Podcasts about renewables

In an effort to make their farms more environmentally and economically sustainable, some farmers are experimenting with agrivoltaics: growing crops underneath solar panels. This dual harvest is working for some, but what will it take for agrivoltaics to work on a larger, more industrial scale? Joining Host Ira Flatow are journalist Jana Rose Schleis and environmental economics expert Madhu Khanna.Guests:Jana Rose Schleis is a news producer at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri. Her podcast series, “The Next Harvest,” is available on podcast platforms.Dr. Madhu Khanna is a professor of environmental economics and director of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

In a speech last week in a speech at the World Economic Forum, President Trump said China was making a lot of wind turbines, but not using much wind power in their own country. Is that right? China studies professor Jeremy Wallace joins Host Ira Flatow to talk about the renewable energy landscape in China. They'll dig into how China is flooding the world with affordable solar technology, making it the cheapest form of electricity in history. Plus, what energy tech China is manufacturing, what it's using domestically, and what it's exporting.Guest: Dr. Jeremy Wallace is the A. Doak Barnett Professor of China Studies at Johns Hopkins UniversityTranscripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

The cost of living crisis is getting worse and worse, and it's not by accident.#WeNeedToTalk about why everything feels more expensive right now. Utility bills are rising year over year, healthcare costs are spiraling, and recent policy choices — including the “Big Beautiful Bill” — are making things worse by cutting over $1 trillion from Medicaid and stripping away renewable energy incentives that would lower costs for families. Renewables remain the most affordable and fastest-to-deploy energy solution, but incentives are being blocked while fossil fuels receive massive handouts.In this live conversation, I break down what's happening through the lens of faith, justice, and shared humanity, because these aren't just policy issues, they're dignity issues. And if we care about our neighbors, our communities, and the people most impacted by these rising costs, we have a responsibility to stay informed and hold our elected representatives accountable.What We Can Do* Stay informed about how rising utility and healthcare costs are connected to policy decisions.* Contact your elected representatives and tell them affordability, renewable energy, and healthcare access must be prioritized.* Support renewable energy expansion, since it is the cheapest and fastest solution to lowering bills long-term.* Share accurate information with friends, family, and community members to push back against misinformation.* Advocate for Medicaid protections, especially for children, seniors, disabled individuals, pregnant people, and rural communities.* Have compassionate conversations in your circles, using data and personal stories, to help others understand the human impact.* Strengthen community care networks, checking in on neighbors, elders, and vulnerable families who might be struggling.* Use your faith and values as a guide, grounding your advocacy in love, dignity, and collective responsibility.* Support local mutual aid or community organizations that help families bridge the gaps created by policy failures.* Raise awareness online, amplifying justice-centered voices and keeping attention on the communities most impacted.#WeNeedToTalk is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit malyndahale.substack.com/subscribe

In Episode 537 of District of Conservation, Gabriella discusses how renewables have gone dark in many of the areas impacted by Winter Storm Fern, how state policymaking invites unstable grids, the need for new pipelines in the Northeast, and why energy abundance policies will catch on in the states. Tune in to learn more!SHOW NOTESPresident Trump Endorses Consumer Regulated Electricity (CRE)Javier Blas Tweet on Five ISOs/RTOSISO New England Realtime StatusCoal Power in Winter Storm FernLiz Bowman PipelinesISO New England: Electrocute EverythingNYISOPJMERCOTElectricity Maps

The infrastructure fund industry has become one of the most powerful engines behind the rise of renewables and datacenters. With Zak Bentley, Americas Editor, Infrastructure Investor (part of the PEI Group), Laurent and Gerard cut through the noise to deliver a clear-eyed view of where the infrastructure market really stands today.  2025 smashed fundraising records, with c.USD300bn raised, but it also laid bare an uncomfortable truth: this is a market in consolidation mode. Capital is concentrating fast, and the biggest platforms are pulling further ahead.  Global Infrastructure Partners set a new benchmark with its USD25.2bn Fund V, the largest infrastructure fund ever raised. Macquarie closed more than USD8bn for Infrastructure Partners VI, including co-investments, while Blackstone raised USD5.5bn for Strategic Partners Infrastructure IV, the largest infrastructure secondaries fund to date. Brookfield, KKR, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, and Ardian were also among the clear winners. Scale matters, and the leaders are taking an ever-larger share of the pie.  Fundraising may look healthier on the surface, but the process has become longer and harder. Time on the road has stretched to around 25 months, meaning a large portion of the capital “raised” in 2025 was secured across 2023 and 2024. This is not a detail; it is the clearest symptom of the barbell dynamic now dominating infrastructure fundraising, where capital flows either to the very largest platforms or to highly differentiated specialists.  Sector trends are also evolving. Airports and toll roads, written off after COVID, are back in favour. Social infrastructure is fading. ESG has been reset, not abandoned, and gas infrastructure is once again being embraced, often relabelled as energy transition to make it palatable. Datacenters sit at the centre of everything, hoovering up capital and pulling renewables and grid infrastructure along with them.  The discussion goes straight at the hard questions: are genuinely new sectors emerging, can today's giants realistically keep getting bigger, and is there still room for ultra-specialised strategies? The answer is increasingly clear. Bigger is not automatically better. Investors are becoming far more selective, and many are shifting capital toward focused, mid-market funds that offer expertise rather than sheer scale.  -----Berlin Infrastructure Conference – 24 to 27/3https://www.peievents.com/en/checkout/?peievcc-event-id=113021    Link to Nat Bullard – 200 pages yearly deck https://www.nathanielbullard.com/presentations      

Episode Summary: In this episode of the Solar Maverick Podcast, host Benoy Thanjan sits down with Abu Riaz, CEO and Founder of AMS Renewables, to discuss what it takes to scale a solar and storage EPC in today's rapidly evolving clean energy market. Abu shares how AMS Renewables grew out of a traditional construction background into a fast-scaling EPC platform, executing projects across commercial, community solar, and utility-scale segments. The conversation highlights why construction discipline, capital planning, and execution are critical differentiators in solar and storage development. Key topics include: How AMS Renewables evolved from C&I rooftop projects to large-scale community solar Why solar is fundamentally a construction-driven business The front-loaded capital and procurement challenges EPCs face at NTP Scaling without outside investors and maintaining operational flexibility Navigating industry disruption, EPC bankruptcies, and talent shifts The growing opportunity in solar + storage and standalone storage projects Managing risk, due diligence, and vendor compliance in a changing regulatory environment Leadership lessons from building a resilient EPC through market cycles This episode is a must-listen for developers, EPCs, and clean energy entrepreneurs looking to build durable, execution-focused businesses in the solar and storage industry.   About the Solar Maverick Podcast The Solar Maverick Podcast is a leading clean energy podcast hosted by Benoy Thanjan, Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy. The show features in-depth conversations with industry leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers shaping the future of solar, storage, and the global energy transition.   Biographies Benoy Thanjan Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy, solar developer and consulting firm, and a strategic advisor to multiple cleantech startups. Over his career, Benoy has developed over 100 MWs of solar projects across the U.S., helped launch the first residential solar tax equity funds at Tesla, and brokered $45 million in Renewable Energy Credits (“REC”) transactions. Prior to founding Reneu Energy, Benoy was the Environmental Commodities Trader in Tesla's Project Finance Group, where he managed one of the largest environmental commodities portfolios. He originated REC trades and co-developed a monetization and hedging strategy with senior leadership to enter the East Coast market. As Vice President at Vanguard Energy Partners, Benoy crafted project finance solutions for commercial-scale solar portfolios. His role at Ridgewood Renewable Power, a private equity fund with 125 MWs of U.S. renewable assets, involved evaluating investment opportunities and maximizing returns. He also played a key role in the sale of the firm's renewable portfolio. Earlier in his career, Benoy worked in Energy Structured Finance at Deloitte & Touche and Financial Advisory Services at Ernst & Young, following an internship on the trading floor at D.E. Shaw & Co., a multi billion dollar hedge fund. Benoy holds an MBA in Finance from Rutgers University and a BS in Finance and Economics from NYU Stern, where he was an Alumni Scholar.   Abu Riaz, Founder & CEO of AMS Renewable Energy Abu Riaz is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AMS Renewable Energy, a solar and energy storage EPC (“Engineering, Procurement, and Construction”) firm based in New York focused on delivering large-scale distributed solar and storage solutions across the United States. Under his leadership, AMS has grown into a nationally respected solar EPC with deep expertise in project execution, from pre-construction planning through engineering, procurement, and construction management.  Abu holds a degree in Mathematics and Finance from Columbia University and continually expands his industry knowledge through ongoing education in energy and finance, grounding his business strategy in both technical rigor and financial insight.  Throughout his tenure, he has guided AMS Renewable Energy in completing numerous solar projects and scaling its capabilities, including strategic initiatives to expand the company's portfolio and service footprint. AMS is known for its commitment to quality, integrity, and delivering high-performance renewable energy assets for developers, independent power producers, and community solar stakeholders.  Under Abu's leadership, AMS has also pursued industry growth through strategic moves such as its acquisition of Collective Solar, enhancing AMS's construction capacity and positioning the firm to meet rising demand for distributed solar solutions across the Northeast and beyond.    Stay Connected: Benoy Thanjan Email: info@reneuenergy.com  LinkedIn: Benoy Thanjan Website: https://www.reneuenergy.com Website: https://www.solarmaverickpodcast.com/       Abu Riaz     Website: https://www.amsepc.com/     Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/abu-riaz-5a442663/   Please provide 5 star reviews      If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review and share the Solar Maverick Podcast so more people can learn how to accelerate the clean energy transition.    Reneu Energy Reneu Energy provides expert consulting across solar and storage project development, financing, energy strategy, and environmental commodities. Our team helps clients originate, structure, and execute opportunities in community solar, C&I, utility-scale, and renewable energy credit markets. Email us at info@reneuenergy.com to learn more.

