Redefining Energy
Episodes
125. From Houston to Berlin (via Bilbao), Better Days!
25 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Gerard and Laurent talk about the 3 big energy gatherings that happened this week. Houston (CERAweek), Bilbao (WindEurope) and Berlin (Glob...
124. The challenging Energy Transition of Japan - Mar24
18 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“It’s hard to play a good game when you have been served weak cards”. This is the perennial challenge of Japan when it comes to the Energy Trans...
123. Conferences and Exhibitions
11 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Gerard and Laurent talk about Conferences / Exhibition that they recently attended and what they have learned there. Gerard was in Germany’...
122. The EV fast-charging revolution - Mar24
04 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The two limiting factors for a faster deployment of EVs are the price of vehicles and “range anxiety”. While the former is being addressed by an e...
121. Data, data and data
26 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Gerard and Laurent talk about three great reports that have recently been published and deliver some world-class data about past achievemen...
120. The new value of green power and PPAs - Feb24
19 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
To discuss everything that’s going on in the PPA market (and a lot of things are happening), Gerard and Laurent bring back the excellent Luca Pedret...
119. The decarbonization of the shipping industry
12 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Gerard is out, so Laurent does the Minutes with Michael Barnard, host of our sister show Redefining Energy – Tech.On the menu this week, ...
118. Doubling Energy Efficiency - Feb24
05 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
At COP28 was endorsed the concept of “tripling renewables” – all good, but a lot of people forgot to mention the rest of the sentence which is “...
117. Infrastructure Investing, the consolidation
29 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Why has the fund raised by infrastructure fund drastically collapsed in 2023. Is it linked to lackluster returns in a high interest rate environment?A...
116. Cleantech100 – the Hangover
22 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After two years of irrational exuberance, we are back to earth when it comes to Cleantech investment.On the menu this week, Gerard and Laurent are rev...
115. The future of Yieldcos (listed Infrastructure Funds) - Jan24
15 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Long term renewables assets portfolios provide stable returns. In most of the world, they are held by pension funds, insurance companies or big infras...
114. Nuclear, Offshore Wind and Cummins
08 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
First Episode on the Redefining Energy MINUTES on the main channel.On the menu this week, an update of nuclear and offshore wind, two important (but m...
113. Our Predictions for 2024 - Jan24
02 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Happy new year to all our listeners.It has become a tradition for the first episode of the year: Gerard and Laurent present their 2024 Predictions in ...
112a. Redefining Energy Awards for 2023 (incl. Book of the Year)
26 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Final Episode of 2023 (and last one for the MINUTES on their own channel). All episodes will be on this channel going forward.Here are the Redefining ...
112. Weaponizing of energy: the end of innocence - Dec23
15 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Last episode of the Year. And what a year. We passed 1m downloads since inception. In 2023, we will have 470k downloads up 34% compared to 2022. Ger...
111a. Special Episode - Live from COP28 in Dubai. With Bruce Douglas, CEO Global Renewable Alliance, on 3xRenewables
10 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This Sunday, a Special Episode. We are going live to COP28 in Dubai.Our special guest is Bruce Douglas, CEO Global Renewable Alliance, who is spearhea...
111. The Grand Master of Energy Storage - Dec23
01 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the past 5 years, we have seen an incredible rise of Energy Storage (ESS) on numerous Grids. Those markets, whether in Europe (10GW) or in the USA ...
110. French Nuclear “Oh la la” - Nov23
15 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Why should the 97% of non-French listeners of the podcast be interested in the fate of the French nuclear fleet?With 60GW and 56 reactors, the French ...
109. Top Trends in Climate Tech - Nov23
01 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We hear a lot about Climate Tech, and the VC investments about to revolutionize and accelerate the Energy Transition. Gerard and Laurent wanted to kno...
108. Wind: the necessary Reset - Oct23
16 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Honestly, we have struggled to find a suitable title for this Episode. We thought of and then abandoned catchier titles such as “Withering Wind”, ...
107. Electrifying islands with Cleantech innovations (Jamaica) - Oct23
02 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The smaller the grid, the higher the price. Islands have been plagued forever by a higher price of power. This is an inherent consequence of their sma...
