

Currents
Norton Rose Fulbright
Currents is a podcast published by Norton Rose Fulbright that features in-depth discussions on the latest developments in project finance. The podcast is hosted by partner Todd Alexander, who interviews key business leaders and policy makers to investigate important trends affecting the energy and infrastructure space.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 29, 2019 • 16min
Ep69: The Re-entrance of US ExIm Bank
John Schuster, founder and president of JLS Capital Strategies, LLC and former vice president and head of the structured finance division of US ExIm Bank, joins us to discuss US ExIm Bank’s re-entrance into the market. We discuss what happened, his prediction for the future of the bank, as well as his thoughts on working with the bank and other development finance institutions to finance overseas.

Jul 16, 2019 • 19min
Ep68: The Current State of the California Market
Jan Smutny-Jones, CEO of the Independent Energy Producers Association, joins us to discuss the California market. We discuss the current appetite for new investment in the state, how people are reacting to CCAs and mitigating their risks, how the market looks in the aftermath of the wildfires and more.

Jul 8, 2019 • 17min
Ep67: The M&A Landscape for Renewables
Ted Brandt, CEO and founder of Marathon Capital, joins us again to discuss his overall perspective on how active the M&A market is for renewables right now and what he sees in the next six months. We discuss the shift in clients on the buy side, the market’s reaction to the influx of new products, how people are currently looking at the California market and more.

Jul 1, 2019 • 18min
Ep66: Tax Market Update
David Burton, partner in our New York office, joins us to for an update on recent headlines in the tax market. We discuss the recent opinions of the US Court of Federal Claims in Bishop Hill Energy, LLC and California Ridge Wind Energy, LLC; what is driving the recent increase in repowerings from a tax perspective; and finally safe harboring panels: why people are doing it, how they are structuring their deals and more.

Jun 25, 2019 • 24min
Ep65: The Solar Market: Today and Tomorrow
Tom Buttgenbach, CEO and president of 8minute Solar Energy, one of the most successful developers of utility-scale solar projects in the United States, joins us to discuss what he sees in store for the solar market. We get into how solar technology has affected the energy industry, Tom's forecast for the solar market and more.

Jun 3, 2019 • 31min
Ep64: Thermal Power Hedging
Noam Berk of Dean Street Capital Advisors joins us to discuss interesting developments in thermal power hedging as well as key hedge products. We get into the details of tolls, HRCOs, RPOs, spark spread swaps, gas netbacks and more.

May 28, 2019 • 22min
Ep63: The Business of Repowering
Ali Ghorashi, head of section, wind independent engineering at DNV GL, joins us to unpack the business of repowering, which has become relevant in the past few years. We discuss the key valuation drivers, the technological challenges, how the financing structure differs from a preconstruction project and more.

May 23, 2019 • 32min
Ep62: North American Development Bank
Alex Hinojosa, Calixto Mateos, Carlos Carranza, and Salvador Lopez of the North American Development Bank, join us to talk about why the bank was formed, the types of projects it finances, how it is governed and more.

May 13, 2019 • 33min
Ep61: Solar Risk Assessment Report
Richard Matsui, CEO and co-founder of kWh Analytics, and Dana Olson, solar segment leader at DNV GL, join us to discuss the recently published "Solar Risk Assessment" report in which they, along with industry experts from eight other companies, share their quantitative insights on solar production risk.

Apr 23, 2019 • 31min
Ep59: Quasi-merchant Gas Deals with Investec
Ralph Cho and Mike Pantelogianis, Power & Infrastructure Finance Co-heads for Investec in North America, join us to discuss quasi-merchant gas deals. They go into how the projects are set up, who takes the merchant exposure, different types of hedges available and more. .