In this episode of Mining Stock Education, host Brian Leni interviews Elliott Gue, the editor and chief analyst at Energy Bulletin. Elliott discusses the current geopolitical landscapes affecting energy markets, future energy demand, and investment opportunities. He provides an in-depth analysis of Venezuela's misunderstood oil reserves and its potential production capabilities. Furthermore, Elliott outlines the long-term forecast of a major energy crisis emerging from rising global demand, decreasing non-OPEC supply, and limited OPEC spare capacity. He advises investors to look at various sectors such as US refineries, oil services companies, and upstream natural gas producers as potential opportunities to mitigate and profit from the anticipated energy shortages by 2028-2030. 00:00 Introduction 01:27 Venezuela's Oil Reserves: Myths and Realities 04:55 Investment Needs for Venezuela's Oil Industry 09:19 Impact on US Refineries and Global Oil Market 17:00 Geopolitical Factors and Oil Market Dynamics 24:58 Future Energy Crisis and Strategic Importance of Venezuela 27:43 China's Energy Strategy: Build First, Break Later 29:16 India's Energy Growth and Challenges 31:17 Global Competition for Energy Commodities 32:41 The Role of Natural Gas in the US Energy Market 35:31 Renewables and Grid Scale Storage 41:20 Investment Strategies in the Energy Sector 47:41 Elliott's Newsletter and Final Thoughts Elliott's website: https://energyandincomeadvisor.com/ Sign up for our free newsletter and receive interview transcripts, stock profiles and investment ideas: http://eepurl.com/cHxJ39 Mining Stock Education (MSE) offers informational content based on available data but it does not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice. It may not be appropriate for all situations or objectives. Readers and listeners should seek professional advice, make independent investigations and assessments before investing. MSE does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of its content and should not be solely relied upon for investment decisions. MSE and its owner may hold financial interests in the companies discussed and can trade such securities without notice. MSE is biased towards its advertising sponsors which make this platform possible. MSE is not liable for representations, warranties, or omissions in its content. By accessing MSE content, users agree that MSE and its affiliates bear no liability related to the information provided or the investment decisions you make. Full disclaimer: https://www.miningstockeducation.com/disclaimer/

In this episode, we chat about the Trump administration's $15 billion initiative encouraging tech companies to buy power plants, aiming to address the escalating energy demands from AI and machine learning. We explore how this impacts the future of AI infrastructure and energy policy. Chapters 00:00 AI's Power Hunger 01:48 Trump Admin's Plan 10:07 Energy Source Debate 13:30 Accountability for Consumption In this episode, we explore the Trump administration's proposal for tech companies to invest $15 billion in power plants to meet the surging electricity demands of AI and data centers. We also discuss its potential impact on America's power grid, consumer costs, and the national effort to remain competitive in the global AI race. Chapters 00:00 $15 Billion Power Plant Deal 01:48 PJM Grid Operator & Energy Needs 04:44 Alternative Power Solutions 06:45 The Trump Administration's Plan 10:05 Renewables vs. Consistent Power 13:33 Addressing Critiques and Future Links • Get the top 40+ AI Models for $20 at AI Box: ⁠⁠https://aibox.ai: https://aibox.ai • AI Chat YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JaedenSchafer: https://www.youtube.com/@JaedenSchafer • Join my AI Hustle Community: https://www.skool.com/aihustle: https://www.skool.com/aihustle

In this episode, we explore the entrepreneurial opportunities arising from the Trump administration's $15 billion power plant proposal for tech companies fueling AI, ChatGPT, and other platforms. We identify potential avenues for making money in the energy sector vital for AI growth. Chapters 00:00 AI's Power Hunger 01:48 Trump Admin's Plan 10:07 Energy Source Debate 13:30 Accountability for Consumption In this episode, we explore the Trump administration's proposal for tech companies to invest $15 billion in power plants to meet the surging electricity demands of AI and data centers. We also discuss its potential impact on America's power grid, consumer costs, and the national effort to remain competitive in the global AI race. Chapters 00:00 $15 Billion Power Plant Deal 01:48 PJM Grid Operator & Energy Needs 04:44 Alternative Power Solutions 06:45 The Trump Administration's Plan 10:05 Renewables vs. Consistent Power 13:33 Addressing Critiques and Future Links • Get the top 40+ AI Models for $20 at AI Box: ⁠⁠https://aibox.ai: https://aibox.ai • AI Chat YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JaedenSchafer: https://www.youtube.com/@JaedenSchafer • Join my AI Hustle Community: https://www.skool.com/aihustle: https://www.skool.com/aihustle

In this week's episode of Energy Transition Today, we begin with all things offshore wind. From the stumbles of last year to the record success of UK's AR7 tender and what that mean for offshore wind targets for 2026.On to news, we breakdown financing for a host of technologies including solar, onshore wind and data centres.00:00:58 | 2025 offshore wind auction failures00:10:11 | 2026 offshore wind outlook and UK AR7 results00:27:47 | Financing and M&A news across EuropeHosts: Maya Chavvakula and Leonard MüllerThis epsiode was edited by Leonard Müller. Reach out to us at: podcasts@inspiratia.comFind all of our latest news and analysis by subscribing to inspiratia For tickets to our events email conferences@inspiratia.com or buy them directly on our website. Listen to all our episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other providers. Music credit: NDA/Show You instrumental/Tribe of Noise©2025 inspiratia. All rights reserved.This content is protected by copyright. Please respect the author's rights and do not copy or reproduce it without permission.

Texas Leads the Energy Transition for High-Tech DemandsPREVIEW FOR LATER: GUEST BUD WEINSTEIN. Bud Weinstein explains how Texas has become number one in wind and solar energy to power massive data centers. Despite the growth of renewables and batteries in the western state, fossil fuels remain a permanent fixture of the energy mix to meet 21st-century electricity demands.1886 EL PASO

One year into his return to the White House, President Donald Trump is exerting a major impact on the US energy landscape. With policy direction shifting rapidly, the administration's moves on fossil fuels, regulation and geopolitics are already rippling through markets, supply chains and long-term energy transition plans. In this episode, Dan Testa is joined by Jasmin Melvin, senior editor at S&P Global Energy and head of The Energy Daily, to address whether the US is headed for a renewed fossil-fuel boom, what that means for clean energy, and whether there is still room for a durable, balanced energy strategy in the years ahead. Jasmin spoke with Maya Weber, senior editor at S&P Global Energy, to break down the most consequential policy shifts so far. The conversation then turns to industry and market impacts, with Dustin Meyer, senior vice president at the American Petroleum Institute, and JC Sandberg, chief policy officer at the American Clean Power Association.

Predicting the Unpredictable: Energy and Geopolitics in 2026 This week, Peter and Jackie kick off the year with their 2026 outlook. They begin by asking a fundamental question: How relevant are predictions in an increasingly unpredictable world? While acknowledging the limits of forecasting, they outline key themes and directional expectations for 2026—and remind leaders that, in times like these, scenario development, continuous monitoring, and course correction are far more valuable than rigid forecasts. The discussion focuses on four major areas shaping the outlook for Canadian energy, spanning oil and gas and clean energy technologies: Global geopolitics and energy markets: examining how unfolding events in Venezuela and Iran—and ongoing tensions involving the United States, China, Russia, and Ukraine—could influence global energy markets. Oil and gas fundamentals: assessing the direction of oil prices and North American natural gas in 2026. Technology and disruption: exploring whether electric vehicles will regain momentum, how rapidly solar deployment will continue to scale, and whether projections for AI-driven energy demand will keep accelerating. Canada's unique circumstances: politics, policy, and infrastructure—from climate policy and the Ottawa–Alberta memorandum of understanding (MOU) on an oil pipeline, to elections (and potential elections) to watch. While predicting the future may be difficult, one thing Jackie and Peter are confident about is that the ARC Energy Ideas podcast will be here throughout the year—helping you navigate what is shaping up to be a consequential and eventful year for energy markets and geopolitics. Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/ Check us out on social media: X (Twitter): @arcenergyinstLinkedIn: @ARC Energy Research Institute Subscribe to ARC Energy Ideas PodcastApple PodcastsAmazon MusicSpotify 

This week on 'The Greener Way', host Michelle Baltazar interviews Mike Harut, partner and responsible investment manager at $7bn fund manager Munro Partners.Together they discuss the biggest misconceptions about the performance of renewable companies in the US, the green stocks that defied the odds in 2025 and why TINA (short for 'There Is No Alternative') underpin the future of renewables.Mike also shares insights on how their Climate Leaders fund returned a strong 22 per cent in returns last year. 01:00 Munro Partners is a growth equities specialist02:57 The renewable sector's performance: myths vs reality06:30 The future of electricity demand in the US13:11 China's revised emission targets and investment opportunities14:44 Performance of the Climate Change Leaders Fund20:10 What's next? For more info on the Climate Change Leaders fund, see https://www.munropartners.com/. US utility NextEra's Capital Markets Day shares research on the US electricity system here: https://www.investor.nexteraenergy.com/news-and-events/events-and-presentations/2025/12-08-2025This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

Want the latest news, analysis, and price indices from power markets around the globe - delivered to your inbox, every week?Sign up for the Weekly Dispatch - Modo Energy's unmissable newsletter.https://bit.ly/TheWeeklyDispatchSolar projects in Great Britain are often framed as a trade-off: can we combat climate change without compromising the countryside? Increasingly, the answer is yes. Across the country, solar developers are not only installing panels but actively restoring and enhancing the ecosystems around them.Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is reshaping what responsible solar development looks like. Many leading projects are far exceeding the statutory 10% requirement, transforming intensively farmed monoculture into thriving habitats. These sites now deliver clean power while providing farmers with stable, long-term income—showing we don't have to choose between renewable energy and rich, living landscapes.In this conversation, Fran Button - deputy CEO at British Solar Renewables joins Ed to unpack how solar developers are designing projects that benefit both the grid and the natural world.• Why ecologists must establish a biodiversity baseline before construction begins.• How some developments are achieving BNG scores of 200% or more - well beyond what regulations demand.• Whether high-tech energy generation can genuinely coexist with low-tech agriculture.• Dispelling the misconception that solar farms are empty that solar developments lack ecological value.• How solar energy is providing farmers with a stable income stream that allows them to continue farming.About our guestFran Button is Deputy CEO of British Solar Renewables where she is responsible for all aspects of risk management and ESG. With a background as a specialist non-contentious construction lawyer involved in drafting and negotiating complex building contracts. Fran has particular expertise in renewables projects having being involved in large-scale solar development and funding and energy from waste projects.British Solar Renewables are developing, building, and operating renewable energy projects that power homes, businesses, and communities. From green fields to grid connection - creating clean energy that strengthens the UK's resilience, supports biodiversity, and delivers lasting value for people and the planet. For more information head to their website. https://britishrenewables.com/About Modo EnergyModo Energy helps the owners, operators, builders, and financiers of battery energy storage understand the market — and make the most out of their assets.All episodes of Transmission are available to watch or listen to on the Modo Energy site. To stay up to date with our analysis, research, data visualisations, live events, and conversations, follow us on LinkedIn. Explore The Energy Academy, our bite-sized video series explaining how power markets work.

