Currents
200 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 113 ratingsCurrents is a podcast published by Norton Rose Fulbright that features in-depth discussions on the latest developments in project finance. The podcast is hosted by partner Todd Alexander, who interviews key business leaders and policy makers to investigate important trends affecting the energy and infrastructure space.
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Episodes
Ep146: What's Next in C&I Solar
March 01, 2021 05:00 - 23 minutes - 22.1 MBRichard Walsh, managing partner at Madison Energy Investments, joins us to talk about trends he is seeing in the C&I solar market. We get into the best state markets for C&I solar and emerging markets, how storage is becoming part of projects, how investors can keep track of the different markets despite the rapid pace of change, how the corporate push for renewable energy has affected C&I solar, how retail energy providers play a role in deregulated state electricity markets and more.
Ep145: Recycling Lithium Batteries
February 23, 2021 05:00 - 22 minutes - 20 MBKunal Phalpher, CCO of Li-Cycle, joins us to talk about recycling lithium-ion batteries. We get into the size of the market, what is recycled out of the batteries, how much of the materials extracted can be used in new batteries, the impact the growing energy storage market will have on the need to recycle batteries and more.
Ep144: Meet the DC Green Bank
February 15, 2021 05:00 - 29 minutes - 27.6 MBEli Hopson, CEO, and Jay Lurie, CIO, at the DC Green Bank join us to give an overview of the bank, why it was established and the goals it has set for itself. We discuss its available capital, priority sectors, how its financings are structured, the near-term opportunities and obstacles it sees, how private capital and service providers can start a discussion with the bank about working together and more.
Ep143: The Current State of PPAs
February 08, 2021 05:00 - 26 minutes - 23.7 MBBryce Smith, CEO, and Rob Collier, vice president, developer relations of LevelTen Energy, join us to discuss the company and the current state of PPA offer prices and trends. We get into how the renewable energy industry has changed in the last decade, what they are seeing in the PPA market, Q4 data on solar and wind P50 prices, their forecast for 2021 and more.
Ep142: Climate Adaptive Infrastructure
February 01, 2021 05:00 - 20 minutes - 17.9 MBBill Green, managing partner of Climate Adaptive Infrastructure, joins us to talk about the meaning of the firm’s name and its mandate. We get into how Climate Adaptive Infrastructure is different from typical infrastructure investors, how the firm is tackling the ‘triple threat risk’ of the climate crisis, examples of recent investments the firm has made, areas that it is targeting, the point at which it wants to invest in a project and more.
Ep141: Leveraging Technology to Scale Clean Energy
January 25, 2021 05:00 - 26 minutes - 22.3 MBRudy Roy, CEO of HST, joins us to discuss the technology company’s mission of improving people’s lives by scaling clean energy. We discuss how HST has scaled its platform to have thousands of projects in over 100 countries, who the platform’s customers are, how its metasearch functionality works and applies to clean energy, how a software company can reduce a gigaton of carbon emissions, the challenges and opportunities he sees for global cooperation in the buildout of clean energy and more.
Ep140: Cost of Capital: 2021 Outlook
January 21, 2021 05:00 - 1 hour - 38.8 MBMany developers struggled during 2020 to find tax equity. Economists expect growth to start slow and accelerate by year end. Interest rates remain low, but the yield curve is becoming steeper as the bond market takes into account the potential for future inflation. Listen to a discussion led by Keith Martin, partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, among John C.S. Anderson, global head of corporate finance and infrastructure at Manulife, Jean-Pierre Boudrias, managing director and head of project fi...
Ep139: Arcadia's Community Solar Strategy
January 19, 2021 05:00 - 24 minutes - 21.3 MBKiran Bhatraju, CEO of Arcadia, and Jorge Vargas, operating partner at Energy Impact Partners, join us to discuss Arcadia’s community solar strategy, including subscriber management. We discuss the benefits of community solar compared to retail or rooftop, where the market is most active, how to manage community solar offtake effectively, how billing works, how customers can save money, Arcadia’s work with the project finance community, getting investors comfortable with no FICO scores and more.
Ep138: A Look at the Corporate PPA Market
January 11, 2021 05:00 - 24 minutes - 20.5 MBJohn D. Powers, vice president, global renewables and cleantech at Schneider Electric, joins us for a close look at trends in the corporate renewable energy market. We discuss how an organization can best accelerate its carbon neutrality efforts, Schneider Electric’s Gigaton PPA Program with Walmart, whether other organizations can replicate the program, new corporate PPA markets that are emerging, opportunities for organizations to automate and digitize, other sustainability models and techn...
