Energy Unplugged by Aurora

EP.106 Monika Morawiecka, Senior Advisor at the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP)

In this episode, Hanns Koenig, our Head of Commissioned Projects for Central Europe, is joined by one of the leading voices of the Polish energy sector - Monika Morawiecka, Senior Advisor at The Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP).RAP is a think-tank advising predominantly governments in creating better energy sector regulation. Prior to RAP, Monika had a distinguished career in the energy sector, with more than 15 years at Poland's largest utility PGE. Her roles at PGE included Head of Strategy at PGE Group and CEO of PGE's Offshore Wind division, PGE Baltica.Hanns and Monika discuss:•The current state of the Polish energy market•The energy crisis and the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine on the energy transition in Poland•The role offshore wind can play in the Polish energy mixSupport the show

EP.105 Capacity markets deep dive with Aurora’s leadership from around the world

This week on Energy Unplugged we’re doing a deep dive on capacity markets with some of Aurora's leadership from around the world. Our Founder and CEO, John Feddersen is joined by Dan Monzani – MD for GB and Ireland, Hugo Batten - MD for Asia-Pacific and California and Oliver Kerr – Head of USA. The main questions we’re trying to answer are: 1) What are capacity markets?; 2) Why are they used?; and 3) When do they work?As in Europe capacity markets have largely won the debate, the focus is on markets outside Europe. Main topics include: •The core elements of capacity markets, procurement targets, timings & frequency of auctions•Political context and in what ways does it matter•Key strengths of the capacity marketsSupport the show

EP.104 Jacob Mays, Assistant Professor at Cornell University

This week on Energy Unplugged, Hugo Batten and Oliver Kerr are joined by Jacob Mays, Assistant Professor at Cornell University’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.Prior to this role, Jacob studied at Harvard, Winconsin-Madison, and Northwestern. He’s been a management consultant, worked at FERC, and writes energy papers across a diverse range of topics.Listen to this ep to hear them discuss: - The role of energy modelling - Market design, in particular Jacob’s view on the wholesale-only vs capacity market plus wholesale debate - The role of academics in the energy transitionEnjoy!Support the show

EP.103 John Cole, CEO of Edify Energy

This week on Energy Unplugged, our MD for Australia and California Hugo Batten is joined by Founder and CEO of Edify Energy, John Cole.Edify has originated, financed and delivered 950 MW of utility scale solar PV and battery storage projects, with a strong pipeline of renewable, storage and green hydrogen projects to follow. John was recently included in The Australian newspaper’s Top 100 Green Power Players list.In this episode, Hugo and John discuss:•The current crisis, impact of the federal election, and redesign of the Australian market•Edify and the Riverina asset•John’s career, having co-founded 2 very successful renewables businesses in both UK and AustraliaEnjoy!Support the show

EP.102 Global Project Finance Series in partnership with SMBC Group PART I - Europe

This episode is first in a series on global project finance, organized in partnership with SMBC Group. With a number of 4 episodes covering Europe, Australia, Asia and the US, this series is hosted by Aurora, with guests from SMBC Group, various law firms and Aurora.In this episode, we have Ana Barillas, our Head of Iberia talking to Caroline Lytton, Managing Director, Head of Power & Renewables Global Structured Finance EMEA at SMBC, John Dewar, Partner at Milbank London and Casimir Lorenz, Principal at Aurora. Caroline has started working in project finance in 2003, she has always been focused on infrastructure having 12 years’ experience in oil and gas. 3 years ago she was asked to head up the SMBC power and renewables business. John has lots of experience in the sector, and with Milbank, which has one of the largest renewable practices in the world. He became a partner in the late 90’s and has worked on a series of IPP projects in the UK and Europe. At Milbank John works on renewable energy projects but also in the hydrogen space and the in EV and battery space. Casimir leads the renewable energy practice of Aurora’s consulting team for continental Europe and he has been active in the energy space for the last 10 years. Before joining Aurora 4 years ago he did a PhD in Energy Economics followed by a post-doc at the German Institute for Economic Research focussing on policy consulting. The main topics include:•The level of activity right now in the project finance space •The impact of a higher-inflation and higher cost environment on typical project finance terms•Merchant risk and the biggest uncertainty in power markets at the moment•Managing the policy and regulatory risk in the power sector from a project finance perspectiveSupport the show