Want the latest news, analysis, and price indices from power markets around the globe - delivered to your inbox, every week?Sign up for the Weekly Dispatch - Modo Energy's unmissable newsletter.https://bit.ly/TheWeeklyDispatchSolar projects in Great Britain are often framed as a trade-off: can we combat climate change without compromising the countryside? Increasingly, the answer is yes. Across the country, solar developers are not only installing panels but actively restoring and enhancing the ecosystems around them.Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is reshaping what responsible solar development looks like. Many leading projects are far exceeding the statutory 10% requirement, transforming intensively farmed monoculture into thriving habitats. These sites now deliver clean power while providing farmers with stable, long-term income—showing we don't have to choose between renewable energy and rich, living landscapes.In this conversation, Fran Button - deputy CEO at British Solar Renewables joins Ed to unpack how solar developers are designing projects that benefit both the grid and the natural world.• Why ecologists must establish a biodiversity baseline before construction begins.• How some developments are achieving BNG scores of 200% or more - well beyond what regulations demand.• Whether high-tech energy generation can genuinely coexist with low-tech agriculture.• Dispelling the misconception that solar farms are empty that solar developments lack ecological value.• How solar energy is providing farmers with a stable income stream that allows them to continue farming.About our guestFran Button is Deputy CEO of British Solar Renewables where she is responsible for all aspects of risk management and ESG. With a background as a specialist non-contentious construction lawyer involved in drafting and negotiating complex building contracts. Fran has particular expertise in renewables projects having being involved in large-scale solar development and funding and energy from waste projects.British Solar Renewables are developing, building, and operating renewable energy projects that power homes, businesses, and communities. From green fields to grid connection - creating clean energy that strengthens the UK's resilience, supports biodiversity, and delivers lasting value for people and the planet. For more information head to their website. https://britishrenewables.com/About Modo EnergyModo Energy helps the owners, operators, builders, and financiers of battery energy storage understand the market — and make the most out of their assets.All episodes of Transmission are available to watch or listen to on the Modo Energy site. To stay up to date with our analysis, research, data visualisations, live events, and conversations, follow us on LinkedIn. Explore The Energy Academy, our bite-sized video series explaining how power markets work.