Ep137: Community Solar Market Update
January 04, 2021 05:00 - 35 minutes - 30.8 MBAdam Kuehne, senior vice president of project finance at Summit Ridge Energy, a leading owner-operator of community solar projects in the US, joins us for a community solar market update. We discuss the market today, how it has been affected by COVID, what 2021 will look like, the next variants of community solar, his wish list for regulatory reform and more.
Ep136: Tax Extender Bill Unpacked
December 22, 2020 05:00 - 8 minutes - 7.91 MBKeith Martin, partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, joins us to unpack the tax extenders bill that cleared Congress on Monday night. We discuss how the bill affects solar, wind, and other renewable energy projects, the immediate impact on the market, who the biggest beneficiaries are and more.
Ep135: Smart Technology in the Energy Industry
December 21, 2020 05:00 - 20 minutes - 16.8 MBNick Merricks, head of UK smart electricity meter products at Landis+Gyr, joins us to discuss smart technology in the energy industry. We discuss how COVID-19 has affected the market, the growing need to invest in infrastructure that will support the energy transition, how vital smart meters are to reaching net-zero carbon emissions, how regulation affects energy digitalization, what technologies Landis+Gyr is developing to support deployment of EVs and more.
Ep134: Developing Solar + Storage
December 15, 2020 05:00 - 32 minutes - 27 MBSteve Vavrik, chief executive officer, Josh Prueher, chief financial officer, Mark Klein, chief operating officer, and Doug Moorehead, chief technology officer of Broad Reach Power, join us to discuss their investment strategy in solar + storage. We get into why they are so heavily concentrated in ERCOT and California, how they are different from other developers, the new battery projects they are developing in ERCOT, the changes they have seen in battery projects over the last decade and wh...
Ep133: Clean Energy and Rural America’s Economic Rebound
December 07, 2020 05:00 - 31 minutes - 26.6 MBReid Spolek, energy lead at Google, Chris Hansen, vice president of origination and renewables at TVA, Spencer Sessions, senior manager of economic development at TVA and Johan Vanhee, chief commercial officer and chief procurement officer at Origis Energy, join us to discuss the role of clean energy in rural America’s economic rebound. We discuss how the organizations are involved with solar and energy storage in rural American communities, how the projects affect low-revenue-base communitie...
Ep132: District Energy Sector Update
November 30, 2020 05:00 - 17 minutes - 15.7 MBJonathan Yates, associate principal with Arup, joins us for an update on the district energy space. We discuss why district energy is getting a lot of attention right now, what activity Arup is currently seeing in the market, how COVID is affecting the outlook for new projects, factors to consider when looking at how to procure energy for projects, the future of technology in the space, how to assess when a district-energy system is the right solution for a project, key issues for sponsors an...
Ep131: An Introduction to the World Energy Council
November 23, 2020 05:00 - 26 minutes - 22.7 MBDr. Angela Wilkinson, secretary general of the World Energy Council, joins us to discuss the Council’s mission. We get into the differences between the Council and other organizations, the impact that COVID-19 will have on the industry, the Council’s “Humanizing Energy” theme and what it is looking to achieve, why the energy transition is important, the “Energy Plus community” and how it relates to the transition, the Council’s immediate priorities and much more.
Ep130: Risk Management in 2020
November 16, 2020 05:00 - 23 minutes - 21.1 MBKimberlee Centera, CEO of TerraPro Solutions, joins us to discuss her company and how it is handling risk management during this unprecedented year. We get into what TerraPro Solutions does, some of the risks involved in developing utility-scale energy projects, challenges developers are facing, how delays related to COVID-19 are being managed, how to build trust among stakeholders and much more.
Ep129: Post-Election Analysis
November 06, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 41 MBFive veteran Washington observers talked about what changes to expect for renewable energy and the project finance market as a result of the election. John Gimigliano, principal in charge, federal tax and regulatory services at KPMG, Brandon Hurlbut, partner at Boundary Stone Partners and co-host of the “Political Climate” podcast, Joe Mikrut, partner at Capitol Tax Partners, Christine Tezak, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners, and Eric Wolff, an energy reporter at Politico, joine...
Ep128: Investing in Energy Innovation
November 02, 2020 05:00 - 24 minutes - 21.4 MBChris Leary, investment partner at Orion Energy Partners, joins us to discuss how the company invests in energy innovation. We get into how Orion defines energy innovation, what it has already invested in, why it believes this approach is important, the drivers of acceleration in ESG investing, who else is active in the space and much more.
