Nick Knapp, senior managing director, and Mike Yurkerwich, director with CohnReznick Capital, join us to talk about what sponsors need to know to finance carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects. We discuss what CCS is and why it is an important component of the energy transition, what the current market for CCS is in the US, the market drivers spurring growth, capital requirements for CCS projects, key financing considerations, what financing structures are most likely to increase comfor...
Jul 26, 2021•29 min•Ep. 169
Due to the increased investor appetite for digital infrastructure and growing governmental focus on improving connectivity, digital assets like data centers are crucial in supporting the growth of smart and sustainable cities. Listen to a discussion led by David Barksdale, partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, among Kristina Metzger, senior vice president and leader of CBRE Data Center Capital Markets, Ben Wobschalll, managing director at Principal Global Investors, Sicco Boomsma, managing direct at...
Jul 20, 2021•58 min•Ep. 168
Bret Kugelmass, managing director of the Energy Impact Center, joins us to talk about why nuclear is his chosen technology to reach our carbon goals. We get into what small modular reactors (SMRs) are and how they are different from the larger traditional nuclear reactors, what the main challenges are in the commercialization of SMRs, the current opportunities for SMR developers, how the OPEN100 model is different from other developers’ models and more.
Jul 12, 2021•22 min•Ep. 167
Damian Georgino, with Norton Rose Fulbright, joins us to discuss investing in water infrastructure. We start with how he got into the water space, what the market looks like today, the diligence questions that investors should be asking, how rates are regulated in the market, where the investment opportunities are and more.
Jul 06, 2021•30 min•Ep. 166
James Wright, managing director and head of renewables, clean energy and sustainability with CIBC Capital Markets, joins us to discuss batteries and energy storage. We get into why it has taken so long for battery storage deals to come to the project finance lending market, how lenders are thinking about the unique risk factors that come with a new technology, why these battery projects are more bankable now, what is holding back some of the non-lithium technologies from making it to bankers’ de...
Jun 28, 2021•19 min•Ep. 165
Kimberlee Centera, CEO of TerraPro Solutions, joins us to discuss the critical aspects of utility-scale transmission development. We discuss key issues and challenges for transmission line development, land use feasibility, tax credits and incentives, site location, project development and timing and more.
Jun 21, 2021•22 min•Ep. 164
Andy Klump, CEO of Clean Energy Associates, joins us to discuss supply chain traceability. We get into the concerns over polysilicon made in Xinjiang that many financiers and developers have due to their ESG-minded stakeholders, the work that CEA has been doing on supply chain traceability, its expansion into downstream engineering services work in the US, the challenges that Klump sees as more multinational corporations and financial institutions shift to renewables and more.
Jun 15, 2021•28 min•Ep. 163
Richard Matsui, CEO of kWh Analytics, and Joe Kastner, CEO of Radian Generation, join us to discuss the 2021 Solar Risk Assessment Report. We discuss the findings of the report’s third edition, what the risk assessments mean for the solar project finance community, the problems the research found, Matsui’s and Kastner’s perspectives on the underperformance issues that were uncovered in last year’s report, things to be optimistic about and more.
Jun 08, 2021•24 min•Ep. 162
Laura Pagliarulo, president of SolaREIT, joins us to talk about ways to reduce project costs in clean energy projects. We discuss how SolaREIT works with landowners and developers on land acquisition and lease monetization, the types of investors it has, the liquidity it is providing landowners, at what stage SolaREIT buys the land or lease, how it interacts with financing parties and more.
Jun 01, 2021•22 min•Ep. 161
Nacho Ruiz Hens, managing director at Karbone, joins us to talk about breaking into the US renewable energy market for foreign investors, especially from Spain. We discuss the attraction of the US market, the main barriers to entry, the current activity from Spain, what opportunities he sees and more.
May 24, 2021•26 min•Ep. 160
Trevor Pinkerton and Lior Nuchi with Norton Rose Fulbright join us to discuss the renewable energy SPAC market. We discuss the boom the SPAC market has seen in the last year, the recent slowdown of SPAC IPOs and why it is happening, why technology-focused companies are subject to de-SPACing, the history of renewable energy in the SPAC world, what happens with the deals after they close, how much de-SPACing is happening and more.
May 18, 2021•27 min•Ep. 159
Dr. Javier Cavada, CEO of Highview Power, joins us to talk about the energy storage technology on which the company is working. We discuss the energy storage landscape and where he sees it going in the future, market drivers for long-duration energy storage, some of the challenges with long-duration energy storage that Highview Power is addressing, projects the company is developing, the company’s growth plans, its recent $70 million funding and more.
May 11, 2021•33 min•Ep. 158
Lee Taylor, CEO of REsurety, joins us discuss the carbon accounting market. We discuss how the company has solved the missing piece of the carbon accounting puzzle, how it has found that some renewable projects displace as much as twice the amount of carbon as others, what locational marginal prices are and how they work, a new concept called locational marginal emissions and how it can help energy buyers double their carbon savings, how this relates to Google’s 24/7 system and more.