Allen and Joel are joined by Nathan Davies from Lloyd Warwick to discuss the world of wind energy insurance. Topics include market cycles, the risks of insuring larger turbines, how critical spares can reduce downtime and costs, why lightning claims often end up with insurers rather than OEMs, and how AI may transform claims data analysis. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Welcome to Uptime Spotlight, shining light on wind. Energy’s brightest innovators. This is the Progress Powering tomorrow. Allen Hall: Nathan, welcome to the program. Thank you for having me. So you are, you’re our link to the insurance world, Nathan, and there’s been so many changes over the past 12, 24 months, uh, not just in the United States but worldwide. Before we get too deep into any one subject, can you just give us a top level like, Hey, this is what’s happening in the insurance world that we need to know. So there’s  Nathan Davies: obviously a lot of scope, a lot of development, um, in the wind world. Um, you know, there’s the race to scale. Um, and from an insurance perspective, I think everybody’s pretty tentative about where that’s going. Um. You know, the, the theory that are we trying to [00:01:00] run before we can walk? Um, what’s gonna happen when these things inevitably go wrong? Uh, and what are the costs gonna be that are associated with that? ’cause, you know, at the moment we are used to, to claims on turbines that are circa five megawatts. But when we start seeing 15 megawatt turbines falling over. Yeah, it’s, it’s not gonna be a good day at the office. So, um, in the insurance world, that’s the big concern. Certainly from a win perspective at least.  Joel Saxum: Well, I think it’s, it’s a valid, uh, I don’t know, valid bad, dream. Valid, valid risk to be worried about. Well, just simply because of like the, the way, uh, so I’ve been following or been a part of the, that side of the industry for a little while here the last five, six years. Um. You’ve seen The insurance world is young in renewables, to be honest with you. Right. Compared to a lot of other places that like say the Lord Lloyd’s market, they’ve been writing insurance for hundreds of years on certain [00:02:00] things that have, like, we kind of know, we know what the risks are. We, and if it develops something new, it’s not crazily new, but renewables and in wind in specific haven’t been around that long. And the early stuff was like, like you said, right? If a one megawatt turbine goes down, like. That sucks. Yeah. For everybody, right? But it’s not the end of the world. We can, we can make this thing happen. You’re talking, you know, you may have a, you know, your million, million and a half dollars here, $2 million here for a complete failure. And then the business interruption costs as a, you know, with a one megawatt producing machine isn’t, again, it’s not awesome, but it’s not like it, uh, it doesn’t break the books. Right. But then when we’re talking 3, 4, 5, 6. Seven megawatts. We just saw Siemens cesa sell the first of their seven megawatt onshore platforms the other day. Um, that is kind of changing the game and heightening the risk and makes things a little bit more worrisome, especially in light of, I mean, as we scaled just the last five, [00:03:00] 10 years, the amount of. Failures that have been happening. So if you look at that and you start expanding it, that, that, that hockey stick starts to grow. Nathan Davies: Yeah, yeah, of course. And you know, we, we all know that these things sort of happen in cycles, right? It’s, you go, I mean, in, in the insurance world, we go through soft markets. We go through hard markets, um, you know, deductibles come up, the, the clauses, the restrictions, all those things get tighter. Claims reduce. Um, and then you get sort of disruptors come into the market and they start bringing in, you know, challenging rates and they start challenging the big players on deductibles and preferential rates and stuff like that. And, and then you get a softening of the market, um, and then you start seeing the claims around up again. But when you twin that with the rate of development that we see in the renewables worlds, it’s, it’s fraught for all sorts of. Weird and wonderful things happening, and most of them are quite expensive.  Joel Saxum: Where in that cycle are we, in [00:04:00] your opinion right now? So we, like when I first came into the market and I started dealing with insurance, it was very, we kept hearing hardening, market hardening, market hardening market. But not too long ago, I heard from someone else that was like, Hey, the market’s actually getting kind of soft right now. What are your thoughts on that? And, and or may, and maybe we let, let’s precursor that there’s a lot of people that are listening right now that don’t know the difference. What is a hard market? What is a soft market? Can you give us that first?  Nathan Davies: When you’re going through a soft market, it’s, it’s a period where they’ve either been, um, a limited volume of claims or the claim values have been quite small. Um, so, you know, everybody gets. It’s almost like becoming complacent with it, right? It’s like, oh, you know, things are going pretty well. We’re having it. It looks like the operators, it looks like the maintainers are, are doing a pretty good job and they know all of the issues that are gonna be working through in the lifetime of these products. So for the next however many years, we can anticipate that things are gonna gonna go pretty well. But as you see those [00:05:00] deductibles come down, you start getting more of the attritional claims, like the smaller values, um, the smaller downtime periods, all that sort of thing, start coming in as claims. And all of a sudden insurers are like, well, hang on a second. All of a sudden we’ve got loads and loads of claims coming in. Um. All of the premium that we were taking as being bled dry by, by these, these attritional claim. Um, and then you get like a big claim coming. You get a major issue come through, whether it’s, you know, a, a serial issue with a gearbox or a generator or a specific blade manufacturer, and all of a sudden the market starts to change. Um, and insurers are like, well, hang on a second. We’ve got a major problem on our hands here. We’re starting to see more of this, this specific piece of technology being rolled out, um, worldwide. Um, we are in for a lot of potential claims on this specific matter in the future, and therefore we need to protect ourselves. And the way that insurers do that is by [00:06:00] increasing or deductibles, um, increasing their premiums, all that sort of thing. So it’s basically that. Uh, raises the threshold at which a claim can be presented and therefore minimizes the, the outlay for insurers. So that’s sort of this, this cycle that we see. Um, I mean, I can’t, I’ve, I’ve only been in loss adjusting for six years, so I can’t say that I’ve seen, you know, um, multiple cycles. I’ve, I’m probably at the end of my first cycle from a hardening to a softening market. Um. But also, again, I’m not in the underwriting side of things. I’m on the claims side of things, so I own, I’m only seeing it when it’s gone wrong. I don’t know about everything else that the insurance market sees.  Joel Saxum: Yeah, the, the softening part, I think as well from a macro perspective, when there’s a softening market, it tends to bring in more capital. Right. You start to see more, more and more companies coming in saying, Hey, I’ve got, [00:07:00] and when I say companies, I mean other capital holders to beat for insurance, right? Like these, the big ones you see, the big Swiss and German guys come in and going, like, I got, I got $500 million I’ll throw into renewables. It seems like to be a good, pretty good bet right now. And then the market starts to change and then they go, uh, oops. Yeah.  Nathan Davies: And that’s it. You know, you’ve got the, the StoreWatch of the renewable insurance market like your G cubes and, and companies like that who’ve been in the game for a very long time. They’ve got a lot of experience. They’ve been burned. Um, they know what they want to touch and what they don’t want to touch. And then you get. Renewables, everybody wants to be involved. It covers their ESG targets. It’s, it’s a good look to move away from, you know, your, your oil and your coal and all the rest of it. So, of course, companies are gonna come into it. Um, and if they’re not experienced.  Allen Hall: They will get banned. How much reliance do operators have at the moment on insurance? Because it does seem like, uh, Joel and I talk [00:08:00]to a lot of operators that insurance is part of their annual revenue. They depend upon getting paid a certain amount, which then opens up the door to how sort of nitpicky I’ll describe it as the claim. They’ll file. Are you seeing more and more of that as, uh, some of the operators are struggling for cash flow, that there are going after more kind of questionable claims? Um, I think it depends on  Nathan Davies: the size of the operator. So you’ve, you’ve obviously got your, your big players, you’ve got your alls and your rws and all of those sort of guys who, the way that they manage their insurance, they’ve probably got, you know, special purpose vehicles. They’ve got, um, sites or clusters of sites that they manage finances independently. They don’t just have the one big or pot. It’s, it’s, it’s managed sort of subdivisions. Um. Those, those guys, we don’t typically tend to see like a big push for a [00:09:00] payment on account partway through a claim. It’s, it’s typically sort of the smaller end of the scale where you might have, um, an operator that manages a handful of smaller, um, assets. The way that we look at it is if you don’t ask, you don’t get, so when we talk to an insured, it’s like. Present your costs, you know, we’ll review them and it’s, it’s better that you present all of your costs and insurers turn around and say, you’re not eligible for this. You know, that that element of it will be adjusted, um, rather than not present something. And it’s like, well, you know, your, your broker then comes further down the line when they say you could have claimed that element of, of the cost. So, um. Typically that’s the approach that we take is, is present everything and we’ll work through and let you know which elements aren’t claimable.  Joel Saxum: When we’re talking insurance policies, there can be, you know, like an operator, an owner of a turbine asset can have them. Then there is construction policies and [00:10:00] there’s the EPC company might have a policy and ISP may have a policy. So, so many policies because at the end of the day, everybody’s trying to protect themselves. Like, we’re trying to protect the bottom line. Tr that’s what insurance us for, that’s why we’re here. Um, but so, so, so, so gimme a couple things. Like in your opinion as, let’s look, well, I wanna stay in the operator camp right now, say, during a non non-commission policy, a actual operating policy, wind farm is in the ground, we’re moving along. What are some of the things that, from an, from a loss adjuster’s perspective, that a operator should be doing to protect themselves? I mean, besides. Signing an insurance contract. Yes. But is it, is it good record keeping? Is it having spares on site? Is it, what does that look like from your perspective when you walk into something,  Nathan Davies: if you were to take the insurer’s dream operator, that would be somebody who, and you, you’ve kind of hit the nail on the head with a lot of those points, Joel, the, the. The golden [00:11:00] operator would have like a stash of critical spares because the last thing they want to be relying on is, um, an OEM who, you know, they, they’ve, they’ve stopped manufacturing that bit of kit three years ago. They now want to sell you the latest and greatest. It’s 18 months lead time or something like that. Oh yeah, absolutely. And so you are now having to look at potentially refurbishment through. Whether that’s through sort of approved, um, processes or not. Um, you might be looking at, um, sort of, um, aftermarket providers. You know, there, there’s, as soon as you are looking at an aged asset, you are, you are in a really complicated position in terms of your repairability. Um, because, you know, a as we know, you get to sort of that three, five year period after you’ve purchased the product, you’re in real jeopardy of whether or not it’s gonna be. Gonna have that continued support from the original equipment manufacturer. So [00:12:00] critical spares is a really good thing to, it’s, it’s just obviously a really good thing to have. Um, and how you can manage that as well is if you have, um, a customer of sites that are all using the, the same equipment, you could sort of share that between you. There, there could be. Um, so we, we’ve sinned that where, um. An umbrella company has multiple sites, multiple SPVs. Um, they were all constructed at the same sort of time. They’ve got the same transformers, you know, the same switchgear, same infrastructure, and they hold a set of spares that cover these, all these sites. ’cause the last thing you want to do is buy a load of individual components for one site. You are then paying to maintain them, to store them to, you know, there’s, there’s a lot of costs that come with. Along with that, that you, you don’t wanna be covering. If that’s just for the one site and it’s the [00:13:00] eventualities, that may never happen. So if you’ve got multiple sites and you can spread those costs, all of a sudden it’s a lot more, um. Could  Joel Saxum: you see a reality where insurers did that? Right? Where like a, like a, like a consortium of insurance companies gets together and buys, uh, half a dozen sets of blades and generators and stuff that they know are failures that come up, or they have a pool to pull from themselves to, to avoid these massive bi claims. Nathan Davies: Yeah. I mean maybe there’s, maybe there’s the potential for a renewables pool. I mean, it’s always. Complicated. As soon as you start trying to bring sort of multiple companies together with an agreement of that sort of scale, it’s gonna be challenging. But, um, I mean, yeah, in an ideal world, that would be be a great place to be. Um, so critical spares is, that’s, that’s a key thing we, we have seen. So we, we’ve got, um, one account that we work with that they’ve actually got a warehouse full of critical spares. [00:14:00] So they, they have a lot of, um, older turbine models, um, sort of typically, um, 2015 through to, well, yeah, from about 2012 to 2015. Um, these sites were commissioned so they knew there was a, a finite lifetime, uh, replacement blades, generators, gear, boxes, what have you, and it’s like we’ve. A huge number of assets. So what we should do is retain certainly a number of gearboxes and generators that you, we can utilize across, um, the fleet. And obviously they then keep a rolling stock of refurbishment and repairs on those. But they, they basically included in their, their premium spreadsheet, they’ve got all of their individual sites. Then they’ve got a warehouse that is full of all their spares, and that is an inuring asset, is their warehouse full of critical spares. Joel Saxum: So what  Nathan Davies: happens to  Joel Saxum: that  Nathan Davies: person then? Does  Joel Saxum: their premiums go [00:15:00] down? Because they have those spares, they’ve got really low deductibles on their bi. So there’s a business case for it probably, right? Like if you’re sitting there, if you’re, if you’re, you’re an accountant, you can figure that out and say like, if we hold these spares for this fleet, like if you’re, if you’re a fleet, if you have a homogenous fleet, say you’ve got a thousand turbines that are basically all the same model. W you should have centrally located amongst those wind farms, a couple of blade sets, a couple of generators, couple of pitch bearings, couple of this, couple of that. And you can use them operationally if you need to, but it’s there as spares, uh, for insurance cases. ’cause you’ll be able to re reduce your insurance premiums or your insurance deductibles. Allen Hall: That’s remarkable. I don’t know a lot of operators in, at least in the United States that have done that, I’m thinking more of like Australia where it’s hard to get. Parts, uh, you, you probably do have a little bit of a warehouse situation. That’s really interesting because I, I know a lot of operators are thinking about trying to reduce their premiums and simple things like that would, I would imagine it make a huge difference [00:16:00] in what they’re paying each year and that that’s a smart move. I, I wanna ask about the IEC and the role of certification in premiums. What does it mean and how do you look at it as an industry? Uh, one of the things that’s happening right now is there’s a number of, I think some of the major IEC documents in, in our world, in the lightning world are going through revision. Does that, how do, how do you assess that risk that the IEC specs or the sort of the gold standard and you have the certification bodies that are using them to show that the turbines are fit for purpose. Is there a reliance upon them? Does, does it help reduce premiums if there’s an I-E-C-I-I, I’m not even sure how the industry, the insurance industry looks at it. Or is it more of how the turbines perform in the first year or two, is how, what’s gonna really gonna drive the premium numbers? I mean, insofar as  Nathan Davies: I eecs, it’s, that’s a really tough question. It’s, it’s [00:17:00]interesting that you ask that. ’cause um, I mean certainly from the lightning perspective, the, the IEC. We look at on that the blades need to withstand a lightning strike of a known value, but even within that, they, within the IEC, there’s an allowance of like 2%, I think, um, for blade strikes that can still cause damage even if they’re within the rate of capacity of the LPS. Um, so in the insurance world, this is a big gray area because each, um, operator has a, a turbine, uh, has a blade failure because of a lightning strike. They’ll then immediately go to the OEM and say, um, you know, we’ve had had a lightning strike, we’ve had a blade failure. Can you come and repair or replace the blade? Sure, no bother. Um, down the line, we have an insurance claim for this repair or replacement. And insurers are like, well, what’s the lightning data? And if that’s within the [00:18:00] LPS standard, it’s like, well, why have. Why is this not covered under warranty? And, you know, you, your OEMs will always turn around and say, force majeure. Um, it’s, it’s that 2%. So the IEC, even though that’s, you know, it’s, it’s best standards, it still has a degree of allowance that, um, the OEMs can slip through and be like, well this, this falls with insurance. And again, I can only speak for what I’ve seen, but that is. We see, I’d say, um, Lloyd Warwick, we probably see 50 plus notifications a year for blade damage from lightning and, um, almost every time if it’s within the capabilities of the LPX, the OEM or say towards majeure and Atlanta with insurers. Allen Hall: Well, is there a force majeure for gearboxes or generators or transformers? [00:19:00] Is, is there a 2% rule for transformers? I don’t, I don’t think so. Maybe there is, but it is, it, it is a little odd, right, that, that there’s so many things that are happening in the insurance world that rely upon the certification of the turbine and the sort of the expected rates of failure. I have not seen an operator go back and say, we have a 3% rate of, of damage of my transformers, so therefore I wanna file a claim. But that, that doesn’t seem to occur nearly as often as on the lightning side where it’s force majeure is used probably daily, worldwide. How do we think about that? How do we, how do we think about the transformer that fails versus the lightning damage? Are they just considered just two separate things and uncontrollable? Is that how the insurance industry looks at it? If we, if we would  Nathan Davies: talk about transformers. So the fact is that we see on those can vary from, you know, it’s, it’s a minor electrical component that that goes, um, [00:20:00] which is relatively easy to pin down. But then at the other end of the spectrum, you’ve got a fire where it’s. You know, with all, all the will in the world, you could go in and investigate, but you’re not gonna find the cause of that fire. Um, you know, the damage is so great that you, you could probably say, well, the ignition point is there because that’s where the most damages occurred and it’s spread out. But, but how is that occurred? The know, and we, we do have that, that happens not frequently, but um. You know, as an engineer, I, I want to get to the bottom of what’s caused things, but, but all too often we come away from a claim where it’s like we don’t know exactly what’s caused it, but we can’t confirm that it’s excluded in the policy and therefore it, it must be covered and, you know, the claim is valid. Um, so in, in terms of causation and the standards and all the rest of it.  Joel Saxum: It goes to an extent. So this is a, this is another [00:21:00] one. So Alan was talking about lightning and blades. Then we talked about transformers a little bit. I wanna talk about gear boxes for just a second, because gearbox usually, um, in, in my, my experience in, in the wind world, claims wise, it’s pretty black and white. Was it, did it, did it fail? This is how it failed. Okay. Blah, blah, blah. Did was maintenance done at blah? So I heard the other day from someone who was talking about, uh, using CMS. On their, on their gener, on their, uh, gearbox, sorry. So it was an operator said, Hey, we should be, and, and a company coming to them saying, well, you should be monitoring CMS. This is all the good things it can do for you operationally. And the operator, the owner of the turbine said, I don’t want it, because if I know there’s something wrong, then I can’t claim it on insurance if it fails. Does that ring  Nathan Davies: true to you? Part of our process would be to look at the data. Um, so we know nine times out of 10 there is condition [00:22:00] monitoring, there is start out there, there, all this stuff. The operator, um, assistance tools, and if we can look at a gearbox vibration trend. Um, along with, you know, bearing temperature, uh, monitoring and all that sort of thing. And if you can see a trend where the vibrations are increasing, the temperatures are increasing, um, and there’s no operator maintain maintenance intervention, then, you know, if, if you, if you’ve received an alarm to say, Hey, there’s something wrong with me, you should probably come and have a look and you’ve done nothing about it, then. It’s,  Joel Saxum: it’s not great. Okay. So, so that, so that it rings, it kind of in a sense, rings true, right? That what that operator was saying, like the way their mind was working at that stage. ’cause this is, this is during, again, like, so we, Alan and I from the uptime network and just who we are, like we know a ton of people, we know [00:23:00] solutions that are being sold and, and this her about this. And I was like, man, that seems like really shortsighted, but there’s a reality to it that kind of makes sense, right? If they don’t have. I, it, it just seems unethical, right? It seems like if I don’t have the budget to fix this and I don’t wanna look at it, so I’m just waiting for it to fail. I don’t want the notifications so then I can claim it on insurance. ’cause I don’t wanna spend the money to go fix it. Like, seems, seems not cool.  Nathan Davies: Yeah. So the, I mean the, the process, the process of the insurance claim, if, if you want to look at it in almost an over simplistic way, um, a claim is notified. Um, to trigger an operational policy, there needs to be proof of damage, right? So in this instance, your gearbox has failed, whether that’s gear, teeth have have been pulled off, you’ve had a major bearing failure, whatever it is. So there’s your damage. So insurers are now [00:24:00] engaged. Um, the rules of the game. It’s now on insurers to prove that whatever has caused that damage is an exclusion. So in this instance, um, you know, that might be wear and tear, gradual deterioration, uh, could be rust. Um, and, and part of that is poor workmanship. Um, so if they have knowingly like. Cover their shut, their eyes covered, their ears just ignored this gearbox slowly crunching its way to, its, its inevitable death. You know, it, it’s not reasonably unforeseen. It’s not an unpredictable event. This was going to happen if you can see that, that trend, um, towards the failure, um, and in that light, it would, in theory be an uninsured event. Um, but [00:25:00] we know that. 90 plus percent of owner operators have, at least on their drive train, they have some sort of condition monitoring, whether that’s, you know, temperature sensors, vibration sensors, uh, noise sensors, you know, all that sort of stuff. We know that it’s there, but what’s really interesting in the claims process is. The first thing that we’ll ask is, where’s your proof of damage? Let’s see your alarm data, your scarda data, all this sort of thing.  Joel Saxum: Does the RFI get responded to?  Nathan Davies: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, and it’s like, oh no, we, you know, we don’t have the SCARDA data. And we’ve had instances where a company, a company had turned around and said, oh, we don’t have any SCARDA data for the time of this event. It’s like, oh, that’s interesting. And worked our way through the process. And eventually insurers were like, you know what? We’re, we’re gonna deny this one. We’re not. Things aren’t adding up, we are not happy with it. Um, and all of a sudden out the woodwork, we get scar data, we get the, the insured’s, um, failure report, [00:26:00] which I mean, there was computational flow dynamics. There were, there were like all sorts of weird and wonderful data that had been thrown into the, this failure analysis. And it’s like, well, you’ve done our jobs for us. Why did you not just hand this over at the beginning? We know that this stuff exists, so. Just, just playing, playing dumb itch. It’s just a frustration really.  Allen Hall: It does seem like the operators think of loss adjustment in insurance companies as having a warehouse full of actuaries with mechanical calculators and they’re back there punching numbers in and doing these calculations on. I lost this gearbox from this manufacturer at, at this timeframe, and, and I understand all this data. That’s not how it works, but I do think there’s this, uh, assumption that that. Uh, there’s a in wind energy that because of the scale of it, there’s a lot of, of backend research that’s happening. I, I don’t think that’s true, or, I mean, you can tell me if it’s true or not, [00:27:00] but I don’t think so. But now, in the world of AI where I can start to accumulate large sets of data and I have the ability to process it with just a single person sitting in front of a laptop, is it gonna get a little harder for some of these claims that have Mercury, just really shady histories to get? Approved.  Nathan Davies: I, I think that’s inevitable. You know, whenever we go and speak to an insurer, you know, insurers are always interested, are interested in what’s the latest claims data, what are the trends that we’re seeing, all this sort of thing. So we’ll sit down with them for an hour and a half and we’ll say, oh, this was interesting. This is what went well, this is what didn’t go so well. And then they always sort of grab us just as we’re about to leave and we’ve, we’ve said our goodbyes, and they’re like, so you guys have a. Claims database. Right? Every time. Yep. And it’s like, how’d you feel about, about sharing your data? And it’s, it’s every insurer without failure. They’re like, let’s see your claims [00:28:00] database. Okay. Right. So we can share, we can share some information. Obviously it needs to be sanitized. We don’t want to provide identifying information, all that sort of stuff. You’re looking at thousands and thousands of lines of data. And the big problem that we have with any database like this is, it’s only as good as the data that’s been entered, right? So if, if every claims handler, if every loss adjuster is entering their own data into this database, my interpretation of, of a root cause failure, maybe different to somebody else’s. So what we are gonna start seeing in the next year to three years. Is the application of AI to these databases, to to sort of finesse the poor quality data that’s been entered by multiple, you know, it’s, it’s too many cooks. Spoiled broth. All of these people have entered their own interpretation of data, will start to see AI finesse [00:29:00] that, and all of a sudden the output of it will be. Really, really powerful, much better risk models. Yeah. And I think that’s, that’s inevitable in the next two to five years. Um, and I think insurers will, but again, the, we go back to the cyclic thing. So the, the data that we have is the claims that we’ve had over the past however many years, but all the while that the OEMs are manufacturing. New gearboxes, new generators, new blades. We don’t know about the problems that are gonna come out the woodwork. We can tell you about failures that might happen on aged assets, but we can’t tell you about what’s gonna fail in the future. Allen Hall: Well, is there an appetite to do what the automobile world is doing on the automobile insurance? Have basically a plugin to monitor how the driver is doing the State Farm drive safe and [00:30:00] save. Yeah. Your little black box is, is that where eventually this all goes? Is that every turbine’s gonna have a little black box for the insurance company to monitor the asset on some large scale, but then that allows you then to basically to assess properly what the rates should be based on the actual. Data coming from the actual turbines so that you, you can get a better view of what’s happening.  Nathan Davies: I mean, it’s challenging because obviously you can only get so much from, from that monitoring data. So arguably that’s, that’s like the scarda data. But then there’s, there’s the multiple other inputs that we’re looking at. I’d say the vast majority of claims come from some form of human intervention. And how do you record that? Human intervention.  Allen Hall: Right? You, it’s like getting an oil change in your car. If the guy forgets to put the oil plug in. Pretty much you’re, you’re gonna get a mount down the road and engine’s gone. [00:31:00] And that’s, that may be the, that may be ultimately where this all goes. Is that a lot of it’s just human error.  Nathan Davies: Yeah. It’s, you know, we, we can take the, the operating data, you can start to finesse maintenance reports and, and try to plug that into this data stream. But you can guarantee, like you can absolutely bet your bottom dollar, but when there’s an insurance claim and it’s like. That one key document that you need that will answer that question, nobody knows  Allen Hall: where it is. This has been a great discussion and Nathan, we need to have you back on because you provide such great insights as to what’s happening in the insurance world and and the broader wind energy world and. That’s where I like talking to you so much. Nathan, how do people get a hold of you? Can they reach you via LinkedIn?  Nathan Davies: Yeah, I’m on LinkedIn. Um, you can also find me, um, on the Lloyd Warwick website. Sounds great.  Allen Hall: Nathan, thank you so much for being on  Nathan Davies: the podcast. Right. Appreciate it. Thank you so much [00:32:00] guys.

