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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

Ep48: Mexico: Changes in Store?

The new Mexican president already made headlines by halting construction work on the new Mexico City airport and requiring resignations of executives at state companies to reduce salaries. Raquel Bierzwinsky sits down to tell us what she expects to see in the power and infrastructure sectors in Mexico with Andrés Manuel López Obrador in charge.

Jan 22, 201932 min

Ep47: Cost of Capital: 2019 Outlook

It is the start of a new year. Interest rates are headed up in the broader market. Economists are split on where the US and global economies are headed. Share prices on world bourses took a beating at the end of 2018. On January 11, we had a conversation among a group of project finance industry veterans about what to expect in the year ahead for tax equity, bank and term loan B debt and project bonds.

Jan 14, 20191 hr 15 min

Ep46: Solar Revenue Put: One Year Later

In Episode 23, Richard Matsui of kWh Analytics sat down with us to explain the solar revenue put. One year later, he joins us again to discuss how the market has reacted, the number of deals that have used it, the response to this new innovation and more.

Jan 07, 201919 min

Ep45: Potential Impacts from Wildfires on PG&E

Bob Shapiro joins us to discuss potential wildfire impacts on PG&E, including potential impacts to PG&E's counterparties. We dive into the relationship between the California legislature and the California Public Utilities Commission, the impact a significant loss to PG&E could have on power generators and more.

Nov 30, 201822 min

Ep44: Post-Election Assessment: US Power Sector

Listen to a discussion among Keith Martin and five veteran Washington lobbyists and power company office heads about how the US mid-term election results are likely to affect the power sector, especially renewable energy.

Nov 19, 20181 hr 1 min

Ep43: A Master Class on Ratings for Projects

Greg Remec, Senior Director with Fitch Ratings, joins us to give a master class on ratings for projects, discussing what goes into a rating, how the different players affect the grade and more.

Nov 14, 201833 min

Ep42: Title Insurance for Projects

Scott Bank of First American Insurance sat down to discuss all things title insurance; in this episode we go from title insurance 101 and endorsements for project finance projects to how pricing breaks down and where he sees the insurer most often paying out.

Oct 23, 201835 min

Ep41: M&A Due Diligence

Ken Elser of DNV GL joins us to discuss when a company contemplating an M&A transaction should approach an independent engineer, the different methods DNV GL takes in buy-side vs. sell-side transactions, the top three things that drive the value of an M&A transaction, where he sees the market going in the next six to 12 months, how DNV GL can help, and more.

Oct 15, 201825 min

Ep40: Emerging Energy Infrastructure Opportunities

Ren Plastina of Investec joins us to talk about energy storage and electric vehicles and how to be a first mover in both markets. He gets into energy storage from standpoint of a lender, what is going in the market and whether lenders are seeing deals that can actually be financed, as well as how the traditional project finance model can be used for EV charging infrastructure, a market that is still in the formative stages.

Oct 03, 201832 min

Ep39: Interview with an Industry Veteran: Steven Greenwald

Steven Greenwald, senior advisor and former head of project finance with Credit Suisse, reflects on a rich 39-year history in the project finance industry. Steve shares what led him to become an investment banker, the secret to his longevity, how he has seen the business evolve, common mistakes to avoid and more.

Sep 25, 201828 min

Ep38: The Future of Energy Storage

Michael Kleinberg, head of distributed energy resources and energy storage at DNV GL, joins us to talk all things energy storage. He shares an update on current technology trends of lithium ion, the cost environment, how projects are priced, key players on the manufacturing side and how these technologies are being deployed in the US. The residential market is awakening and Todd asks how much confidence can the project finance industry take from the numbers that the market is currently reporting...

Sep 17, 201839 min

Ep37: Legal Perspective: Reps and Warranties Insurance

The representations and warranties insurance (RWI) market is growing rapidly as the insurance expands in scope to cover more types of transactions. David Barrett discusses RWI from a legal perspective: talking about the basics of sell-side and buy-side policies, typical pricing, premiums last year versus this year, the risks that aren't covered, special considerations for energy projects, the claims history and more.

