Currents

Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, joins us to discuss what the potential anti-circumvention tariffs on cells and modules from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. We talk about why we are in the midst of an investigation, how long the Department of Commerce has to investigate and what it could mean for the industry, the percentage of panels that are sourced from these four countries, other significant concerns that Hopper has and more.

Keith Martin, partner at Norton Rose Fulbright in Washington, joins us to discuss investment tax credits (ITCs) for energy storage and provide an update on the current tax equity market. We get into how current ITCs apply to energy storage, what happens if you have a battery that is only partially charged by a renewables project, why an ITC for an energy storage project doesn’t work well with wind farms claiming PTCs, whether the storage and wind or solar projects have to have the same owner, what he expects to see happen with the Build Back Better bill, how the overall market is different in 2022 and much more.

Bill Nussey, founder and CEO of the Freeing Energy Project, joins us to discuss the shift to cleaner, cheaper energy. We discuss his new book, Freeing Energy, why he thinks local energy can be cheaper than electricity from the "big grid" and what the advantages are, the roles that natural gas, hydrogen and nuclear energy will play in the shift to cleaner energy, policies that can accelerate use of local energy, and more.

Sheldon Kimber, CEO and co-founder of Intersect Power, joins us to discuss the $2.6 billion financing facility that Intersect signed in November 2021 to finance a portfolio of late-stage solar and storage projects in California and Texas. We get into Intersect’s $600 million equity raise last year, Sheldon’s openness to merchant risk, the sacrifices that need to be made when the company structures these deals, where he sees the energy storage market going and more.

The year ahead looks like another strong year for financings, but with uncertainty around supply chains, inflation, potential tax law changes and import tariffs. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond is up significantly so far in January, repeating a pattern early last year. The Federal Reserve is expected to start raising interest rates as early as March. Listen to a discussion about what to expect in the year ahead for tax equity, bank and term loan B debt and project bonds, led by Keith Martin from Norton Rose Fulbright, among John C.S. Anderson, global head of corporate finance and infrastructure at Manulife, Jack Cargas, managing director and head of originations on the tax equity desk at Bank of America, Ralph Cho, global co-head of the power and infrastructure group at Investec, Max Lipkind, managing director and head of Americas leveraged finance origination at Credit Suisse, and Rubiao Song, managing director and head of energy investments at JPMorgan.

Katie McClain, partner at Energize Ventures, joins us to discuss the company’s investment approach. We get into what it looks for in clean energy and climate tech companies, how its approach differs from other funds, how Katie’s policy background shapes her personal investing thesis, the way decarbonization goals are shaping the clean energy economy and much more.

Maria Klutey, president of Activate Renewables, joins us to discuss how the company’s business model maximizes the value of renewable real estate holdings. We get into the history and background of Activate, its competitive advantage, the advantage that comes with partnering with DESRI, the structures offered to landowners and developers, how much of a project’s capital stack it typically funds, challenges to the business moving forward and more.

Matt Harper, chief commercial officer at Invinity Energy Systems, joins us to explain vanadium flow batteries. We discuss the future of energy storage, how vanadium flow batteries differ from lithium-ion, what has held back vanadium flow so far, what’s next for Invinity and more.

Sheldon Kimber, CEO and co-founder of Intersect Power, joins us to discuss what he is seeing in the industry and talk about the company’s latest financing. We discuss Intersect’s interest in green hydrogen, how big of an impact tariffs are having on supply chain issues, the current tax equity market, Intersect’s $2.6B financing for construction and operations of a six-portfolio project, and more.

Maryann Johnson, senior managing director of property and energy claims at Beecher Carlson, Brian DiLuigi, senior vice president of alternative energy, and Alex Nephew, risk management and insurance advisor with Brown & Brown, join us to discuss the complexities of insuring renewables. We discuss the different capabilities Beecher Carlson and Brown & Brown have to help renewable energy companies, the types of coverage the insurance market has in place for solar and other renewables, some of the differences within the renewables industry relating to coverage and cost for asset owners, what has been happening in regard to losses and claims due to recent severe weather events, the differences relating to coverage and cost for solar asset owners, risk factors that dictate appetite and cost for carriers, what developers and asset owners should be doing to minimize their risk and cost, and more.