Can the grid keep up with the future of energy?PWR-HR, a segment of the Energy Espresso Podcast, is back, this time live from Daniel Energy Partners BBQ in Midland, with hosts Dave Bosco and Travis Simmering setting the stage before diving into the future of the grid.Joining them are Paddy Finn, Co-founder, CEO & CTO of VIOTAS, and Del Hilber, Managing Director of VIOTAS Texas, as they break down as they break down key topics like demand-side solutions, flexible industrial loads, distributed generation, and data center growth—and what it all means for grid reliability in the ERCOT market.Tune in now!00:00 Introduction to Energy Espresso Podcast00:45 Live from the DEP BBQ in Midland, Texas01:43 Special Guests: Paddy Finn and Del Hilber02:16 Understanding TIS and Its Market Impact03:44 The Importance of Customer Relationships07:00 Technical Insights and Innovations17:31 Global Market Strategies and Expansion24:04 Building a Resilient Energy Portfolio24:18 The Role of Renewables in Texas24:47 Technological Advancements and Team Expertise25:59 Customer Trust and Flexibility26:28 The Future of Open-Source Data in Energy29:48 Challenges and Opportunities in Grid Management35:15 Regulatory Changes and Market Dynamics44:28 Concluding Thoughts and Future Discussions

Happy New Year energy nerdsAs tradition demands (and lawyers insist), the first episode of the year is the annual ritual where Gerard, Laurent, and Michael boldly predict the future of the energy transition… and then publicly roast themselves for last year's bad calls.Before unleashing our 2026 Predictions, we do a mandatory rewind to the crystal-ball disasters of 2025: The 2025 prophecy graveyard:US oil production down in 2025 (MB — bold, brave… wrong)Oil at $40/bbl in 2025 (GR — oof)Geopolitics + broken supply chains + energy chaos = a better, more innovative world (LS — still hoping)A bloodbath for hydrogen in transportation (MB — disturbingly accurate)Record installs: Solar 700GW, EVs 20m, Batteries 200GWh (spot on)The death of all things labelled ESG, Climate, and Carbon (LS — prematurely optimistic)Scorecard: Gerard absolutely nailed Silver: from $30/oz to $60/oz in 18 months. BP technically survived 2025… but welcomed a new CEO, so partial credit at best.Michael wins overall, which he will remind us of repeatedly. After heroic levels of co-host sabotage, Laurent loses again, as is now canon.Our 2026 Predictions:

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Allen delivers the 2025 state of the wind industry. For the first time, wind and solar produced more electricity than coal worldwide. The US added 36% more wind capacity than last year, Australia’s market hit $2 billion, and China extended its 25-year streak of double-digit growth. But 2025 also brought challenges: the Trump administration froze offshore wind projects, Britain paid billions to curtail turbines, and global wind growth hit its lowest rate in two decades. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes’ YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Allen Hall: 2025, the year the wind industry will never forget. Let me tell you about a year of records and reversals of triumphs and a bunch of turbulence. First, the good news. Renewable energy has done something historic for the first time ever. Wind and solar produce more electricity than coal worldwide. The energy think tank embers as global electricity. Demand grew 2.6% in the first half of the year. Solar generation jumped by 31%, wind rose nearly 8%. Together they covered 83% of all new demand. Coal share of global electricity fell to 33.1%. Renewables rose to 34.3. A [00:01:00]pivotal moment they called it. And in the United States, turbines kept turning wood. McKinsey and the American Clean Power Association report America will add more than seven gigawatts of wind this year. That is 36% more than last year in the five year outlook. 46 gigawatts of new capacity through 2029. Even Arkansas by its first utility scale wind project online through Cordio crossover Wind, the powering market remains strong. 18 projects will drive 2.5 gigawatts of capacity additions over the next three years. And down under the story is equally bright. Australia’s wind energy market reached $2 billion in 2024 by. 2033 is expected to reach $6.7 billion a growth rate of nearly 15% per year. In July, Australian regulators streamlined permitting for wind farms, and in September remote mining operations signed [00:02:00] long-term wind power agreements while the world was building. China was dominating when power output in China is on track for more than 10% growth for the 25th year in a row. That’s right, 25 years in a row. China now accounts for more than 41% of all global wind power production a record. And China’s wind component exports up more than 20%. This year, over $4 billion shipped mainly to Europe and Asia, but 2025 was not smooth sailing, as we all know. In fact, global wind generation is on track for its smallest growth rate in more than 20 years. Four straight months of year over year. Declines in Europe, five months of declines in North America and even Asia registered rare drops in September and October. The policy wind shifted too in the United States. The Trump administration froze offshore wind project work in the Atlantic. The interior [00:03:00] Department directed five large scale projects off the East Coast to suspend activities for at least 90 days. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management cited classified national security information. That’s right. Classified information. Sure. Kirk Lippold, the former commander of the USS Coal. Ask the question on everyone’s mind. What has changed in the threat environment? Through his knowledge, nothing. Democratic. Governors of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New York issued a joint statement. They called the pause, a lump of dirty coal for the holiday season, for American workers, for consumers, for investors. Meanwhile, in Britain, another kind of problem emerged the cost of turning off wind farms when the grid cannot cope, hit 1.5 billion pounds. This year, octopus Energy, Britain’s biggest household supplier is tracking it payments to Wind farms to switch off 380 [00:04:00]million pounds. The cost of replacing that wasted power with. Gas 1.08 billion pounds. Sam Richards of Britain remade called it a catastrophic failure of the energy system. Households are paying the price. He said, we are throwing away British generated electricity and firing up expensive gas plants instead. In Europe, the string of dismal wind power auctions also continued some in Germany and Denmark received no bids at all. Key developers pushed for faster permitting and better auction terms. Orsted and Vestas led the charge. And in Japan soaring cost estimates cause Mitsubishi to pull out of three offshore projects. Projects that were slated to start operations by 2030. Gone. The Danish shore Adapting Ted, the world’s largest offshore wind developer sold a 55% stake in its greater Chiang two offshore Wind Farm in Taiwan. The Buyer [00:05:00] Life Insurance Company Cafe, the price around $789 million. With that deal, Ted has signed divestments, totaling 33 billion Danish crowns during 2025. The company is trying to restore investor confidence amid rising costs, supply chain disruptions, and uncertainty from American policy shifts. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency is sounding the alarm director, Fadi Beal says Solar will account for 80% of renewable capacity growth through the end of the decade. And that sounds about right. So it’s got a bunch of catch up to do, but policymakers need to pay close attention. Supply chain, security grid integration challenges and the rapid rise of renewables is putting increasing pressure on electricity systems worldwide. Curtailment and negative price events are appearing in more markets, and the agency is calling for urgent [00:06:00] investments in grid energy storage and flexible generation. And what about those tariffs? We keep reading about wood McKenzie projects. Tariffs will drive up American turbine costs in 2026 in total US onshore wind capital expenditure is projected to increase 5% through 2029. US wind turbine pricing is experiencing obviously unprecedented uncertainty. Domestic manufacturing over capacity would normally push down prices, but tariff exposure on raw materials is pushing them up. And that’s by design of course. So where does this leave us? The numbers tell the story. Renewables overtook Coal. America will install 36% more turbines. This year, Australia’s market is booming. China continues. Its 25 year streak of double digit growth, but wind generation growth worldwide is at its lowest in two decades. And policy reversals in America have stalled. [00:07:00] Offshore development and Britain is paying billions to turn off turbines because the grid cannot handle the power. Europe’s auctions are struggling and Japan’s developers are pulling back and yet. The turbines keep turning. You see, wind energy has had good years and bad years, but 20 25, 20 25 may be one of the worst. The toxic Stew Reuters called it major policy reversals, corporate upheaval, subpar generation in key markets, and yet the industry sees reasons to expect improvement changes to auction incentives, supply chain adjustments, growing demand for power from all sources. The sheer scale of China’s expansion means global wind production will likely keep hitting new highs, even if growth grinds to a halt in America, even if it stays weak. In Europe, 2025 was a year of records and reversals. The thing to remember through all of this [00:08:00] is wind power is low cost power. It is not a nascent industry. And it is time to deliver more electricity, more consistency. Everyone within the sound of my voice is making a difference. Keep it up. You are changing the future for the better. 2025 was a rough year and I’m looking forward to 2026 and that’s the state of the wind industry for December 29th, 2025. Have a great new year.