Ep127: Residential Geothermal Energy
October 26, 2020 05:00 - 18 minutes - 16 MBKathy Hannun, president and co-founder of Dandelion Energy, joins us to discuss residential geothermal heating and cooling. We dive into her background, why she decided to form Dandelion Energy, how geothermal heating and cooling is an efficient, clean alternative to fossil fuel heating, the challenges and opportunities in the industry, what innovations are needed in order for geothermal to go mainstream and more.
Ep126: Bitcoin and the Energy Industry Explained
October 19, 2020 05:00 - 25 minutes - 21.6 MBJohnPaul Baric, CEO of Aurum Capital Ventures Inc., joins us to explain the relationship between bitcoin mining and the energy industry. We dive into what bitcoin mining is, why bitcoins are scarce, how bitcoin mining is a new way to monetize energy, how miners interact with the power grid, who is currently funding miners operations, where he sees the bitcoin space going in the next five years and more.
Ep125: What's New in the Market
October 16, 2020 05:00 - 35 minutes - 25.6 MBThe November elections carry significant potential upside for renewable energy companies. The election is factoring into construction-start strategies. A FERC order involving Broadview Solar has many solar developers up in arms. More than 3,400 companies have filed suit against the Trump administration to get back duties paid on Chinese products. A test case involving COVID-19 claims under business interruption insurance policies was decided in September. The tax equity market remains a tale ...
Ep124: ESG and Solar Energy Infrastructure
October 12, 2020 05:00 - 24 minutes - 21.2 MBYuri Horowitz, CEO of Sol Systems, joins us to discuss the convergence of social and environmental impact principles on solar energy infrastructure. We talk about what motivates corporations to take action, the challenges of implementation, how corporations are integrating ESG into their solar procurement strategies, Sol Systems’ recent groundbreaking solar power community investment agreement with Microsoft and more.
Ep123: 2020 Solar Production Index
October 05, 2020 05:00 - 23 minutes - 20.5 MBRichard Matsui, CEO and founder of kWh Analytics, joins us to unpack a new kWh study that found US utility-scale solar projects are underperforming P50 production estimates on average by 6.3%.
Ep122: Highlander Transaction: sPower's 620 MW Solar Plant
September 28, 2020 05:00 - 37 minutes - 33.6 MBBrian Callaway, vice president, structured finance at sPower, and Conor McKenna, managing director at CohnReznick Capital Markets, walk us through the Highlander transaction, sPower’s 620-MW solar project and the largest solar plant east of the Mississippi. The pair discusses the developer’s vision for the project, how they were able to bring together so many high-profile counterparties, the challenges they faced to get it across the finish line, how they handled ESG and NIMBY, the complex fi...
Ep121: Edison Energy’s Return to Europe
September 21, 2020 05:00 - 21 minutes - 18.6 MBChristen Blum, vice president, renewables advisory and analytics, and Emily Williams, vice president, strategy and sustainability at Edison Energy, join us to discuss vPPAs, PPAs and Edison’s entrance into the European market. They get into the difference between vPPAs and PPAs, which model is used more widely in Europe, how COVID-19 is affecting corporate interest in renewable energy and much more.
Ep120: Entrepreneuer Targets Climate Change: Norman Crowley
September 14, 2020 05:00 - 30 minutes - 26.2 MBNorman Crowley, serial entrepreneur and founder and head of Cool Planet Group, joins us to discuss his entrepreneurial adventures in renewables and what his nonprofit foundation, The Cool Planet Experience, was created to address. We journey from the first company he created at 16 to his retirement at 28, the energy efficiency company he founded in 2010, Crowley Carbon, Electrfi, his electric car company that creates world-class hypercars, the solar company he launched last year, his foundati...
Mexico Renewables Market Update
September 09, 2020 05:00 - 33 minutes - 27.4 MBRaquel Bierzwinsky, partner in Norton Rose Fulbright’s Mexico City and New York offices, joins us to discuss the renewables market in Mexico almost two years into AMLO’s term in office. She goes over the shift in government policy and what it means for project developers and lenders.
Ep118: California Blackouts and Renewables
August 31, 2020 05:00 - 17 minutes - 15.4 MBJan Smutny-Jones, chief executive officer of the Independent Energy Producers Association, joins us to discuss the recent blackouts in California and how the renewables industry is related. Jan explains what has been happening, what could be done to prevent future blackouts and how storage can help, the investigation that is currently underway, the effect the blackouts might have on political support for the state’s high renewable portfolio standard goals and more.
Ep117: Commercial Bank, Term Loan B and Project Bond Market
August 24, 2020 05:00 - 26 minutes - 22.1 MBRalph Cho and Mike Pantelogianis, Power & Infrastructure Finance Co-heads for Investec in North America, join us to discuss the commercial bank, term loan B and project bond lending markets. We get into the different features of each market, how lenders deal with construction risk differently, the speed of execution and ratings as well as the current tax equity market and the group’s picks for this year’s World Series.
