Redefining Energy

By Laurent Segalen and Gerard Reid

What's Redefining Energy about?

Two investment bankers weekly explore how tech, finance, markets and regulations are radically redefining the world of energy: Renewable Energy, Electric Cars, Hydrogen, Battery Storage, Digitisation...Your co-hosts: from Berlin, Gerard Reid and from London, Laurent Segalen.Our LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/redefining-energy/X handle: @Redef_Energy

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Redefining Energy episodes:

05.06.2024
131. The future of distribution grids - May24
Distribution grids are facing new challenges. On the one hand, they experience a growth of local demand, with EV charging, heat pumps and datacenters. On the other, they must accommodate with the fast deployment of decentralised energy such as rooftop...
04.29.2024
130. Minutes: EVS. Has Tesla lost its Mojo?
We hear conflicting messages regarding the status of the EV market. On the bright side, IEA predicts 17mEV to be sold this year, EV and Hybrids reach 50% market share in China for Q1, more than 500 EV models are...
04.22.2024
129. Minutes: Should the West fear or emulate China?
Laurent and Gerard have a rapid overview of what’s going on regarding the Energy Transition in China and its political implication in the West.Record production of this, record production of that, overcapacity everywhere…We babble a lot, rant a bit, and...
04.15.2024
128. Tracking and Trading Green Electrons 24/7 - Apr24
What is the value of green electrons? Hard to say. Depends where, depends when. What is sure is that, in view of recent regulations and corporate commitments, they must be tracked.From an annual basis, we are now moving to an...
04.08.2024
127. Minutes: Live from Berlin – “Are Renewables still an Infrastructure Play” with Markus Wandt, CIO Aquila Capital
This week, Gerard and Laurent have been invited to a private event organized by Aquila Capital in March 2024, during the Global Infrastructure Conference, where they debate with Markus Wandt, CIO Aquila if “Renewables are still an Infrastructure play?”
04.01.2024
126. Grid-Enhancing Technologies - Apr24
The main hindrance to the development of renewables is the connection queue. Basically, grid operators tell developers “Sorry guys, we’re full”. A recent study by RMI has proven that this is simply not true. Grid operators are either too conservative...
03.25.2024
125. Minutes: From Houston to Berlin (via Bilbao), Better Days!
This week, Gerard and Laurent talk about the 3 big energy gatherings that happened this week. Houston (CERAweek), Bilbao (WindEurope) and Berlin (Global Infrastructure Summit). Laurent and Gerard were in Berlin and report what they saw and heard.In a simple...
03.18.2024
124. The challenging Energy Transition of Japan - Mar24
“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 Transition. And the game is getting harder when your two main choices, nuclear...
03.11.2024
123. Minutes: Conferences and Exhibitions
This week, Gerard and Laurent talk about Conferences / Exhibition that they recently attended and what they have learned there. Gerard was in Germany’s E-World while Laurent was in London’s Energy Storage Summit.And they act as mirror opposites: "back in...
03.04.2024
122. The EV fast-charging revolution - Mar24
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 ever-growing number of cheaper models available on the market, the latter is also experiencing...
02.26.2024
121.Minutes: Data, data and data
This week, Gerard and Laurent talk about three great reports that have recently been published and deliver some world-class data about past achievements, current status and the direction of travel. As a sign of things to come, European Carbon has...
02.19.2024
120. The new value of green power and PPAs - Feb24
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 Pedretti, CEO and co-founder Pexapark. Pexapark is the leading swiss-based intelligence platform on PPA in...
02.12.2024
119. Minutes: The decarbonization of the shipping industry
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, an overview of the decarbonisation of shipping. What will be electrified? What role...
02.05.2024
118. Doubling Energy Efficiency - Feb24
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 “and doubling of Energy Efficiency”. In the latest IEA report, there is a...
01.29.2024
117. Minutes - Infrastructure Investing, the consolidation
Why has the fund raised by infrastructure fund drastically collapsed in 2023. Is it linked to lackluster returns in a high interest rate environment?At the same time, we have seen numerous acquisitions of mid size infrastructure specialists by larger global...
01.22.2024
116. Minutes: Cleantech100 – the Hangover
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 reviewing the Cleantech 100 report (15th edition). The overall ecosystem is down 40% yoy, but...
01.15.2024
115. The future of Yieldcos (listed Infrastructure Funds) - Jan24
Long term renewables assets portfolios provide stable returns. In most of the world, they are held by pension funds, insurance companies or big infrastructure funds. We have the exception of the UK with listed Infrastructure funds, also known as Yieldcos....
01.08.2024
114. Minutes: Nuclear, Offshore Wind and Cummins
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 minor) sources of carbon-free energy.And some news on the scandal at Cummins, and their pollution...
01.02.2024
113. Our Predictions for 2024 - Jan24
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 the Energy Transition. And we brought in our friend (and co-host of our sister...
12.26.2023
112a, Redefining Energy Awards for 2023 (incl. Book of the Year)
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 Energy Awards for 2023:Company of the Year - BYDStart Up of the Year -...
12.15.2023
112. Weaponizing of energy: the end of innocence - Dec23
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. Gerard and Laurent saw the Weaponisation of Energy coming: two years...
12.10.2023
111a. Special Episode - Live from COP28 in Dubai. With Bruce Douglas, CEO Global Renewable Alliance, on 3xRenewables
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 spearheading the effort around the key message “Double down, Triple Up” or how we will decarbonise...
12.01.2023
111. The Grand Master of Energy Storage - Dec23
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 (16GW), have been created by the magic formula where entrepreneurship blended with...
11.15.2023
110. French Nuclear “Oh la la” - Nov23
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 nuclear fleet is critical to the very existence of a European Power market as...