106. Chasing Methane leaks - Sept23
15 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
At Cop26 was launched the Global Methane Pledge to catalyse action to reduce methane. The problem is that no one really knew how much methane leaked n...
105. Geothermal: Earth, Wind and Fire - Sept23
01 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Geothermal has been around for decades and always considered part of the Energy Transition. Unfortunately, its development has been limited to very sp...
104. Is Carbon the new Crypto? Aug23
16 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After a decade in obscurity, carbon offsets have resurrected in recent years as more companies are targeting net zero. Volumes and prices have picked ...
103. Battery chemistry: China against the World - Aug23
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As the growth of the EV market and Energy Storage continues unabated, we wanted to know what the current State of Play in the Battery industry is.In 2...
102. Post Energy crisis, the “need for speed” - Live from Brussels / Eurelectric with Leo Birnbaum (CEO E.ON) - Jul23
15 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Live from Brussels, on the 20th of June 2023, we were invited to interview Leonard Birnbaum. Since he came last on the show (Ep50), the whole Energy S...
101. Iron + Carbon = Innovations (Clean Power, LDES, Hydrogen, CCUS) - Jul23
01 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Steel is essential for the equipment of the Energy Transition (Wind, EVs) but at the same time bears a very significant carbon footprint: 1.8tCO2/t st...
100. “2030: have we succeeded the Energy Transition?” with Katherine Hamilton and Jigar Shah - Jun23
15 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What a pleasure, what an honor to have the original Energy Gang on our show to celebrate our 100th Episode.The wit of Katherine Hamilton and the laugh...
99. Operating a Grid in transition - Jun23
01 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The electricity network is the bloodline of the economy. It is a very complex system, built over decades, with layers of technologies and it has to be...
98. Optimising solar fleets: the “secret sauce” - May23
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How to optimise a fleet of hundreds of solar parks? And the work needs to start once the asset has been energised...and continue for decades. Plus, as...
97. The endless conundrum of power markets reform - May23
01 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Power Markets have been created thirty years ago to respond to the Energy Deregulation drive. They have recently faced crisis, such as the Ukraine...
96. How to monetise large scale Batteries? - Apr23
15 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Energy Storage Market, namely large-scale batteries, is the fastest growing segment of the Energy transition. Texas, UK, California, and Australia...
95. Zero Carbon Europe : Blue Pill or Red Pill? - Apr23
01 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Can we really go to Net Zero and keep energy secure and affordable with current policies, or do we need to make hard choices that politicians might no...
94. Heat Pumps are Hot - Mar23
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
3 million heat pumps were installed in Europe in 2022 (up 38% year on year) with some markets going crazy (Poland went up 120%). The movement is not l...
93. Supply chain - wind, solar, batteries: how to fix the mess? - Mar23
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The supply chains in renewables are a total mess. Security of Supply, Price fluctuations, Technological changes, ESG… Acquiring equipment on time an...
92. Who’s winning the battery arms race? - Feb23
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We discovered Simon Moores, CEO of Benchmark Minerals Intelligence, on YouTube, during a legendary testimony during the US Senate in 2019. Simon just ...
91. The radical transformations of the PPA market - Feb23
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) are private contracts between a producer of renewable energy and consumers. The PPA was developing consistently, main...
90. Blockchain, BigTech and 24/7 Green electrons - Jan23
16 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Everybody wants to buy 24/7 green electrons, but until recently, it has proven quite difficult. Most buyers of Green Energy are currently purchasing t...
89. Our Predictions for 2023 - Jan23
02 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Happy new year 2023 to all our listeners. In this Episode, it is Nostradamus vs. Cassandra all over again: Laurent and Gerard review their 2022 predic...
88. The Solar Juggernaut - dec22
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Another year of explosive growth for the Solar Industry: production above 300GW, +45% yoy. What’s behind this staggering growth? How are the supply ...
87. Inflection point for Biogas/Biomethane - dec22
01 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The biogas/biomethane industry is now one of the promising segments of the Energy Transition: security of supply, renewables sources, local jobs, roun...