Ep116: Floating Wind: US Outlook
August 17, 2020 05:00 - 21 minutes - 18.7 MBDr. Alana Duerr, director, offshore wind North America at DNV GL, joins us to discuss the outlook for floating wind in the United States. We get into what floating wind is, the different types, in which global markets floating wind has already gotten traction, where floating wind will work in the US, its advantages and challenges and more.
Ep115: Enabling Bankability for New Technologies
August 10, 2020 05:00 - 21 minutes - 18.5 MBTom Dickson, CEO of New Energy Risk, joins us to discuss how the company is enabling project finance and bankability for new technologies through insurance. We go over the void that New Energy Risk is filling, how its product offerings evolve over time, how to scale energy storage, how carbon capture will compare to other industries, trends in capital markets and more.
Ep114: COVID-19's Effect on Utilities
August 03, 2020 05:00 - 22 minutes - 18.7 MBRobert Mudge, principal at The Brattle Group, joins us to go over the company’s report on the impact COVID-19 is having on utilities. We go over how electric load has been affected, how effects vary among different types of utility customers, how they are expected to change over time and by region, the financial consequences for utilities, how states are responding, commodity pricing and more.
Ep113: Condition of the Tax Equity Market
July 28, 2020 05:00 - 48 minutes - 36.8 MBMany developers report trouble raising tax equity this year for renewable energy projects. This is the third in a series of calls since late March with different tax equity investors to test the current condition of the market. Keith Martin, partner in Washington, is joined by Robert Capps, managing director at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Eric Cohen, group head – renewable energy finance at Fifth Third Bank, Eric Heintz, director of energy finance at M&T Bank, B. Scott McClain, executive vice...
Ep112: Solar Risk Assessment Report 2020
July 27, 2020 05:00 - 29 minutes - 24.7 MBRichard Matsui, CEO and co-founder of kWh Analytics, and Dana Olson, solar segment leader at DNV GL, are back to discuss the second annual "Solar Risk Assessment" report in which they, along with industry experts from eight other companies, share their quantitative insights on solar production risk. We get into the trends that are being seen in the market, the underperformance that is being found, what is causing it and much more.
Ep111: Lessons Learned from PG&E's Bankruptcy
July 22, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 40.6 MBPG&E is on its way out of bankruptcy, and there are many lessons to learn from the largest American utility’s second trip through bankruptcy. We briefly cover the political and regulatory issues lurking in the background and then dive into the lessons learned from people who were affected by the bankruptcy, cover what they would do differently if it were to happen again, address how to price bankruptcy risk and discuss how the industry is approaching projects with PG&E offtake contracts and C...
Ep110: Behind-the-Meter Storage
July 20, 2020 05:00 - 23 minutes - 22.4 MBBrian Warshay, principal consultant, DER and energy storage at DNV GL, joins us to discuss opportunities in behind-the-meter storage. We get into how companies can make money in BTM solar and storage, how the projects are financed, how companies are changing their business models to adapt to the evolving market, additional entities that can get involved in BTM storage, how customer data can be used to increase value to energy providers and customers, what he is currently seeing in the communi...
Ep109: What's New in the Market
July 16, 2020 17:00 - 39 minutes - 26.3 MBAnother economic stimulus bill is expected in August. A refundable tax credit proposal has gotten traction among Republicans. Tax equity is harder for many developers to find this year. A key motion being argued before a federal court in Washington this month could affect contest rights in tax equity deals. Keith Martin, partner in Washington, gives a lively half-hour update on what is new in the market.
Ep108: Making C&I Solar Attractive to Institutional Investor
July 13, 2020 05:00 - 20 minutes - 17.7 MBSteve Cunningham, managing partner of Madison Energy Investments, joins us to explain the details of investing in C&I solar. We discuss what C&I means in the context of size, offtaker and style, why it exists and what the benefits are versus utility-scale solar, what makes C&I attractive for investors, the specific risks in C&I, how site control is handled, the benefits of scaling and much more.
Ep107: Energy Storage in ERCOT
July 06, 2020 05:00 - 29 minutes - 27.6 MBCaitlin Smith, vice president, and Matthew Berend, co-founder, of AB Power Advisors, and Sam Porter, senior counsel at Norton Rose Fulbright, join us to discuss energy storage projects in ERCOT. We discuss what storage projects have been done so far in ERCOT, the regulatory background, ancillary service opportunities for storage, how much storage is currently in the queue, what incentives there are to build storage, who might be interested in these projects and more.
