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Currents

Norton Rose Fulbrightwww.projectfinance.law
Currents 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

Ep228: CEO of Spearmint Energy on Battery Energy Storage

Andrew Waranch, CEO of Spearmint Energy, joins us to discuss his company and why he chose to go into battery energy storage, how the growing availability of energy storage options has affected the larger renewable energy market, tax equity’s interest in energy storage, what incentives the Inflation Reduction Act has created for energy storage investments, and more.

Nov 02, 202329 min

Ep227: Intersect Power CEO on the Power Grid

Sheldon Kimber, CEO of Intersect Power, joins Todd Alexander for a discussion about the United States power grid system. He discusses what challenges the system poses to energy transition strategies, the dependency on natural gas, misconceptions that may exist around the power grid, and more.

Oct 26, 202331 min

Ep226: Aon Co-CEO Gives an Overview of Tax Credit Insurance

Gary Blitz, global co-CEO of Aon's M&A and transaction solutions practice, joins us to talk about the insurance market for tax credit transfers. He explains what risks underwriters are willing to insure, how the Inflation Reduction Act and transferability are changing the use of tax credit insurance, whether the supply of insurance is keeping pace with growing demand, how pricing is being affected, and what claims have been paid on these policies.

Oct 19, 202324 min

Ep225: Invenergy Vice Presidents Discuss Build-Transfer Transactions

Kyle Hermanson and Nate Hoeppner of Invenergy join us to discuss build-transfer transactions (BTAs), why they are attractive to utilities, how the Inflation Reduction Act has affected the BTA market, what risks they entail, and what the future holds for these transactions. Norton Rose Fulbright will be providing an in-depth webinar on build-transfer transactions in the new year. Subscribe to our Project Finance mailing list on www.projectfinance.law to receive updates and webinar notifications....

Oct 12, 202328 min

Ep224: Energy Storage Outlook

Adam Hise, managing director of storage risk solution at Ascend Analytics, joins us to discuss the size and position of the energy storage market, the potential of that market, and Ascend’s new revenue risk product for energy storage.

Oct 05, 202326 min

Currents Bonus Episode: Renewables Professionals Predict the World Series

In this bonus episode, friends of the pod give their predictions on who will win the 2024 World Series. Contributors Todd Alexander – Norton Rose Fulbright Chris Miller – Guzman Energy David Rosenblatt – Arava Power Company Emma Raine – CIBC Capital Markets Andrew Ehrlickman – Brookfield Asset Management Jae Kwon – Credit Agricole Raquel Bierzwinsky – Norton Rose Fulbright Gary Blitz – Aon Kristin Meikle – Bechtel Enterprises Andrew Waranch – Spearmint Energy Emily Rogers – Norton Rose Fulbright...

Oct 03, 20237 min

Ep223: Investing in Decarbonization: Insights from an Experienced Investor

Benoit Allehaut, chief investment officer at XCarbon Technologies, joins Todd Alexander for a discussion about investment trends in the wind and solar sectors, other areas of potential interest to investors, how changes in interest rates, construction costs and availability of capital are affectin the market, what decarbonization technologies are coming to market, and more.

Sep 28, 202328 min

Ep222: An Assessment of the IRA

Bill Green, managing partner of Climate Adaptive Infrastructure, joins Todd Alexander in a wide-ranging discussion about how the renewable energy market may not be fully appreciating the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act, issues developers are having with financing and with how IRA funds are getting allocated, how the IRA has affected the global market, capacity of the tax equity market and areas that may be opportunities for investment.

Sep 21, 202328 min

Ep221: Opportunites for Sustainability in Commercial Real Estate

Michael Beckerman, CEO of CREtech, joins Todd Alexander to discuss how commercial real estate developers are taking a closer look at renewable energy sustainability. They go over what climate technologies developers are incorporating into their projects, what role the government is playing in encouraging adoption of such technologies, hurdles for adoption, predictions about the future, and more.

Sep 14, 202331 min

Ep220: Taking its toll — Tolling Agreements and Offtake Strategies

Christine Brozynski, partner in Norton Rose Fulbright’s projects practice, joins Todd Alexander to talk about recent trends in offtake strategies for energy storage projects. They go over how tolling agreements work, what risks that entail, what other offtake strategies developers are using and more.