Send us a textClimate change is a global problem—but climate capital doesn't flow globally.In this episode of FUTUREPROOF., Jeremy sits down with Lassor Feasley, co-founder and CEO of Renewables.org, to unpack why some of the highest-impact climate solutions on Earth remain dramatically underfunded.Renewables.org applies a Kiva-style crowdfunding model to distributed solar projects across the Global South. Individuals can invest as little as $25 into no-interest loans that fund solar installations—and are repaid monthly over five years, allowing capital to be recycled again and again.Lassor explains why:A dollar invested in Global South solar can deliver up to 5x the carbon impact of a comparable U.S. projectTraditional climate fintech and ESG models break down in frontier marketsRepayment isn't just financial—it's proof of impactDesign, not just technology, determines whether climate solutions scaleThis conversation goes beyond solar panels to explore systems, incentives, trust, and the future of climate finance—and why everyday individuals may be better positioned than institutions to fund the energy transition where it matters most.If climate change is a race against time, this episode asks a harder question: are we deploying capital where it actually counts?

The clean energy transition isn't just about swapping fossil fuels for renewables, it's about building a new energy system built for the future. In this episode, we speak with Tim Montague, solar developer, clean-tech advisor, and host of The Clean Power Hour. We'll discuss the realities of the energy transition, the current state of battery storage, the growing issue of solar panel end-of-life and recycling, and the environmental footprint of mining the critical minerals needed for EVs and batteries. The conversation also tackles how AI is reshaping energy demand and grid resilience, and what it will take to build a cleaner, smarter power system for generations ahead.

With the renewable energy transition underway in Australia, the higher than expected uptake of solar panels has human rights groups concerned about links to Uyghur forced labour in the supply chain. As Australia looks into developing its own solar panel industry, rights groups say government and industry should work to ensure the clean energy transition isn't at the cost of freedom. - ایک ایسے وقت جب آسٹریلیا اپنی مقامی شمسی پینل صنعت کے قیام پر غور کر رہا ہے انسانی حقوق کے گروپس کا کہنا ہے کہ حکومت اور صنعت کو یہ یقینی بنانا چاہیے کہ شمسی پینلز کی صنعت کاری ورکرز کی آزادی اور انسانی حقوق کی قیمت پر نہ ہو۔

Despite endless financial difficulties, Argentina has seen a remarkable increase in clean energy over the past decade. It has gone from practically zero to almost 18% of its electricity sourced from renewables. In doing so, Argentina has overcome a challenge faced by many countries that are considered uninvestable by major financial institutions. Sebastian Kind, former undersecretary at the ministry of energy in Argentina, joins Akshat Rathi on Zero to tell the story of Argentina’s renewables blitz. Explore further: Sebastian’s organisation, RELP: https://www.relp.ngo/ Sebastian’s TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACC5KCPRt_U Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Sommer Saadi, Mohsis Andam, Sharon Chen and Laura Millan. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

London-based energy giant BP announced on Wednesday it was appointing Meg O'Neill as CEO starting on April 1. The executive, who has been at the head of Australian group Woodside Energy for the past four years, is expected to focus her efforts on the company's core oil and gas activities in a bid to catch up with rivals. Also in this edition: YouTube gains the rights to broadcast the Oscars ceremony starting in 2029, underlining streaming's increasing power in Hollywood. 

Is the clean energy revolution happening faster than we think? In this episode of the Everything Electric Podcast, Robert Llewellyn sits down with Scott Cooney, co-founder of CleanTechnica, for a deep dive into the global shift towards a cleaner future. From his home in Hawaii, Scott shares unique insights on why the US lost its early lead in clean tech to China, and why he remains incredibly optimistic about the future. They discuss the mind-boggling scale of Chinese manufacturing, the "inevitability" of technological solutions like solid-state batteries, and why your next stove might have a battery inside it.  Plus, we look at the incredible "human-centred" design of electric school buses that are solving more than just pollution, and why data centers might not be the energy disaster everyone fears.  00:00 - Intro: Hawaii, Sydney, and the CleanTechnica Connection 02:28 - Why Hawaii is the Perfect Lab for Clean Energy (High Gas Prices) 04:29 - The Shift: How Silicon Valley Started It, but China is Winning It 09:07 - California's Economic Boom: The 5th Largest Economy Run on Renewables 13:19 - The UK's Secret Success: How Offshore Wind Replaced Coal 15:55 - The "No-Brainer" of Solid State Batteries & Tech Evolution 20:00 - Robotaxis & Waymo: Why Autonomous Driving Feels "Inevitable" 28:39 - The "Zoom" Electric School Bus: Solving Pollution & Bullying? 36:04 - Data Centers & AI: Why Solar Will Solve the Energy Demand Crisis 40:40 - The Future of Road Tax: How Do We Pay for Roads Without Gas Tax? 46:02 - The BYD Explosion: From Unknown to 3rd Biggest Automaker 49:50 - Smart Homes: Fridges and Stoves with Batteries?! 55:40 - Electric Ships: Batteries are replacing massive diesel engines 58:30 - The Electric Home Show: Bill McKibben & Earth Day in Hawaii Why not come and join us at our next Everything Electric expo: https://everythingelectric.show Check out our sister channel Everything Electric CARS: https://www.youtube.com/@fullychargedshow Support our StopBurningStuff campaign:  https://www.patreon.com/STOPBurningStuff Become an Everything Electric Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fullychargedshow  Buy the Fully Charged Guide to Electric Vehicles & Clean Energy : https://buff.ly/2GybGt0 Subscribe for episode alerts and the Everything Electric newsletter: https://fullycharged.show/zap-sign-up/ Visit: https://FullyCharged.Show Find us on X: https://x.com/Everyth1ngElec Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/officialeverythingelectric To partner, exhibit or sponsor at our award-winning expos email: commercial@fullycharged.show Everything Electric SYDNEY - Sydney Olympic Park 6th, 7th & 8th March 2026 EE NORTH (Harrogate) - 8th & 9th May 2026 EE WEST (Cheltenham) - 12th & 13th June 2026 EE GREATER LONDON (Twickenham) - 11th & 12th Sept 2026 #fullychargedshow #everythingelectricshow #homeenergy #cleanenergy #battery #electriccars #electric-vehicles-uk

Will artificial intelligence reshape the power grid, or will the inertia and complexity of today's infrastructure slow progress—or even redefine how large language models, chips, and datacenters are designed and located?  To meet the exponential rise in energy demand, parts of the industry have taken shortcuts—rapidly adding behind-the-meter capacity through open-cycle gas turbines - OCGT (such as the Titan 350 from Caterpillar) with little regard for environmental regulations. The mantra seems to be speed at any cost.  Is the AI boom we are witnessing justified—or sustainable? From a technological standpoint, certainly yes: AI capability is roughly doubling every seven months. But from a financial perspective, it is harder to defend—given the sky-high valuations, credit fuelled growth and mounting losses at many of the sector's biggest players.  The bigger question is what all this means for the energy system itself. How will AI be powered? What will it do to the cost of energy and the shape of our infrastructure? Will it accelerate—or hinder—the energy transition?  Hope is powerful—but it can also be blind. Between AI's explosive growth and the traditional energy system's entrenched realities, who will bear the cost?  These are the questions Laurent and Gerard pose to Andrew Perry, Director of the Energy Transition and Environment business unit at Faculty.ai, where he leads AI-driven innovation in the energy sector.   We have a heated debate, trying to honestly lay out the dilemmas in front of the industry. More insights in this excellent research by the FThttps://ig.ft.com/ai-power/Today's show is supported by the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt. The BMW Foundation unites leaders from diverse sectors to develop solutions that foster an innovative economy and a future-proof society. A key focus is "Energy Transition & Climate Change," where the Foundation drives "International collaboration to accelerate the energy transition." With rising energy demands from AI and data centers, new partnerships, effective collaboration, and the exchange of science-based solutions and strategies are essential. That's why the BMW Foundation supports this podcast and brings these discussions to global stages by hosting the Energy Security Hub at the Munich Security Conference 2026, streaming live February 12–14. Learn more at www.bmw-foundation.org 