Ep106: Brightmark on Renewable Natural Gas
June 29, 2020 21:03 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBBob Powell, founder and CEO of Brightmark, joins us to discuss his company and the important environmental problems it is solving. He discusses the projects on which the company is working in renewable natural gas, how he decided to get into the RNG space, how the arrangements are typically structured, the value for offtakers, the company’s work in advanced plastics recycling and where he sees the next big opportunity.
Ep105: Distributed Generation's Reaction to COVID-19
June 22, 2020 05:00 - 25 minutes - 24.7 MBRichard Dovere, managing member of C2 Energy Capital, joins us to discuss how COVID-19 has affected the distributed generation sector. We discuss factors that are coming into play on resiliency and the role of DG, the current appetite for new PPAs, how the pandemic is affecting project returns, how the tax equity and debt markets are responding to market conditions and more.
Ep104: Clean Energy Associates on Supply Chain, QA and IE
June 15, 2020 05:00 - 28 minutes - 25.2 MBAndy Klump, CEO of Clean Energy Associates, joins us to discuss trends the company is seeing in quality assurance and independent engineering work globally since COVID-19 became a pandemic. He discusses the type of work the company is still able to do amidst shutdowns, the trends it sees in the supply chain, where energy storage is headed, lessons learned that the storage industry should consider, his prediction for how the renewables industry will emerge post-pandemic and more.
Ep103: Hawaiian Electric and EVs
June 08, 2020 05:00 - 21 minutes - 19.4 MBAki Marceau, director of electrification of transportation, and Yoh Kawanami, director of customer energy resources, operations at Hawaiian Electric, join us to discuss Hawaiian Electric’s efforts to electrify transportation on the islands. We talk about the unique position that the utility is in, how it has been affected by COVID-19, the utility’s demand response department, its EV charging program with Enel X and more.
Ep102: Tax Equity and Carbon Sequestration
June 03, 2020 05:00 - 50 minutes - 34.5 MBHow should carbon sequestration transactions be structured in light of proposed regulations the IRS issued on May 27 about claiming section 45Q tax credits? The IRS has disallowed over half the tax credits claimed so far. Keith Martin, David Burton and Amanda Rosenberg talk about three ways to structure such transactions and more.
Ep101: State of Tax Equity
May 22, 2020 05:00 - 46 minutes - 32.3 MBMany developers report that the tide appears to be flowing out on tax equity. At the same time, the two largest tax equity investors say it is business as usual for them. We talked to Peter Cross, managing director at Credit Suisse Securities, Jorge Iragorri, head of the alternative financing group at Morgan Stanley, George Revock, head of alternative energy and project finance at Capital One, and Darren van’t Hof, managing director of environmental and community capital at US Bank, about the...
Ep100: Energetic Insurance: Removing the Risk in Solar
May 20, 2020 05:00 - 16 minutes - 14.2 MBJames Bowen, co-founder of Energetic Insurance, joins us to discuss his company’s story and the problems that its insurance policy solves. We get into who should consider using the product, the value proposition, who benefits, how the policy helps when there is a lack of tax equity, if it can enable securitizations or other capital market transactions and more.
Ep99: Enel X on EV Charging and the Renewable Grid
May 13, 2020 05:00 - 19 minutes - 17.5 MBGiovanni Bertolino, head of e-mobility at Enel X, joins us to discuss the rapidly evolving electric vehicle sector and the potential impact on the renewable grid. We discuss Enel X’s role in energy and transportation, some of the broader impacts of COVID-19, how government incentives encourage sales of EVs and installation of charging infrastructure, how increased EV adoption might affect the energy grid, smart charging strategies that utilities are using today and more.
Ep98: Uncertain Times: The Role of IFIs
May 11, 2020 05:00 - 58 minutes - 38.2 MBIn times of economic and financial crisis, commercial lending and private sector investment into emerging markets – even for projects or opportunities with sound economics and credit fundamentals – often dry up. Development finance institutions and export credit agencies are often called upon to step into the breach. While aggregate investment declines, IFIs, in effect, see a larger piece of a smaller pie. In these unprecedented times of global pandemic and meltdown of the world economies and...
Ep97: Trump's Executive Order Banning Equipment
May 06, 2020 05:00 - 12 minutes - 11.6 MBKeith Martin, partner in Washington, joins us to discuss the recent executive order banning equipment provided by companies in foreign adversary countries. We get into what the ban covers, which power projects are affected, how it will work in practice, when it will take effect and how it might affect equipment already installed. We also cover the recently launched investigation that may lead to tariffs on imported electrical transformers and their components.