Jackson, Founder and CEO of Octopus Energy. Greg will be one of the keynote speakers at the Aurora Spring Forum 2022 on 14 July.  If you want to hear more from Greg and many other industry leaders, join our Spring Forum 2022 on 14 July in Oxford, UK. The topic is: Delivering the energy transition in a fractured world: Navigating price volatility, geopolitical risk, and supply chain disruption. Spaces are limited and are filling up quickly so book your ticket now! For more details check auroraer.com/events/spring-forum/ In this episode our CEO John Feddersen speaks to Greg Jackson, the Founder and CEO of Octopus Energy, one of the UK’s largest energy supplier businesses, and award-winning for its status as a provider of 100% sustainable energy. Octopus Energy Group recently announced the acquisition of its sister company, Octopus Renewables, bringing the retail and the generation side of energy together under one roof. Greg is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the UK with a long career leading multiple software ventures among other businesses, and a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge. John and Greg discuss: • The importance of policy in the current UK energy supply market • Understanding the customer experience and meeting customer’s needs • Weathering the debris of the Texas storms and cost-pass-through tariffs • The role of prices in power generation and investment Support the show