86. The politics of Energy Infrastructure - nov22
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Geopolitics and Climate disasters have shown how fragile Energy flows and infrastructures have become. Moving electrons or molecules is becoming an ev...
85. Energy Trading: the "Lehman Moment" - nov22
01 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The war in Ukraine has triggered a dislocation of Energy markets, especially in Europe. This has led to a point a few months ago when governments had ...
84. Floating Offshore Wind - oct22
15 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Offshore Wind was one of the great development successes of the past decade, growing in 10 years from a few pilot projects to a real industry. Two zon...
83. The rising tide of Electric Shipping - oct22
01 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Decarbonising the shipping industry seemed very aspirational until recently. Lofty goals are out there: “The International Maritime Organization (IM...
82. The new Carbon Markets - sep22
15 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the past two years, we’ve seen a remarkable renaissance of the carbon markets. Some markets are of a “compliance” type - like in Europe - hea...
81. Nuclear industry at the crossroads - sep22
01 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Talking about nuclear is tough. In the left corner, a besieged and opaque industry only delivering carefully crafted talking points; and in the right ...
80. Solar rooftop: the foot soldiers of the Energy Transition - aug22
16 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is done in partnership with SolarPower Europe.There is a lot of media around Utility solar, but the real solar revolution is happening on...
79. The best kept secret (not for long): Energy Efficiency - aug22
01 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Energy Efficiency is not sexy, it’s under the radar, hard to invest in. We are talking about small unit amounts, with aggregation problems, credit p...
78. Batterytech, VCs, SPACs: “There will be blood” - jul22
15 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The future of storage is so bright that investing in in the vertical and its adjacencies is the opportunity of a lifetime. At the same time, buyer bew...
77. Subsea interconnectors - jul22
01 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Subsea interconnectors are a very discreet sector, it entails decade-long developments…but are developing fast and have become critical to increasin...
76. Battery swapping for two-wheelers: Gogoro - jun22
15 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After the fiasco of “Better place” in 2013, a much-hyped Israeli start up that proposed battery swapping for cars, everybody thought that the conc...
75. Lithium: “White Gold” rush or the “limiting factor”? - jun22
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Elon Musk calls Lithium supply the “limiting factor” for electric vehicle adoption globally. Lithium is the key material for the Energy Transition...
74. The new profile of Energy Transition Funds - may22
16 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There is not a single day when we don’t hear about new funds being raised to finance the Energy Transition. As very few funds are listed on Exchange...
73. High energy prices vs. the Energy transition - may22
01 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Over the past few months, energy prices have gone through the roof, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put energy security on the front burner. We...
72. A Ukrainian Utility at War. A story of resistance, resilience, and hope - apr22
15 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How to survive a war when you are a Utility in Ukraine? Thanks to Eurelectric which organised the introduction, we have the honour of welcoming a hero...
71. Ventures and breakthroughs to decarbonise Heat - apr22
01 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Decarbonising Heat is a significant challenge on the road to Net-Zero, Climate Resilience and Energy Security. It is also a very complex problem as th...
70. Why digital management of Batteries matters? - mar22
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The deployment of Li-Ion batteries has exploded in recent years and is expected to enjoy a 30% annual growth until 2030. But those very critical piec...
69. Escape from Russia: Rewiring Europe - mar22
01 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The war in Ukraine is a total gamechanger. Beyond the personal drama and misery inflicted on millions of human beings, it triggers a tremor in the wor...
68. Green Hydrogen: miracle or mirage? - feb22
15 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the seminal book by Jeremy Rifkin “The Hydrogen Economy” and the astronomical amount of non-sense it...
67. From PowerPoint to Gigafactory - feb22
01 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Gigafactory: a term first coined by Elon Musk in 2013 when announcing the Tesla+Panasonic giant battery plant in Nevada. There are currently more than...
66. “The missing hours”: in search of 24/7 carbon free power - jan22
16 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Delivering 24/7 carbon free power is the holy grail for infrastructure funds. Such progress requires a new approach to investing. New technologies nee...
65. Our Predictions for 2022 - jan22
02 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Happy new year 2022 to all our listeners. In this Episode, its Nostradamus vs. Cassandra all over again: Laurent and Gerard review their 2021 predicti...