11.01.2023
109. Top Trends in Climate Tech - Nov23
We hear a lot about Climate Tech, and the VC investments about to revolutionize and accelerate the Energy Transition. Gerard and Laurent wanted to know more. And there is no better place than Silicon Valley to hear it directly from...
10.16.2023
108. Wind: the necessary Reset - Oct23
Honestly, we have struggled to find a suitable title for this Episode. We thought of and then abandoned catchier titles such as “Withering Wind”, “Have we reached peak wind?” and even “Wind – WTF”. Finally, we settled for a more...
10.02.2023
107. Electrifying islands with Cleantech innovations (Jamaica) - Oct23
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 small scale. Add on the top some natural catastrophes, and you end up with...
09.15.2023
106. Chasing Methane leaks - Sept23
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 nor who emitted what. Even the emitters didn’t have a clear view of the...
09.01.2023
105. Geothermal: Earth, Wind and Fire - Sept23
Geothermal has been around for decades and always considered part of the Energy Transition. Unfortunately, its development has been limited to very specific geographical location (US West Coast, Iceland, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia), basically the Ring of Fire. Those historical techniques,...
08.16.2023
104. Is Carbon the new Crypto? Aug23
After a decade in obscurity, carbon offsets have resurrected in recent years as more companies are targeting net zero. Volumes and prices have picked up in 2021-22 to create a 2bn USD market that some institutions predict could rise to...
08.01.2023
103. Battery chemistry: China against the World - Aug23
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 2023, China dominates the Li_Ion battery market and its main companies, BYD and...
07.15.2023
102. Post Energy crisis, the “need for speed” - Live from Brussels / Eurelectric with Leo Birnbaum (CEO E.ON) - Jul23
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 Sector has been through hell with Russia invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent...
07.01.2023
101. Iron + Carbon = Innovations (Clean Power, LDES, Hydrogen, CCUS) - Jul23
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 steel. Pushed and/or incentivised by policies in the US and EU, the Steel industry must innovate...
06.15.2023
100. “2030: have we succeeded the Energy Transition?” with Katherine Hamilton and Jigar Shah - Jun23
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 of Jigar Shah were our inspiration 5 years ago when we got drunk...
06.01.2023
99. Operating a Grid in transition - Jun23
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 reliable 24/7. We hardly talked about this network of wires and cables a...
05.15.2023
98. Optimising solar fleets: the “secret sauce” - May23
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 with an iceberg, most of the work is below the surface.How to manage...
05.01.2023
97. The endless conundrum of power markets reform - May23
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 Russia war or storm Yuri in Texas, with power prices going crazy and creating a...
04.15.2023
96. How to monetise large scale Batteries? - Apr23
The Energy Storage Market, namely large-scale batteries, is the fastest growing segment of the Energy transition. Texas, UK, California, and Australia are witnessing phenomenal deployment rates. We are talking about annual growth of 30%-40%.As more and more infrastructure investors are...
04.01.2023
95. Zero Carbon Europe : Blue Pill or Red Pill? - Apr23
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 not be willing to sustain over the long term? Are the new technologies...
03.15.2023
94. Heat Pumps are Hot - Mar23
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 limited to Europe, as US annual sales rose above 4 million units...
03.01.2023
93. Supply chain - wind, solar, batteries: how to fix the mess? - Mar23
The supply chains in renewables are a total mess. Security of Supply, Price fluctuations, Technological changes, ESG… Acquiring equipment on time and on budget is becoming a harder challenge by the day. How to fix the supply chain for renewables?We...
02.15.2023
92. Who’s winning the battery arms race? - Feb23
We discovered Simon Moores, CEO of Benchmark Minerals Intelligence, on YouTube, during a legendary testimony during the US Senate in 2019. Simon just blew our mind, so it had been an ambition for this show to bring him on. And...
02.01.2023
91. The radical transformations of the PPA market - Feb23
Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) are private contracts between a producer of renewable energy and consumers. The PPA was developing consistently, mainly driven by Utilities. Then 2022 arrived and we witnessed an unprecedented volatility in PPA markets in Europe.What were the...
01.16.2023
90. Blockchain, BigTech and 24/7 Green electrons - Jan23
Everybody wants to buy 24/7 green electrons, but until recently, it has proven quite difficult. Most buyers of Green Energy are currently purchasing their electrons on a yearly basis, and furthermore with little regard for the location. At the same...
01.02.2023
89. Our Predictions for 2023 - Jan23
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 predictions (Episode 65) and look forward to the future.How accurate were our two co-hosts’ predictions...
12.15.2022
88. The Solar Juggernaut - dec22
Another year of explosive growth for the Solar Industry: production above 300GW, +45% yoy. What’s behind this staggering growth? How are the supply chain evolving? What are the “Fab four” and what new technology are they pursuing? Why are the...
12.01.2022
87. Inflection point for Biogas/Biomethane - dec22
The biogas/biomethane industry is now one of the promising segments of the Energy Transition: security of supply, renewables sources, local jobs, round the clock dispatchability; the industry ticks all boxes.Biogas can basically be made from any organic material, so the...
11.15.2022
86. The politics of Energy Infrastructure - nov22
Geopolitics and Climate disasters have shown how fragile Energy flows and infrastructures have become. Moving electrons or molecules is becoming an ever-greater challenge in the drive to decarbonisation, affordability, and security of supply.Politics are always in the background, and the...
11.01.2022
85. Energy Trading: the "Lehman Moment" - nov22
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 to bail out all Utilities which were caught on the wrong side of...
10.15.2022
84. Floating Offshore Wind - oct22
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 zones have been at the fore front: the North Sea (with 30GW as...