EP.19 Nora Mead Brownell, Founding Partner of ESPY Energy Solutions_REPLAY

This is a replay of an older episode with Nora Mead Brownell, Former Commissioner FERC, Former Chair PG&E and Founding Partner of ESPY Energy Solutions. Nora will be one of the keynote speakers at the Aurora Spring Forum 2022 on 14 July.If you want to hear more from Nora and many other industry leaders, join our Spring Forum 2022 on 14 July in Oxford, UK. The topic is: Delivering the energy transition in a fractured world: Navigating price volatility, geopolitical risk, and supply chain disruption. Spaces are limited and are filling up quickly so book your ticket now! For more details check auroraer.com/events/spring-forum/Our CEO John Feddersen discusses the energy transition in the US with his special guest Nora Mead Brownell, Co-Founder of ESPY Energy Solutions. Nora is a former commissioner at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) where she was nominated by President George W. Bush, and among many other previous roles she has also served as the Chair of the Board of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E).Topics covered include:• Women in the energy sector, and ESPY Energy Solutions as a women-owned business• The balance between state and federal responsibility in the US power sector• Upcoming US elections, and how the energy sector will lookSupport the show

EP.45 Greg Jackson, Founder and CEO of Octopus Energy_REPLAY

This is a replay of an older episode with Greg Jackson, Founder and CEO of Octopus Energy. Greg will be one of the keynote speakers at the Aurora Spring Forum 2022 on 14 July. If you want to hear more from Greg and many other industry leaders, join our Spring Forum 2022 on 14 July in Oxford, UK. The topic is: Delivering the energy transition in a fractured world: Navigating price volatility, geopolitical risk, and supply chain disruption. Spaces are limited and are filling up quickly so book your ticket now! For more details check auroraer.com/events/spring-forum/In this episode our CEO John Feddersen speaks to Greg Jackson, the Founder and CEO of Octopus Energy, one of the UK’s largest energy supplier businesses, and award-winning for its status as a provider of 100% sustainable energy. Octopus Energy Group recently announced the acquisition of its sister company, Octopus Renewables, bringing the retail and the generation side of energy together under one roof. Greg is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the UK with a long career leading multiple software ventures among other businesses, and a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge.John and Greg discuss:• The importance of policy in the current UK energy supply market• Understanding the customer experience and meeting customer’s needs• Weathering the debris of the Texas storms and cost-pass-through tariffs• The role of prices in power generation and investmentSupport the show

EP.101 Mark Collette, Managing Director, EnergyAustralia

In this episode, our CEO John Feddersen is joined by Mark Collette, Managing Director of EnergyAustralia and Hugo Batten, Managing Director in Australia and California at Aurora.EnergyAustralia is one of Australia’s major vertical integrated energy gentailers. Mark has been with EnergyAustralia since 2003 and commenced as Managing Director in July 2021. He served as Chief Customer Officer from May 2019 until June 2021 and prior to leading EnergyAustralia’s retail business, Mark led the Energy business between 2015 and 2019. Former roles have included executive responsibility for policy, sustainability, strategy and other matters. Mark was appointed Chair of the Australian Energy Council (AEC) in December 2021. Main topics include:•The energy industry in Australia over the last decade•EnergyAustralia’s strategy for a Net Zero electricity system •Battery storage and the role for flexible assets in Australia•The long term review of Australia’s power market design, capacity payments and the introduction of a congestion management modelIf you want to hear more from Mark Collette and many other industry leaders, join our Spring Forum 2022 on 14 July in Oxford, UK. The topic is: Delivering the energy transition in a fractured world: Navigating price volatility, geopolitical risk, and supply chain disruption. Spaces are limited and are filling up quickly so book your ticket now! For more details check https://auroraer.com/events/spring-forum/Support the show

EP.100 Antje Kanngiesser, CEO of Alpiq

This week is a very special one for Energy Unplugged as we celebrate 100 episodes and 2 years since we launched the podcast. In this 100 episode, our Head of Commissioned Projects in Central Europe, Hanns Koenig is joined by Antje Kanngiesser, CEO of Alpiq. Alpiq is a leading Swiss energy services provider and electricity producer in Europe. Antje’s professional background include Vice President of Group Markets & Services and Member of the Executive Board for BKW AG, various roles at Alpiq Group and Energie Ouest Suisse as well as Lawyer at S&K and GGSC, Berlin. Antje and Hanns discuss:•The role of Switzerland in the European energy transition•Alpiq’s strategy and activity across Europe•The impact of the current energy crisis in Europe on utilitiesSupport the show

EP.99 Paul Ezekiel, Founder, Chair and Chief Investment Officer, Amp Energy

In this episode, our CEO, John Feddersen is joined by Paul Ezekiel, Founder, Chair and Chief Investment Officer of Amp Energy. Amp is primarily a renewable energy developer and operator with a focus across solar, wind and storage and with over 7GW of assets built or contracted since 2009. Amp is also a technology company and the Amp X platform contributes to accelerating the energy transition through a portfolio of disruptive technologies. Before Amp, Paul had a long history in the energy transition, being involved in clean energy for around two decades. Paul and John discuss:•Amp’s strategy and battery investing •Investment in green hydrogen and at what point lithium-ion stops being the most cost effective storage solution•The best market design for enabling batteries to provide all of their benefitsSupport the show