Energy Unplugged by Aurora

In this episode, our CEO John Feddersen is joined by Pat Wood, III, former FERC Chairman and CEO at Hunt Energy Network.  With a distinguished career in energy and the public service, Pat has served as Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in the US under President George W. Bush, and of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT). He holds a B.S. degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. John & Pat discuss: * The role of the federal government in driving the push towards an increasingly clean, affordable and reliable power system * The biggest impediment to Biden’s plan to decarbonise the power grid by 2035 * The potential for batteries in the US power grid Next week on Energy Unplugged we will welcome Laura Sandys, Chair of the UK Government Energy Digitalisation Taskforce. Stay tuned! Support the show

In this episode, our Managing Director for UK and Ireland, Dan Monzani speaks to Louise Kingham, Senior Vice President for Europe & UK Head of Country at BP. Prior to joining BP in May 2021, Louise was the CEO of the Energy Institute for more than 20 years, role in which she had a unique broad perspective across the energy transition. Louise is one of the sixteen CEOs on the Energy Leaders’ Coalition, organised by Powerful Women, a major professional initiative that seeks to promote the growth and leadership development of women across the energy sector.  Dan and Louise discuss: * Affordability across Europe and how governments should manage the massive impact of rising energy prices on those on the lowest incomes * BP's committment to reach Net Zero by 2050 and their focus to help the world get there too * The most likely use cases for hydrogen, where is most likely to be a cost effective part of the transition and BP's new partnership with Aberdeen City Council  * Whether we are on track for the 40GW of offshore wind by 2030 target and what do we need to do to hit that Next week on Energy Unplugged we will welcome Pat Wood, III, CEO at Hunt Energy Network. Stay tuned! Support the show

In this episode, we’re taking a global perspective on the energy transition having as guests two experts in the field. Our Principal Benjamin Collie is joined by Sam Arie, Head of European Utilities Equity Research at UBS and Evangelos Gazis, Project Leader and Market Lead for South Eastern Europe at Aurora.  Aurora and UBS worked together in the last few years in preparing a report on the state of the global energy transition with focus on emissions from the power sector.  Main topics of the podcast include: •The scale of the challenge for investing to decarbonise •How much capital is needed to decarbonise some of the most difficult sectors and what are the implications for the global economy •The levels of carbon prices that might be needed across the economy to achieve the targets  •The progress made at COP26 and the most likely next steps to be made by COP27 Next week on Energy Unplugged we will welcome Louise Kingham, Senior Vice President for Europe and Head of Country in the UK at BP. Stay tuned! Support the show

This week on Energy Unplugged, we discuss about how to decarbonize transport with Trudy Harrison MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the UK Department for Transport, in an episode hosted by our Research Director, Richard Howard.  Trudy was appointed in the current role on 17 September 2021 and she was elected Conservative MP for Copeland in 2017. Her career outside politics includes working for Sellafield nuclear site and in renewable energy and sustainable community projects. Richard and Trudy discuss: •How does a Net Zero system need to look like and what are the key enabling technologies •What does government need to do to accelerate this shift  •How do we ensure that the costs and fiscal impacts of this transition are manageable Next week we will welcome Sam Arie, Research Analyst at UBS. Stay tuned! Support the show

In this episode, our CEO John Feddersen is joined by Tony Cocker, Senior Independent Director of SSE plc.  Tony is also Chair of Infinis Energy Management Ltd, a distributed power generator. Between 1996-2017 he worked for E.ON SE and Powergen in a number of roles, including Chair and CEO of E.ON UK and Chair and CEO of E.ON Energy Trading SE. John and Tony discuss: •The change in the role of a director in the renewables space •The future of the British retail power market •Reforms needed to most ease the transition to Net Zero •SSE as a major sponsor of COP26 Next week on Energy Unplugged we will welcome Trudy Harrison MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport. Stay tuned! Support the show

In this episode, our Managing Director in Australia Hugo Batten speaks to Farhad Billimoria, Energy Systems Researcher, Energy & Power Group at the University of Oxford and Rowan von Spreckelsen, Principal in our Sydney office.  Farhard is currently completing his PhD on energy markets in Oxford and he has worked for Australia’s system operator AEMO, Mercer, CalPERS and AMP Capital Investors. The focus of the discussion is around the Australian energy market and incentive structures to bring on new renewables and firming capacity.  Main topics include: •The major challenges and opportunities for renewables and storage investment in Australia •Market design reforms and incentive structures shifting through renewables •The New South Wales Government contracts structures, key components and implications for market participants Next week on Energy Unplugged we will welcome Tony Cocker, Senior Independent Director of SSE plc. Stay tuned! Support the show

This week on Energy Unplugged we have a Christmas special episode in which we focus on waste management and energy from waste in particular. Our Research Director, Richard Howard is joined by two waste experts: Julia Watsford, CEO at Enfinium, the largest pure-play waste-to-energy operator in the UK and Chris Jonas, Director at Tolvik Consulting, one of the expert advisors on waste markets in the UK and Europe.  Main topics include: •COVID impact on the waste-to-energy sector •The role of waste management in the Net Zero transition  •Views on a potential incineration tax  •Negative emissions and the potential of energy from waste to incorporate CCS Support the show

In this episode, our Head of Commissioned Projects for Western Europe, Felix Chow-Kambitsch is talking to Boris Schucht, Chief Executive Officer of Urenco, an international supplier of uranium enrichment services. Boris joined Urenco in May 2019 from 50Hertz, the North-East German Transmission System Operator, where he has held the position of Chief Executive Officer since 2010. Previously he held a number of senior executive positions within the energy sector across Germany and Europe, including WEMAG AG and the Vattenfall Group. Felix and Boris discuss: •The role of nuclear in the energy transition and nuclear innovation •Key takeaways from COP26 and what is needed to ensure the targets are met •Pairing hydrogen and nuclear to decarbonize hard to abate sectors Next week on Energy Unplugged we will welcome Julia Watsford, CEO at Enfinium & Chris Jonas, Director at Tolvik Consulting. Stay tuned! Support the show

Our Commercial Manager Lisa Langer is joined by Christoph Strasser, Co-CEO of Pacifico Renewables Yield, a renewable energy producer with a quickly growing portfolio of roughly 170 MW.  Christoph joined Pacifico Renewables Yield as Co-CEO in October 2019 and prior to that he spent few years in J.P. Morgan‘s Corporate & Investment Bank. Christoph has a B.Sc. in Business Administration from University of Mannheim and M.Sc. in Management from University of Mannheim and ESSEC Business School.  Lisa and Christoph discuss: •Pacifico’s market expansion to The UK, Netherlands and Australia •Moving to less established markets and taking on merchant exposure in Pacifico’s projects •Power prices affecting renewables investment  •The next big challenge for the energy transition Support the show

Thekla von Bülow, Principal for Commissioned Projects in our Berlin office is joined by Shaun Kingsbury, Chief Investment Officer of Just Climate.  Shaun started his career working for Shell and in 2012 he has set up the world’s first low carbon investment bank – Green Investment Bank, which was later acquired by Macquarie Group. Currently Shaun is Chairman of Renewable Power Capital, Co-founder and Board member of Climate Transition Capital, Chairman of CNG Fuels and Chief Investment Officer of Just Climate, a new business launched in the beginning of November.  The focus of the conversation is on sustainable finance and climate impact investment helping to accelerate climate action.  Thekla and Shaun discuss: •Subsidy schemes for renewables vs. merchant / PPAs  •The role of the private sector in investing into clean energy technologies  •The ESG investment movement  •Corporate PPAs as a tool for decarbonisation Support the show