Subscribe to receive transcripts by email. Read along with this episode.For 15 years, the Dallas-based climate conference the EarthX conference has created space where fossil fuel executives and environmental activists, Republican appropriations chairs and Democratic climate hawks, find common ground. The organization targets three core stakeholders: the corporate world, policymakers, and investors seeking startups where environmental solutions are baked into the bottom line. Peter Simek, EarthX's CEO, explains how reframing climate action around shared values—stewardship, economic opportunity, and love of the land—unlocks support that crisis messaging alone cannot reach.The doom story doesn't sell, Simek explained. “We're not motivated as a species by doomsday language. It puts people in fight-or-flight mode.” He points out how climate became an identity issue, tangled up in culture-war debates over hamburgers and gas-powered trucks, when the real conversation should center on clean air, clean water, and protecting the places we love. “The EPA and the Clean Air and Clean Water Act were passed during the Nixon administration,” he notes. “There are ways to message this that appeals across lines.”Simek bets heavily on bottom-up action as EarthX works to build bridges. States, cities, and private capital often move faster than federal mandates, he argues, and they're harder to reverse with a single executive order. Texas leads the nation in renewable energy deployment because wind and solar make bottom-line sense. “Even as there's a policy turn against it, there's still the driving reality that solar and wind are viable energy sources,” he says. A new event in 2026, the EarthX Institute, will focus on two policy priorities: nuclear energy, where bipartisan consensus is growing, and urban biodiversity.Whether conversations at forums like EarthX translate into policy velocity that matches the pace of climate impacts remains to be seen. Simek says he stays focused on tracking downstream results, specifically the investments funded, the coalitions built, and the policies incubated from the local level up. “It's about finding those ways in which there's common sense, common ground, common values,” he says. “Elements to talking about nature and the environment that no one can really disagree with.”Learn more about EarthX and its upcoming April 2026 conference at earthx.org.Subscribe to Sustainability In Your Ear on iTunesFollow Sustainability In Your Ear on Spreaker, iHeartRadio, or YouTube

Geopower, Energy Realpolitik with Todd Royal – Renewables have not ushered in prosperity—they have destroyed competitiveness, destabilized grids, and accelerated geopolitical decline. Europe is the test case, and the results are catastrophic. This episode makes the argument plainly: Renewables are dead. Fossil fuels remain dominant. And the nations that accept this reality will...

Wasif Latif, Co-Founder, President & Chief Investment Officer at Sarmaya Partners, stops by the Energy News Beat and Energy Impacts Podcasts - With Stu Turley, and David Blackmon for an in-depth look at the global oil and gas financial markets. 1. The performance and investment strategy of the Sarmaya Partners ETF called "Lens". Wasif Latif, the co-founder and CIO of Sarmaya Partners, discusses how the Lens ETF has performed very well since its launch, up over 50%, by investing in stocks and commodities related to the "return to tangibles" investment theme.2. The outlook for the energy and commodities markets, including oil, natural gas, copper, and precious metals like gold and silver. Latif believes there is a looming supply deficit in these commodities due to underinvestment, which will lead to higher prices in the coming years.3. The challenges and limitations of the renewable energy transition, particularly the reliance on technologies like lithium-ion batteries that have significant constraints. Latif argues the transition to renewable energy will take much longer than commonly projected.4. The geopolitical tensions and supply disruptions impacting energy and commodity markets, such as the recent incidents involving tankers and oil platforms. Latif discusses how these short-term events are often "noise" that don't change the underlying supply and demand fundamentals.5. The broader macroeconomic and policy environment, including high inflation, rising interest rates, and increased government intervention, which Latif believes will be favorable for tangible assets and commodities over the long term.00:00 Intro Return to Tangibles01:11 ETF LENS is by Sarmaya Partners03:35 Is the world oversupplied with oil06:10 Geopolitical Risk to Oil07:09 Shale Boom and Break-even for Oil10:06 Companies looking for exploration locations11:38 Policy impacting prices16:58 Market Cycles20:21 Markets like Copper23:42 Global Markets and deindustrialization27:15 Grid complexities of AC vs DC28:56 Renewables impact on Energy37:30 Investing and day trading 41:45 Recycling and Copper48:20 Nuclear and AIFollow Wasif on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/wasiflatif/Check out https://sarmayapartners.com/Check out the Substack: https://sarmayakar.substack.com/Check everything David Blackmon on Blackmon.substack.com

Wasif Latif, Co-Founder, President & Chief Investment Officer at Sarmaya Partners, stops by the Energy News Beat and Energy Impacts Podcasts - With Stu Turley, and David Blackmon for an in-depth look at the global oil and gas financial markets. 1. The performance and investment strategy of the Sarmaya Partners ETF called "Lens". Wasif Latif, the co-founder and CIO of Sarmaya Partners, discusses how the Lens ETF has performed very well since its launch, up over 50%, by investing in stocks and commodities related to the "return to tangibles" investment theme.2. The outlook for the energy and commodities markets, including oil, natural gas, copper, and precious metals like gold and silver. Latif believes there is a looming supply deficit in these commodities due to underinvestment, which will lead to higher prices in the coming years.3. The challenges and limitations of the renewable energy transition, particularly the reliance on technologies like lithium-ion batteries that have significant constraints. Latif argues the transition to renewable energy will take much longer than commonly projected.4. The geopolitical tensions and supply disruptions impacting energy and commodity markets, such as the recent incidents involving tankers and oil platforms. Latif discusses how these short-term events are often "noise" that don't change the underlying supply and demand fundamentals.5. The broader macroeconomic and policy environment, including high inflation, rising interest rates, and increased government intervention, which Latif believes will be favorable for tangible assets and commodities over the long term.00:00 Intro Return to Tangibles01:11 ETF LENS is by Sarmaya Partners03:35 Is the world oversupplied with oil06:10 Geopolitical Risk to Oil07:09 Shale Boom and Break-even for Oil10:06 Companies looking for exploration locations11:38 Policy impacting prices16:58 Market Cycles20:21 Markets like Copper23:42 Global Markets and deindustrialization27:15 Grid complexities of AC vs DC28:56 Renewables impact on Energy37:30 Investing and day trading 41:45 Recycling and Copper48:20 Nuclear and AIFollow Wasif on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/wasiflatif/Check out https://sarmayapartners.com/Check out the Substack: https://sarmayakar.substack.com/Check out the full Transcript on https://energynewsbeat.co/and https://theenergynewsbeat.substack.com/

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Gerard is on stage with Adele Zhao - Trina Solar and Thomas Raffeiner- The Mobility House at the Smarter E Conference.In a conversation hosted by Jonathan Gifford, they discuss about the future for the intersection of e-mobility and renewable energy.  The conversation has been released as an Episode of “Powering Through” entitled The Resilience of Renewables. Participants take a closer look at the power of the e-mobility revolution, and what is needed to continue to push it forward. The uptake of e-mobility in Europe and China is discussed, along with the implications for energy storage and industry.Ultimately, the promise of a vast, mobile fleet of batteries is presented – offering a hopeful vision for emissions-free mobility and energy provision.  Main topics:What is the status of e-mobility adoption and implications for car makersHow EVs can interact with the grid and the promise for energy securityWhat Global EV-Battery Cooperation Might Look LikeYou can watch it on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=M2qM58Vz9Rc  

Renewables' advocates are fond of linking solar and wind with the power needs of data centers. Superficially, the marriage of new technology and new energy seems inevitable. Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) is just one example of media outlets that are telling this story (see Power Hungry Data Centers Are Driving Green Energy Demand). Inconveniently, […]

Interest and investment in renewables is one of the fastest-growing areas of M&A in the current climate. For lawyers practising in this space, this brings various challenges in wading through a shifting landscape, but also myriad opportunities to best serve clients. In this episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Holding Redlich partners Jeanne Vallade and Dhanushka Jayawardena about their respective work at the BigLaw firm, why renewables is such a fast-growing space for M&A, the tax implications, the headline challenges being experienced, political influences, making such developments work for foreign investors, and ensuring best practice in a fast-moving landscape. The trio also delves into early and integrated due diligence, following the life cycle of a project, the popularity of battery energy storage systems, regulatory hurdles to grapple with, how best to advise clients in the current climate, what excites them about their work in this space moving forward, and "bringing a little piece of [a] complex puzzle to the bigger, bigger picture". If you like this episode, show your support by rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, X and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email editor@lawyersweekly.com.au

As the UN's Secretary-General António Guterres said in July this year, “Now, we are on the cusp of a new era. Fossil fuels are running out of road. The sun is rising on a clean energy age.” Renewables and nuclear did reach an historic 40% share of global electricity generation in 2024, with renewables alone supplying roughly 32% of global power for the first time. But the length of this road and the speed we are travelling down it, will determine the success of the world's energy transition. In this episode we explore where we are in the energy transition, the challenges, technologies and the policies. Joining Tom as guests are Elisabeth Cremona, Senior Energy Analyst for Europe at Ember, Massimo Battaini, CEO of Prysmian and María Mendiluce, CEO of We Mean Business Coalition.Sources: FT ResourcesThis content is paid for by Prysmian and is produced in partnership with the Financial Times' Commercial Department. The views and claims expressed are those of the guests alone and have not been independently verified by The Financial Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1/4. Market Adaptations, Fossil Fuels, and Physical Limits of Renewables — Terry Anderson (Editor) — Andersonintroduces Adapt and Be Adept, examining market-driven responses to climate change while applying Pascal's Wageranalytical framework. The book emphasizes the necessity of localized control in climate adaptation strategies, exemplified by Alaskan Native Villages implementing place-based solutions. Anderson details Mark Mills' argument that hydrocarbons remain essential to industrial civilization due to the extreme economic costs and insurmountable physical limitations of renewable energy sources, particularly regarding solar and wind power generation, compounded by critical battery storage capacity constraints. 1968

For much of the past two decades, renewable energy investment was viewed as a core infrastructure play—favoured by funds and long-term capital seeking predictable, government-backed cash flows. Yet the gradual phase-out of subsidies and the increasing exposure of renewables to wholesale power price volatility have eroded that stability.Are investors misreading the new market dynamics? And can renewable portfolios be optimized under a fundamentally different investment logic?FlexPower, founded in 2022 in Hamburg and, as of October 2025, fully owned by Citadel, the global hedge fund, represents this shift. The firm operates at the intersection of short-term power trading and battery optimization, deploying data-driven strategies across European markets.FlexPower exemplifies how agile, technology-led firms are reshaping power markets by leveraging algorithmic trading, high-frequency data analytics, and real-time dispatch optimization. Their approach contrasts sharply with traditional infrastructure investors who continue to rely on fixed offtake agreements and policy support.In conversation with FLexPower Managing Director Amani Joas, Laurent and Gerard examine how algorithmic trading and hedge fund participation are redefining price formation in grids increasingly dominated by intermittent renewables. The discussion highlights a structural divergence: while incumbents pursue regulatory certainty, new entrants monetize volatility itself—treating renewable assets as dynamic trading platforms rather than passive infrastructure.The energy transition is no longer just a technological revolution—it's a financial one.

