This week’s guest on Cleaning Up is Paddy Padmanathan, the person who may have done more than any other to usher in the age of low-cost renewables. As CEO of ACWA Power, Paddy was instrumental in reducing the cost of clean energy across the globe, continually breaking records for the price at which solar power could be delivered. 

From 2004 until his departure earlier this year, Paddy led the company from startup to energy giant, with an investment value of $62.6 billion. More recently, Paddy is co-founder of both Xlinks and new venture Zhero BV, developing renewable power and hydrogen projects. 

Michael and Paddy discussed what it took to deliver solar at a price previously thought impossible, the importance of pricing investment risk in the developing world correctly, and Paddy’s vision for a faster, more interconnected path to net-zero around the globe. 

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Links and Related Episodes 

Watch Episode 92 with Simon Morrish, CEO of Xlinks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6KIMswZkWA 

Watch Episode 124 with Damilola Ogunbiyi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbN1Y1C0ido Watch Episode 126 with Marco Alverà: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1JvS0ArNwQ 

Watch Episode 128 with Prof. Bent Flyvbjerg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN79-5S5d5c 

Read Michael’s latest piece for BloombergNEF on the electrification of heat here: https://about.bnef.com/blog/liebreich-the-next-half-trillion-dollar-market-electrification-of-heat/

Guest Bio 

Paddy Padmanathan is a seasoned engineering and energy expert with over 40 years of experience. As CEO of ACWA Power, he spearheaded its expansion from startup in 2004 to a leading private developer, owner and operator of power generation and desalinated water production plants. Headquartered in Saudi Arabia, the company now has a portfolio of 62 assets with an investment value of USD 62.6 billion, producing 38.9 GW of power. 

Prior to joining ACWA Power, Paddy was Vice President and Corporate officer at Black and Veatch, where he was responsible for developing privately financed power, water and wastewater projects in over a dozen countries. Paddy also serves on the Board of Directors of several companies involved in the power and water development sector across the globe, including Zhero BV, Xlinks, Ltd., and Desolenator BV. 

Paddy holds an engineering degree from the University of Manchester and a postgraduate qualification in civil engineering from the University of Lancaster.