Sep 07, 202317 min

Ep219: Northern Lights: Alight's CEO talks about solar in Scandinavia and the rest of Europe

Dr. Harald Överholm, CEO and founder of Alight, joins Todd Alexander to talk about the opportunities and challenges in the European solar market. They cover solar PPA demand in Scandinavia and other European regions, which markets are promising for expansion, Alight’s different approach to the market and how that has been received, the process of deploying capital in Europe, the equipment supply chain, Alight’s involvement in energy storage, and more.

Sep 01, 202328 min

Ep218: Debt Workouts and Liability Management Transactions

Eric Daucher, partner in Norton Rose Fulbright’s bankruptcy practice, joins Todd Alexander to talk about debt workouts and liability management transactions, how they are executed and leveraged, their legality, how investors and lenders can avoid litigation, and more.

Aug 24, 202320 min

Ep217: Ampion CEO Discusses Community Solar

Nate Owen, founder and CEO of Ampion, joins Todd Alexander to talk about what Ampion does and the role it plays in managing distributed generation projects. They also discuss the growth of community solar, what challenges community solar still faces, what innovations to expect, and more.

Aug 16, 202324 min

Ep216: Heating Up: New geo-thermal developments and technology

Neil Ethier, vice president of business development for Eavor, joins Todd Alexander to talk about the new approach Eavor has developed to tap geothermal energy. They discuss why geothermal is still an underused energy source, what is being done to make it more accessible, how new technology can keep costs competitive, what opportunities the company see for use and licensing, what are the investment challenges, how the Inflation Reduction Act will help, and more.

Aug 03, 202330 min

Ep215: Getting Worked Up—What to Know About the IRA’s Wage Requirements

Taylor Gant, business development manager at Alliant Consulting, joins Todd Alexander to explain the wage requirements portion of the Inflation Reduction Act. They go over what developers should understand about the requirements, how wages are determined, how developers can stay compliant, how the rules change based on market conditions and how the wage requirements in the IRA differ from the Davis-Bacon Act.

Jul 26, 202320 min

EP214: Plug Power CEO Discusses Future of Hydrogen Economy

Andy Marsh, president and CEO of Plug Power, joins Todd Alexander for a lively discussion about green hydrogen, theopportunities created by the Inflation Reduction, the competitiveness of green hydrogen, Washington’s role in implementing rules around green hydrogen, what Plug Power is doing to facilitate the transition to hydrogen and what markets it is pursuing.

Jul 20, 202329 min

Ep213: Community Solar Update

Aaron Halimi, President of Renewable Properties, speaks with Todd Alexander on a range of topics concerning community solar. Aaron gives an overview of how community solardiffers from other types of solar projects, the advantages and challenges it faces, how it will be affected by new California regulations and the Inflation Reduction Act, and more.

Jul 07, 202326 min

Ep212: Trends in the Renewables Market

Nick Knapp, partner and senior managing director at CohnReznick Capital, joins Todd Alexander for an overview of current and future market trends. Among the topics discussed are what is the current state of the M&A market, reasons behind any perceived slowdown, how the current climate affects strategies of asset holders, updates on the tax equity market, how transferability has affected that market and what are the best potential opportunities for investors.

Jun 29, 202327 min

Ep211: New Proposed IRS Guidance on Tax Credits Transferability

Episode 211: New Proposed IRS Guidance on Tax Credits Transferability Hilary Lefko, partner in Norton Rose Fulbright, joins host Todd Alexander in an in-depth conversation on the proposed guidance on tax credits and transferability recently released by the IRS. They cover how the new guidance addresses registration, payment for credits, regulations involving partnerships, individual purchasers, bonus credits, brokers, what new products can be expected and how the tax insurance market has reacted...

Jun 22, 202321 min

Ep210: Fuel Cells

Gregory Adams, Senior Vice President of FuelCell Energy, joins host Todd Alexander for a discussion about fuel cells, what they are, where they are used, what incentives the Inflation Reduction Act provides for fuel cell projects, where the risks are in such projects, and more.