When Matt Sykes took over JD Ross Europe, he inherited a £4M ledger crisis, a merged brand that wasn't working, and a team that needed a complete reset.In this episode, we walk through how that crisis forced a full pivot into renewables and how the business grew into a multi-country powerhouse across France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and beyond.You can connect with Matt here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sykesmatthew/-------------------------Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2jmoIfX7sYQ-------------------------Sponsors - Claim your exclusive savings from our partners with the links below:Sourcewhale - Check Out Sourcewhale & Claim Your Exclusive Offer Here.Raise - Check Out Raise & Claim Your Exclusive Offer Here.-------------------------Extra Stuff:Learn more about our online skills development platform Hector here: https://bit.ly/47hsaxeJoin 6,000+ other recruiters levelling up their skills with our Limitless Learning Newsletter here: https://limitless-learning.thisishector.com/subscribe-------------------------Get in touch:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hishemazzouz/-------------------------

The latest Big Picture reports are out and cover a wide range of topics from financial markets to supply chains and onward to technology and AI. Two of the authors, Lindsey Hall and Chris Rogers, join host Eric Hanselman to talk about sustainability, supply chains and AI. These are tightly interwoven and their dependencies spill out into geopolitics, as well. Sustainability conversations have focused on climate adaptation and resilience. Climate risks are growing and yet only 35% of businesses have adaptation plans in place. The urgent demands for AI infrastructure are consuming both energy and the materials to build data centers. Meeting those needs is shifting sustainability priorities for the companies looking to deploy AI, as well as energy focus. Renewables are still a key part of energy plans, but they've moved to an all-of-the-above approach to fuel AI-driven consumption levels. It's been what could be called an un-fun year in supply chain. Uncertainty has become the new certainty. Changes in tariff policies have had the side effect of pushing the affected countries closer together. That's led to reshoring efforts, which have seen particular growth in ASEAN countries. One of complexities of this shift is that labor forces are now competing with manufacturing automation and robotics, rather than skills and cost differentials in different regions. The rise of agentic AI is only increasing pressure on infrastructure and energy supplies as it accelerates operational velocity.  More S&P Global Content: Insights in Motion: See the Big Picture How data, AI and standards can help address sustainability challenges 5 Climate Week NYC takeaways setting the scene for decision-making in 2026 Three Tools for Trump Tariffs 2.0 Climate costs are rising, but few companies have an adaptation plan All Things Sustainable Podcast Next in Tech podcast: Agentic Customer Experience CERAWeek Conference For S&P Global Subscribers: Agents are already driving workplace impact and agentic AI adoption – Highlights from VotE: AI & Machine Learning Benchmarking digital maturity: Are businesses ready for agentic AI? – Highlights from VotE: Customer Experience & Commerce Pace of AI agent advancement could spur M&A in the sales automation market Big Picture Report: 2026 AI Outlook – Unleashing agentic potential Credits: Host/Author: Eric Hanselman     Guests: Lindsey Hall, Chris Rogers Producer/Editor: Feranmi Adeoshun Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Kyra Smith

This week on the podcast, we dig into a new report on renewable growth in Canada, “Canada's Renewable Energy Market Outlook 2025”, a joint study by Dunsky Energy + Climate Advisors and the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA). To unpack the findings and the broader state of renewables in Canada, we're joined by Leonard Kula (Vice President of Policy – Eastern Canada and Utility Affairs, CanREA), Ahmed Hanafy (Partner, Dunsky Energy + Climate Advisors), and Vittoria Bellissimo (President and CEO, CanREA). Peter and Jackie asked our guests: What are your expectations for growth in Canadian electricity demand through 2035 and 2050? How does demand from AI data centers contribute? As intermittent renewable generation rises, do you see technical limits, such as reliability, that put a ceiling on growth?  Do project developers source the wind turbines and solar modules from China, and should Canada push for more domestic content? Do renewables face issues with “not in my backyard” (NIMBYism)? Can renewables contribute meaningfully to meeting the fast-growing demand from data centers, which need near-perfect levels of reliability? Do you expect renewable energy growth in Alberta, given the market changes that have weakened the investment case?  Content referenced in this podcast includes:Bell: Go time! Danielle Smith and Mark Carney agree to a pipeline deal - Calgary Herald (November 22, 2025)Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/ Check us out on social media: X (Twitter): @arcenergyinstLinkedIn: @ARC Energy Research Institute Subscribe to ARC Energy Ideas PodcastApple PodcastsAmazon MusicSpotify 

Running a power market isn't just about generating electricity—it's about making sure every kilowatt is accounted for. Someone has to calculate who owes what, make sure the rules are fair, and keep the system balanced in real time. Think of it as being an accountant, a banker, and a referee—all rolled into one. In the UK, that vital but largely invisible role is handled by Elexon.Elexon is the Balancing and Settlement Code Company (BSCCo) for Great Britain. They are the neutral heartbeat of the electricity market, making sure the lights stay on and energy imbalances are accurately billed. They provide the transparency, fairness, and precision that keeps the whole system running—and prevent anyone from gaming the market. Formerly part of National Grid, Elexon has always been independent and is owned by the 13 largest market participants.In this episode, Laurent and Gerard sit down with Peter Stanley, CEO of Elexon, to dive deep into the nuts and bolts of the balancing market. They break down why system costs have quintupled in recent years, hitting £8 billion a year, how settlement processes are being modernized, and the surprising ways AI is starting to shape the market.Elexon isn't just about numbers—it's the backbone of the UK's Clean Power by 2030 plan (CP30). By keeping the system balanced and efficient, Elexon is helping drive the near-total elimination of fossil fuels from the power grid, making a cleaner, greener future possible.Get ready for a technical—but fascinating—ride behind the scenes of the UK electricity market.

With the renewable energy transition underway in Australia, the higher than expected uptake of solar panels has human rights groups concerned about links to Uyghur forced labour in the supply chain. As Australia looks into developing its own solar panel industry, rights groups say government and industry should work to ensure the clean energy transition isn't at the cost of freedom.

Some of the places hardest hit by climate change are also home to one of the future's most powerful gifts: superabundant sunshine. If solar is now cheaper than ever, what's stopping the clean energy revolution from taking off where the sun shines the brightest? In Part 1 of our special miniseries, The Switch, we head to Morocco in search of the promise, and the politics, of desert power.

Laurent sits down with Bruce Douglas, CEO of the Global Renewable Alliance, for a live conversation from COP30 in Belém, Brazil.They explore how COP30 is structured, the role of the Global Renewable Alliance, and the dynamics among participants. The 800-pound gorilla in the room—the United States—hasn't derailed the negotiations, but one might ask: does it really matter? The real action, Bruce explains, takes place in the Blue Zone and the Green Zone, rather than in the endless debates over whether the final text will call to “phase out,” “phase down,” or “phase up” fossil fuels.With investments in clean technologies now triple those in fossil fuels, the global momentum toward renewables seems unstoppable.The COP text, increasingly, feels symbolic—if not irrelevant. Together, Laurent and Bruce celebrate the ongoing success of bottom-up implementation and the steady deployment of proven technologies, rather than top-down grand initiatives.They also touch on a new forestry initiative, TFFF—dubbed “WTF-FF” by Laurent—which, they suspect, may fade away like tears in the rain. Packed with anecdotes about the Amazon rainforest, chaotic logistics, Saudi Arabia's surprising investments in boxing, and other quirky insights, this episode strikes an optimistic tone.Whatever COP30's final declaration may say, one thing is clear: renewables have already won.

The Liberals and Nationals have now officially dumped the net zero emission target from their climate and energy policy. It keeps the Coalition together, but what do voters think? Today, pollster, former Labor strategist and director of the RedBridge Group, Kos Samaras on whether it's a winning strategy.Featured: Kos Samaras, director of the RedBridge Group

Solar energy has experienced explosive growth over the past five years — doubling in capacity outside of China and quadrupling within China. But with this rapid expansion come new concerns: Are we scaling too quickly? And is the proliferation of solar now starting to strain power grids, creating more problems than solutions?Enter the concept of the “3 Cs” — Congestion, Curtailment, and Cannibalization — a term coined by Richard Sverisson at Montel. It captures the growing pains of an energy system being transformed at unprecedented speed.To unpack this, Laurent and Gerard welcome one of the world's leading voices in solar energy: Sam Wilkinson, Head of Renewables at S&P Global Commodity Insights. Sam leads a team of 20 global experts focused on analysing and forecasting trends across renewable energy markets, policy, and infrastructure. Their insights, developed in close collaboration with industry stakeholders, are critical for understanding where the solar market is heading.Notably, Sam and his team are forecasting a 100GW decline in new solar capacity in 2026 compared to 2025 — introducing the idea of "Peak Solar."In this conversation, we explore what “peak solar” really means: its causes, how it might unfold, and the ripple effects on the global supply chain. But it's not all bad news. Market consolidation, geographic diversification, and ongoing innovation in solar technology are helping the industry navigate challenges. As costs continue to fall and accessibility improves, solar remains a cornerstone of the global energy transition.Expect a technical yet insightful discussion on the current headwinds — and future opportunities — in the solar energy sector.

Recorded in front of a packed room at NYU's Kimmel Center during Climate Week NYC, Ed Crooks and Amy Myers Jaffe moderate a debate on the high-stakes topic of AI and energy. They dig deep into the questions raised by the surge of investment in data centers: what it means for grid stability and electricity bills, and how new technologies and market structures can help the power industry adapt.Climate Week this year often felt more like AI Week, given how many discussions were centred around it. To explore the issues, the team Ed and Amy are joined by representatives of two of the key companies at the heart of the revolution. Josh Parker is Head of Sustainability at NVIDIA, and Craig Sundstrom is Head of Energy & Sustainability Policy at AWS. Xizhou Zhou, Wood Mackenzie's Head of Power and Renewables, also joins the discussion, to add his perspectives on how the industry is changing The load shock is real. Xizhou says that more than 116 GW of US data centers are under construction or fully committed to interconnect in the next few years: equivalent to about 15% of US peak load today. After two decades of flat demand, the electricity industry must rebuild its muscle memory for rapid infrastructure build-out. US power prices went up 6% in the past year, with rates in some states going up far more. What is driving that surge? And what can be done to provide some relief for hard-pressed consumers? One answer comes from rapid progress in the technologies that make AI possible, including the chips. NVIDIA's Josh Parker notes NVIDIA has cut energy use for inference tasks by 100,000× over the past decade ,and by about 30× in just the past two years. Craig from Amazon explains how new grid-enhancing technologies could quickly make a difference, pointing to an AWS/RMI study showing that 6.5 GW of extra capacity could be freed up on the PJM grid without building any new transmission lines. He adds that AI is already helping in California, where smart battery dispatch is cutting costs in real time. Data centers don't only use electricity for computation: they create a lot of heat, too. Josh says there are ways to use that heat, and describes Scandinavian projects that use it for their local district heating networks. With geothermal and new small modular reactors unlikely to reach widespread deployment until well into the 2030s, the panel agrees that the real solutions in the next few years lie in upgrading transmission, expanding storage, redesigning rates, and building in flexibility.It's a busy and lively discussion, with a couple of questions from the audience answered by the panel. If you have any further questions or comments on the show, we'd love to hear them. You can comment on Spotify, leave a review on Apple Podcasts, or find us on YouTube and leave a comment there. Thanks!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.