What's Redefining Energy about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Redefining Energy episodes:

131. The future of distribution grids - May24

130. Minutes: EVS. Has Tesla lost its Mojo?

129. Minutes: Should the West fear or emulate China?

128. Tracking and Trading Green Electrons 24/7 - Apr24

127. Minutes: Live from Berlin – “Are Renewables still an Infrastructure Play” with Markus Wandt, CIO Aquila Capital

126. Grid-Enhancing Technologies - Apr24

125. Minutes: From Houston to Berlin (via Bilbao), Better Days!

124. The challenging Energy Transition of Japan - Mar24

123. Minutes: Conferences and Exhibitions

122. The EV fast-charging revolution - Mar24

121.Minutes: Data, data and data

120. The new value of green power and PPAs - Feb24

119. Minutes: The decarbonization of the shipping industry

118. Doubling Energy Efficiency - Feb24

117. Minutes - Infrastructure Investing, the consolidation

116. Minutes: Cleantech100 – the Hangover

115. The future of Yieldcos (listed Infrastructure Funds) - Jan24

114. Minutes: Nuclear, Offshore Wind and Cummins

113. Our Predictions for 2024 - Jan24

112a, Redefining Energy Awards for 2023 (incl. Book of the Year)

112. Weaponizing of energy: the end of innocence - Dec23

111a. Special Episode - Live from COP28 in Dubai. With Bruce Douglas, CEO Global Renewable Alliance, on 3xRenewables

111. The Grand Master of Energy Storage - Dec23

110. French Nuclear “Oh la la” - Nov23

109. Top Trends in Climate Tech - Nov23

108. Wind: the necessary Reset - Oct23

107. Electrifying islands with Cleantech innovations (Jamaica) - Oct23

106. Chasing Methane leaks - Sept23

105. Geothermal: Earth, Wind and Fire - Sept23

104. Is Carbon the new Crypto? Aug23

103. Battery chemistry: China against the World - Aug23

102. Post Energy crisis, the “need for speed” - Live from Brussels / Eurelectric with Leo Birnbaum (CEO E.ON) - Jul23

101. Iron + Carbon = Innovations (Clean Power, LDES, Hydrogen, CCUS) - Jul23

100. “2030: have we succeeded the Energy Transition?” with Katherine Hamilton and Jigar Shah - Jun23

99. Operating a Grid in transition - Jun23

98. Optimising solar fleets: the “secret sauce” - May23

97. The endless conundrum of power markets reform - May23

96. How to monetise large scale Batteries? - Apr23

95. Zero Carbon Europe : Blue Pill or Red Pill? - Apr23

94. Heat Pumps are Hot - Mar23

93. Supply chain - wind, solar, batteries: how to fix the mess? - Mar23

92. Who’s winning the battery arms race? - Feb23

91. The radical transformations of the PPA market - Feb23

90. Blockchain, BigTech and 24/7 Green electrons - Jan23

89. Our Predictions for 2023 - Jan23

88. The Solar Juggernaut - dec22

87. Inflection point for Biogas/Biomethane - dec22

86. The politics of Energy Infrastructure - nov22

85. Energy Trading: the "Lehman Moment" - nov22

84. Floating Offshore Wind - oct22