Jun 16, 202323 min

Ep209: New legislation in Texas creates a murky landscape for renewables

Judd Messer, Vice President, and Jeffrey Clark, President and CEO, of the Advanced Power Alliance in Texas join host Todd Alexander in a lively discussion on the new legislation passed in Texas that imposes restrictions on renewable energy development. The speakers discusswhat the new legislation does, what investors and developers need to know about it and what could be the fallout.

Jun 09, 202328 min

Ep208: Current Trends in Renewables

Ted Brandt, CEO of Marathon Capital, LLC, talks with Todd Alexander about various subjects, including how the Inflation Reduction Act has affected the landscape of deals in the renewables sector, what to expect with transferability of tax credits, how M&A deals have held up in the renewables sector, and where to look for the most potential opportunities.

Jun 01, 202319 min

Ep207: The Climate Mobilization Act

Jeff Hendler, CEO of Logical Buildings, and our host Todd Alexander discuss the Climate Mobilization Act, what it is and how it affects the CRE and energy industries, how the statute is being implementedacross various building types and what opportunities it creates for investors and property owners.

May 19, 202329 min

Ep206: How the IRA has affected the MCOE

CohnReznick Capital’s Michael Tatarsky, Managing Director, and Colin Smith, Senior Research Analyst, join Todd Alexander to discuss the Market Cost of Energy (MCOE) in the wake of the Inflation Reduction Act. They go over how the IRA will affect pricing, the impact on PPA’s and how the market has reacted.

May 04, 202319 min

Ep205: “Transferability” - Tax Credit Sales

The Inflation Reduction Act last August let companies sell nine types of federal tax credits to other companies for cash. The window opened on such sales on January 1. Five market veterans discuss how the market is developing. Moderator Keith Martin is joined by Ted Brandt, CEO of Marathon Capital, Jack Cargas, Managing Director and Head of Tax Equity Origination at Bank of America, Billy Lee, President of Reunion (an electronic trading platform), Rubiao Song, Managing Director and Head of Energ...

Apr 28, 202359 min

Ep204: Global Mining Supply Chain

Martin McCann, partner in London, joins Todd Alexander to discuss the global mining supply chain. We discuss how the global EV boom is affecting precious metal mining, the competition among countries to be top in mining and battery manufacturing, how the Inflation Reduction Act is affecting investment in mining, how car makers are taking advantage of IRA tax credits, and more.

Apr 21, 202319 min

Ep203: Transferability of Tax Credits

Ep203: Transferability of Tax Credits Hilary Lefko, partner in Washington, joins Todd Alexander to discuss the transferability of tax credits. We discuss how federal transferability compares to the existing market for sales of state tax credits, how developers are taking advantage of transferability, how lenders look at it, what the market looks like for brokers, what has surprised Hilary about the market’s adoption of transferability, the timeline for the issuance of guidance and more....

Mar 28, 202316 min

Ep202: Bridge Banks: Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank Market Watch

Tim Byrne, Eric Daucher and Tom Delaney join Todd Alexander to discuss the formation of the bridge banks for Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and what to expect from them and government regulation going forward. We get into what will happen in terms of loans, outstanding credit arrangements and contractual obligations, the good news for depositors, how the bridge banks are backed, the effects on the Silicon Valley Bank parent company and the warrants the bank had, the outlook for tighter r...

Mar 16, 202324 min

Ep 201: Silicon Valley Bank Outlook

Silicon Valley Bank was placed into receivership on March 10. Tim Byrne, Eric Daucher and Tom Delaney join Todd Alexander to discuss what has unfolded for Silicon Valley Bank over the weekend and what it means for the project finance community. We discuss why a bridge bank would have been set up, if there are bankruptcy concerns for investors with funds in collateral accounts, depositors’ access to funds in their accounts, what existing borrowers may experience with additional extensions of cred...

Mar 13, 202317 min

Ep200: Cost of Capital: 2023 Outlook

Four veteran tax equity investors and lenders talk about what to expect in the year ahead. The five are Jack Cargas, managing director and head of tax equity origination, Bank of America, Ralph Cho, co-head of power & infrastructure finance - US, EU and UK, Investec Group, Rubiao Song, managing director and head of energy investments, JPMorgan, and Elizabeth Waters, managing director - project finance Americas, MUFG. The moderator is Keith Martin in Washington.

Jan 17, 20231 hr 1 min
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