64. Unstoppable solar - dec21
15 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
2021 looked like an “annus horribilis” for the solar industry. Price increases, supply chain problems, threat of taxes on importations. Is the sol...
63. Ultra-fast EV charging (and mini grids) - dec21
01 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
EV charging is developing exponentially. It is now a 30bnUSD market per year, growing at a astonishing pace of 20%. More than 1.5m EV charging station...
62. ESG investing: A force for good or blah blah blah? - nov21
15 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As COP26 comes to a close, there has been a flurry of commitments to invest trillions of dollars in green technologies and carbon neutral projects. Th...
61. The future of power distribution networks (with ENEL) - nov21
01 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Renewables are developing very fast, but without a proper distribution system, the energy transition will soon stall. So, what does tomorrow’s green...
60. From Energy Transition to Energy Crunch: The “Natgaspocalypse” - oct21
15 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For the past decade, Natural Gas has been promoted as the “Clean, Reliable and Cheap” fuel to assist the Energy Transition. Well that cosy theory,...
59. Long Duration Energy Storage: the “Final Frontier” - oct21
01 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What are the technological options to compensate for – as the German say - the “Dunkelflaute” (dark doldrums), those winter weeks of low winds a...
58. Fuel Switch or Fuel Fix for Steel and Cement? - sep21
15 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Steel and cement with their 2,000 mills and 3,000 kilns, together currently emit 15% of the world’s CO2. So far, they’ve been exempted from carbon...
57. Methane, the invisible elephant in the room - sep21
01 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Methane is the largest source of greenhouse gas after CO2. The latest IPCC report has flagged the issue as “Code Red”. Until recently, Methane Emi...
56. How to decarbonise Aviation? - aug21
15 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The future of Sustainable Aviation is a very hot topic, but there are currently more questions than answers: How much of the aviation can be electrifi...
55. EVs: Tesla against the world - aug21
01 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
2020 has proven a turning point in the EV market, and the trend is accelerating in 2021: more models, stronger public policies, mass roll-out of charg...
54. Energy Trading: it is now man vs. machine - jul21
15 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The development of renewables has made power markets much more volatile, hence “volatility is the new gold”. Harnessing that volatility requires s...
53. Oil Majors: the journey from molecules to electrons - jul21
01 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Navigating the Energy Transition for an Oil Major is not that simple. Decades-old simple centralised molecules energy systems are making way to decent...
52. The German "Energiewende" - jun21
15 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Germany is rightly portrayed as a pioneer in the development of wind and solar. For the past two decades, the German government has granted a) a very ...
51. Is there a future for coal in Asia? - jun21
01 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
While coal is being phased out in Europe and America, it is still the dominant source of energy in Asia. Why is that? And how will the situation evolv...
50. Redefining Utilities' strategies in the Electric Decade (with E.ON at Eurelectric Power Summit 21) - may21
15 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“Sorry, I’m getting emotional when it comes to smart meters”. Part of Eurelectric’ s Power Summit 2021, we have had a great conversation with ...
49. The stratospheric rise of Octopus Energy - may21
01 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The energy retail sector is also experiencing its version of the energy transition, where incumbents with legacy systems are challenged by new entrant...
48. Solar & batteries: can China’s dominance be challenged? - apr21
15 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
China manufactures 2/3 of the world’s solar panels and 2/3 of the world’s batteries. How does it look on the ground? What technological advances d...
47. Batteries, a new Asset Class in Infrastructure Investing - apr21
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In Episode 47, we dive into the exponential development of batteries into the Grid: the Energy Storage industry is doubling size every year. One of th...
46. Flexible, resilient, sustainable: the making of the XXIst Century Supergrid - mar21
15 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After several black outs in the past months, the irresistible growing trend towards electrification and the relentless rise of renewables, the grid ha...
45. The Green Industrial Revolution - mar21
01 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The UK Green Industrial Revolution was introduced by Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, in 2020. It is a holistic approach to decarbonisation, but we w...
44. Hydrogen... it's complicated! - feb21
15 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Why are engineers, politicians and financiers talking about Hydrogen all the time? And why are they throwing billions of subsidies or investment in co...