In this week's episode, the president of the federal network agency discusses the critical issues facing Germany's energy market as the country waits for the new government to take the reins.

How will Germany - and Europe - fill gas storage ahead of the winter, given the current unattractive prices? We also talk about the pressure the country faces to split its price zone, and the outlook for power demand amid a challenging macro-economic environment for German industry. 

Presenter: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel News
Guest:  Klaus Müller - President, The German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur); Nathan Witkop - Editor, Clean Energy Desk

Editor: Bled Maliqi
Producer: Sarah Knowles

Last Friday, one of the world's largest transport hubs came to a halt for 18 hours after a fire broke out at one of its substations in North Hyde.

Since the incident, National Grid's CEO responded to accusations that Heathrow bosses were forced to shut down the airport due to a lack of power, confirming that the two other substations were operational and fully capable of powering the airport.

Why, then, was the airport not able to connect the power, and why did it take so long to return to its operations?

In this week's episode, Richard speaks to Simon Gallagher, grid expert and MD of UK Network Services, a leading independent energy networks consultancy, about some of the wider concerns this outage raises about the country@s energy security. How vulnerable is some of its crucial infrastructure?

 Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel News
 Guest: Simon Gallagher, Managing Director of UK Network Services

 Editor: Bled Maliqi
 Producer: Sarah Knowles

Over the past year, many countries in Europe and beyond have announced plans to expand their nuclear programmes or build new reactors.

As the pressure mounts for countries to start delivering on their decarbonisation goals and have a tighter grasp on their energy security, it begs the question: has “the road to net zero” become “the road to nuclear”?

In this week’s episode, Richard speaks to the Director General of the Nuclear Energy Agency about what has triggered this latest revival in nuclear, and how the private and public sectors will need to decide who takes on the financial risk of building new atomic reactors. 

Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel News

Guest: William D. Magwood, IV - Director General, Nuclear Energy Agency
Christopher Eales - France Editor, Montel News

Editor: Bled Maliqi, Montel
Producer: Sarah Knowles 

In this week’s episode we discuss how unprecedented global risks — from escalating trade tensions and hybrid warfare to rising populism — are reshaping Europe's energy markets. Statkraft's CEO Birgitte Ringstad Vartdal shares insights into the company's approach to project prioritisation, reveals why the green transition will inevitably continue despite near-term hurdles and discusses how companies can build local support for renewables amid growing opposition. Birgitte also weighs in on Norway’s controversial market intervention, the fixed-price electricity retail contract, and addresses criticism around regulatory hurdles and delays to new capacity projects.

Host: Richard Sverrisson – Editor-in-Chief, Montel.
Guest: Birgitte Ringstad Vartdal – CEO, Statkraft; Gert Ove Mollestad, Editor Norway, Montel.

Podcast editor: Bled Maliqi, Montel. 

This week we explore the growing energy security challenges facing Europe amid a “seismic” shift in the global geopolitical order. In light of this, we discuss plans by the European Commission to support industry and keep energy affordable. Will these measures be enough to protect the continent from instability and price shocks? Kristian Ruby, secretary general of Eurelectric, weighs in on whether the bloc is moving fast enough to secure its energy future in an increasingly uncertain world, while pondering the role of flexibility in stabilising power markets and opines on how electric vehicles could be a game-changer for grid resilience. 

Host: Richard Sverrisson – Editor-in-Chief, Montel.
Guests: Kristian Ruby – Secretary General, Eurelectric; Fatima Sadouki, Energy Correspondent, Montel.

Podcast editor: Bled Maliqi, Montel. 

As Germany’s Christian Democrat alliance (CDU/CSU) is in talks about forming a new government with the Social Democrats, this week’s episode discusses the country’s role in the new global order. It comes against a backdrop where US president Donald Trump is abandoning old friends in Europe and proposing a trade war instead of aiding old allies. Not only could this have implications for US-sourced LNG but the new government in Berlin must make key decisions on the future of fossil fuels, the renewables transition and on whether to embrace hydrogen. The coalition will also have to deal with pressure from domestic industry and consumers demanding cheaper and more reliable power provision, as well as a backlash against wind turbines in the east of the country.

Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel News.

Guest: Claudia Kemfert, Professor of Energy, Economics and Energy Policy at Leuphana University. She also heads the Energy, Transport, Environment Department at the German Institute for Economic Research.

Podcast editor: Bled Maliqi, Montel. 

It was Europe’s biggest importer of Russian gas prior to the Ukraine invasion but Russia’s cutting of gas supplies to Europe pushed Uniper to the brink of collapse.

It was nationalised in one of the biggest corporate bailouts in German history.

Montel’s Editor-in-Chief has been speaking to Uniper’s COO, Holger Kreetz, on the firm’s recovery, Germany’s energy transition and the imminent snap election.

Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel News.

Guests: Katharina Johannsen, Montel News Germany.

Holger Kreetz, Chief Operating Officer, Uniper.

Podcast editor: Oscar Birk, Montel. 

Europe’s energy sector is caught in the crossfire of rising populism. With elections approaching in Norway and Germany, governments are under pressure to prioritize short-term price stability over long-term market efficiency. Norway’s decision to impose fixed electricity prices has sparked concerns about weakened price signals and energy market fragmentation. Meanwhile, in Germany, the far-right AfD is gaining ground, threatening the country’s renewable energy expansion and interconnectivity with neighbours.

This week, Plugged In comes to you from Essen at the E-World Energy & Water trade fair, where the future of Europe’s energy markets hangs in the balance. Montel’s Siobhan Hall sets the scene before we hear from Hanns Koenig, Managing Director for Central Europe at Aurora Energy Research, and Amund Vik, former Norwegian deputy minister for petroleum and energy.

We discuss Norway’s shift toward energy protectionism, the growing backlash against renewables, the risks of fixed electricity pricing, and whether Europe’s integrated energy market is at risk of political unravelling.

Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel.

Guests: Hanns Koenig, Managing Director for Central Europe at Aurora Energy Research; Amund Vik, Senior Advisor, Eurasia Group; Stephen Woodhouse, Director, Afry; Siobhan Hall, Brussels Correspondent, Montel News

Podcast editor: Bled Maliqi, Montel. 

The UK has announced hugely ambitious plans - clean power by 2030. This will involve a massive roll-out of wind, onshore and offshore, solar as well as an expansion of grids and storage. A challenge, certainly. But not impossible, according to Jonathan Brearley, the chief executive of Ofgem, the UK's energy market regulator. The CEO also explains why the watchdog thinks zonal, rather than national pricing is the best way forward for the country. 

In the first episode of Plugged In: the energy news podcast we discuss how the country can meet its targets, the obstacles that stand in the way and why the UK is not close to running out of gas. In fact, the UK will need gas in the future, albeit in a significantly less dependent way, according to Ofgem.

Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel News.

Guest: Jonathan Brearley, Chief Executive Officer, Ofgem; Laurence Walker, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Montel News. 

Norway’s energy sector is at the centre of a dramatic political storm. With an election looming in September, Finance minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum pulled his Centre Party out of the government, warning of greater dependence on what he calls Europe’s “dysfunctional” electricity market. But political uncertainty is not the only challenge — Norway faces a growing supply deficit, AI-driven demand spikes from data centres, and increasing hurdles in building new capacity.

This week, the Montel Weekly Podcast comes to you from Oslo at the Pareto Securities Power & Renewable Energy Conference. Montel’s Petter Udland sets the scene before we hear from Lars Ove Skorpen, Director Power & Renewable Energy at Pareto Securities.

We discuss the government crisis over the EU’s 4th Energy Package, the impact of AI and DeepSeek on Norway’s power demand, the challenges of expanding interconnectors, and why investment in new capacity is not keeping up with demand.

 Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel.
 Guests:
 Lars Ove Skorpen - Director Power & Renewable Energy, Pareto Securities
 Petter Udland, Montel journalist, Oslo