Energy Unplugged by Aurora

In this episode, our CEO John Feddersen is joined by Mark Collette, Managing Director of EnergyAustralia and Hugo Batten, Managing Director in Australia and California at Aurora. EnergyAustralia is one of Australia’s major vertical integrated energy gentailers. Mark has been with EnergyAustralia since 2003 and commenced as Managing Director in July 2021. He served as Chief Customer Officer from May 2019 until June 2021 and prior to leading EnergyAustralia’s retail business, Mark led the Energy business between 2015 and 2019. Former roles have included executive responsibility for policy, sustainability, strategy and other matters. Mark was appointed Chair of the Australian Energy Council (AEC) in December 2021.  Main topics include: •The energy industry in Australia over the last decade •EnergyAustralia’s strategy for a Net Zero electricity system  •Battery storage and the role for flexible assets in Australia •The long term review of Australia’s power market design, capacity payments and the introduction of a congestion management model If you want to hear more from Mark Collette 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 https://auroraer.com/events/spring-forum/ Support the show

This week is a very special one for Energy Unplugged as we celebrate 100 episodes and 2 years since we launched the podcast. In this 100 episode, our Head of Commissioned Projects in Central Europe, Hanns Koenig is joined by Antje Kanngiesser, CEO of Alpiq.  Alpiq is a leading Swiss energy services provider and electricity producer in Europe. Antje’s professional background include Vice President of Group Markets & Services and Member of the Executive Board for BKW AG, various roles at Alpiq Group and Energie Ouest Suisse as well as Lawyer at S&K and GGSC, Berlin.  Antje and Hanns discuss: •The role of Switzerland in the European energy transition •Alpiq’s strategy and activity across Europe •The impact of the current energy crisis in Europe on utilities Support the show

In this episode, our CEO, John Feddersen is joined by Paul Ezekiel, Founder, Chair and Chief Investment Officer of Amp Energy.  Amp is primarily a renewable energy developer and operator with a focus across solar, wind and storage and with over 7GW of assets built or contracted since 2009. Amp is also a technology company and the Amp X platform contributes to accelerating the energy transition through a portfolio of disruptive technologies. Before Amp, Paul had a long history in the energy transition, being involved in clean energy for around two decades.  Paul and John discuss: •Amp’s strategy and battery investing  •Investment in green hydrogen and at what point lithium-ion stops being the most cost effective storage solution •The best market design for enabling batteries to provide all of their benefits Support the show

In this episode, our Research Director, Richard Howard is joined by Alice Delahunty, President of Electricity Transmission at National Grid.  Alice is the first President of National Grid’s Electricity Transmission business, where she is responsible for the safe and efficient operation of the electricity transmission network for England and Wales. Prior to joining National Grid, Alice had a variety of roles at E.ON, culminating in Head of Offshore UK Wind Operations. The focus of the conversation is on grid networks, a critical enabler of the low carbon transition.  Alice and Richard discuss: •The scale of network investment required as we add renewables to the system and move towards a zero-carbon electricity system •The challenges of delivering this critical infrastructure •The impact on consumers, affordability, and bills Support the show

In this episode, our Thekla von Bülow, Principal for Commissioned Projects at Aurora is joined by Flemming Sørensen, Vice President for Europe at LevelTen Energy, in a discussion about long-term green power purchase agreements (PPAs).  LevelTen Energy is the leading provider of renewable transaction infrastructure, delivering the cloud-based software, centralized supply, automated analytics, and expertise required to accelerate clean energy transactions.  Flemming leads LevelTen’s expansion efforts from the company’s European headquarters in Madrid. His previous roles have included wholesale market trading and management of risk portfolios for corporate consumers at Energi Danmark, energy procurement and implementation of an RE100 strategy for NovoNordisk, and most recently originating offshore wind PPAs from Orsted. Thekla and Flemming discuss: •Which are the hot and emerging PPA markets in Europe •PPA trends including virtual PPAs •The current PPA market situation including very high prices and how is this affecting the willingness to close PPAs Support the show

This week on Energy Unplugged, our Managing Director in Australia and California, Hugo Batten is joined by Brad Hopkins, General Manager of Commercial and Financial Markets at AEMO Services.  With a variety of roles in the energy transition, most recently as a partner at KPMG and also at Macquarie, Brad is leading a lot of the work on the New South Wales Roadmap which aims to overhaul its energy markets and replace the coal capacity that is departing over the next decade.  Brad and Hugo discuss: •The purpose and history of the New South Wales Roadmap and the role of AEMO Services in delivering and running the program •The major challenges to deliver the ambitious goals for 2030 with focus on transmission and supply chain concerns •The role of market modelling Support the show

In this episode, our CEO, John Feddersen is joined by As Tempelman, the CEO of Eneco and Jesse Hettema, our Research Lead for Dutch & Belgium power markets.  Eneco is an electric utility in The Netherlands which specialises in retail, district heating, renewables and thermal generation. Eneco has committed to full climate neutrality by 2035 for all three scopes of emissions. Main topics include: * The current trends and the status of the energy transition in the Dutch market * The impact of the Russian war in Ukraine on the trajectory of decarbonisation globally * The role of big oil & gas companies in the energy transition Support the show

In this episode, our CEO, John Feddersen speaks to Sam Stranks, Leader of StranksLab at Cambridge University’s Department of Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology.  Sam is at the forefront of research into the next generation of solar technology and his research focuses on the optical and electronic properties of emerging semiconductors including halide perovskites, carbon allotropes and organic semiconductors for low-cost electronics applications such as photovoltaics and lighting. John and Sam discuss: •Solar technology research and the trajectory for costs and efficiency  •The ability of the private sector to engage Academia in order to commercialize new technologies •The role of solar in achieving Net Zero emissions globally •What has enabled Cambridge to be such a successful technical university over such a long period of time Support the show

This week on Energy Unplugged, our Managing Director in Australia and California, Hugo Batten speaks to Guillermo Bautista Alderete, Director of Market Analysis and Forecasting at California’s system operator (CAISO). Hugo and Guillermo are also joined by Rowan von Spreckelsen, Aurora’s Head of Research in Australia and California. Guillermo has had a distinguished 15 years career at CAISO, having come out of academia at the University of Waterloo in Canada where he received a Ph. D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering.  Main topics include: •The role of the system operator over the next 5 to 10 years in the policy and market design space •The mechanisms that CAISO has introduced to help with the integration of renewables •The impact of new technologies such as offshore wind and hydrogen on the California market  •Batteries economics and saturation of ancillary markets Support the show

This week on Energy Unplugged, we discuss energy security and the current energy crisis at just few hours since the UK Government has published its much anticipated energy security strategy. Our Managing Director for UK and Ireland, Dan Monzani, is delighted to welcome to the podcast the UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy - Kwasi Kwarteng. The British Energy Security Strategy comes at a very challenging time for the global energy policy and sets out how Great Britain will accelerate homegrown power for greater energy independence. Main topics include: • Security of gas supply and UK’s access to the physical supply of gas for the next winter • The Government’s new commitments on hydrogen and its potential in decarbonisation • The longer term announcements on electricity security including technology announcements such as an increased target of 50 GW of offshore wind by 2030 • Market reform options in the UK and the bigger market interventions suggested in Europe, such as the Spanish Government’s proposal to cap wholesale prices charged by gas generators Support the show