May 03, 2021•23 min•Ep. 157
Danny Kennedy, an early pioneer in the residential solar rooftop sector and now CEO of New Energy Nexus, a non-profit that connects entrepreneurs to capital to build clean energy projects, joins us to discuss the future of clean energy. We get into his view on the fate of coal, who is winning the race for the future, what will happen to petro states in an EV economy, China’s role in clean energy, the biggest opportunities for impact and return, the most exciting entrepreneurs in the company’s po...
Apr 26, 2021•36 min•Ep. 156
Daniel Goldman, co-founder and managing director of Clean Energy Ventures, joins us to discuss green infrastructure investment. We go over what Clean Energy Ventures looks for in potential clean energy and climate tech companies in which to invest, how its investment approach toward early-stage companies differs from the traditional venture capital model, what areas it considers most promising, what trends and technologies in the climate tech sector it expects to gain momentum in the next year a...
Apr 19, 2021•25 min•Ep. 155
Simon Morrish, entrepreneur and CEO of Xlinks, joins us to discuss the ambitious Xlinks solar project, which transfers solar energy from Morocco via a 6.3 GW subsea cable to the UK. We get into the scope of the project, where the idea came from, the current project status and next steps, how projects like this are financed, if the model can be replicated internationally, how he is able to convince skeptics and more.
Apr 12, 2021•23 min•Ep. 154
What is the outlook in Congress for the massive infrastructure plan that President Biden unveiled last week? Listen as four veteran Washington observers, John Gimigliano, principal-in-charge, federal tax legislative and regulatory services, KMPG Global, Elissa Levin, director, federal government affairs, Avangrid, Inc., Joe Mikrut, partner, Capitol Tax Partners, and Chris Miller, partner, AJW, Inc., discuss which parts of the plan they expect to be enacted with Keith Martin from Norton Rose Fulb...
Apr 06, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 153
Adam Stern, executive director of Offshore Wind California, and Jim Berger, partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, join us to discuss prospects and growing momentum for offshore wind power in California. We start with an overview of progress to harness offshore wind in the US, the potential to bring this renewable energy technology to California, what it would mean for clean power, jobs and climate in the Golden State, new legislative initiatives as well as hurdles and financing to develop offshore w...
Mar 29, 2021•20 min•Ep. 152
Charles Wheeler, president, co-CEO and CIO, and Benjamin Baker, managing director, at Greebacker Capital join us to discuss the firm’s mission and their fundamental approach to sustainable infrastructure. We discuss some of the most notable changes in renewable energy since the firm was founded, the hardest part about navigating the industry, the competitive landscape, the shift to a private equity focus, how the firm is expected to evolve and much more.
Mar 22, 2021•28 min•Ep. 151
Has the appetite among banks and tax equity investors to finance hedged merchant power and storage projects changed as a result of the events last month in Texas and, if so, how? What lessons did lenders and tax equity investors take away about how to do future projects? Are the effects limited to projects in ERCOT? Sven Wellock, managing director and co-lead of energy – renewables and power at ING Capital, Daniel Miller, managing director at CIT Energy, James Wright, managing director and head ...
Mar 19, 2021•46 min•Ep. 150
Richard Matsui, CEO of kWh Analytics, joins us for an update on the Solar Lendscape. He covers what is new in tax equity, gives a breakdown of three trends he is seeing on the lender side and an update on the underperformance of solar projects that was uncovered in the Solar Generation Index, explains how underperformance might affect refinancing and more.
Mar 15, 2021•15 min•Ep. 149
Close to 4,000 people registered to listen to a discussion among three experts about the prospects for hydrogen. Interest is particularly high in green hydrogen, which is expected to play a significant role as the US moves rapidly to decarbonize. Sheldon Kimber, CEO and founder of Intersect Power, Karen Lee, senior counsel for commercial law at the Southern California Gas Company, and Sanjay Shrestha, chief strategy officer of Plug Power, talked with Jim Berger and Deanne Barrow with Norton Rose...
Mar 11, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 148
Eren Ergin, general manager of renewables and distributed assets at Honeywell, joins us to talk about stationary battery storage. We discuss what Honeywell is doing in the market, how it has created a business unit focusing on storage, how it believes it can compete and succeed long-term, how remote operation centers tie into asset management, safety concerns for projects, misconceptions about battery storage in the infrastructure investment community and much more.
Mar 08, 2021•24 min•Ep. 147
Richard 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 mor...
Mar 01, 2021•24 min•Ep. 146
Kunal 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.
Feb 23, 2021•23 min•Ep. 145
Eli 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.
Feb 15, 2021•30 min•Ep. 144
Bryce 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.
Feb 08, 2021•27 min•Ep. 143
Bill 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.
Feb 01, 2021•20 min•Ep. 142
Rudy 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.
Jan 25, 2021•27 min•Ep. 141
Many 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 finan...
Jan 21, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 140