Sep 11, 201826 min

Ep36: CFIUS Legislation Update

Amanda Rosenberg tells us what the major changes to CFIUS are and how they will affect the energy industry, including details on the new review authority, changes to process, mandatory declarations and when everything comes into effect.

Aug 28, 201816 min

Ep35: PACE Securitization Overview

Listen in as Patrick Dolan offers a general overview of securitization and then dives specifically into the niche market of property assessed clean energy (PACE) bonds. We cover which states are doing the highest volume in PACE securitizations, a history of the ratings, residential versus commercial and where he sees the future of the program.

Aug 20, 201820 min

Ep34: Legal Perspective: Back-leveraged Loans

Jim Berger discusses back-leveraged loans from a legal perspective, going over the big picture of project structures as well as the most negotiated points in these transactions, the breakdown of benefits for sponsor members and tax equity investors, security packages, cash sweeps and more.

Aug 06, 201820 min

Ep33: IPPs, PPAs, and Chapter 11

Bankruptcy lawyer Howard Seife sits down to talk about what happens when a power purchaser files for bankruptcy, using the recent Chapter 11 filing by First Energy Solutions as a case study. As we see more power projects financed based on projected cash flows from corporate PPAs, IPPs need to understand the credit risk presented by a potential bankruptcy of their counterparty.

Jul 30, 201828 min

Ep32: Capital Dynamics' View on the Solar Market

We sat down with Benoit Allehaut, director on the clean energy infrastructure team at Capital Dynamics, fresh off the heels of its acquisition and privatization of 8point3 Energy Partners LP. Benoit shares his views on how much appetite there is currently in the market for solar, the effects of the new solar tariffs, PPAs, the future of energy storage and more.

Jul 23, 201827 min

Ep31: CFIUS: A Closer Look

Join us as we take a closer look at CFIUS, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the committee is charged with reviewing transactions in which a foreign person will gain control over a US trade or business. Amanda Rosenberg talks about the basics, national security, specific project finance concerns, lessons learned and what is happening today.

Jul 18, 201818 min

Ep30: New York: Renewable Energy Incubator

Todd Alexander meets with Alicia Barton, president of NYSERDA to discuss New York's 50% renewable energy by 2030 plan, their aims for the offshore wind market and their stance on energy storage.

Jul 09, 201828 min

Ep29: Increasing Regulatory Headwinds

Keith Martin joins Todd Alexander to talk about the likely outcome of DOE efforts to halt coal and nuclear power plant retirements, how the growing number of US import tariffs is affecting the market, and possible moves this summer to place further restrictions on inbound US investment.

Jun 25, 201815 min

Ep28: The M&A Landscape

Todd Alexander discusses the M&A landscape, macro trends in the market, valuations, assumptions, natural owners and more with industry veteran Ted Brandt of Marathon Capital.

Jun 18, 201831 min

Ep26: Tax Credit Insurance for Renewable Projects

Tax equity transactions have been a mainstay of financing renewable energy projects. While the general idea—using the tax benefits from renewable energy projects as a way to generate financing for their construction—is not very complicated, tax-equity participants are subject to a number of tax risks. We speak with Daniel Schoenberg, Senior Managing Director at Aon Transaction Solutions to learn exactly what is tax credit insurance and how it is used in the renewable space.

May 01, 201829 min

Ep25: Energy Storage Drivers & Pitfalls, a Webinar with ICF

Please join us for a webinar from Norton Rose Fulbright and ICF on energy storage. Our own Kat Gamache and Deanne Barrow are joined by Judah Rose and Shankar Chandramowli from ICF to discuss market drivers of storage adoption and potential risks and challenges.

Mar 28, 20181 hr 2 min

Ep24: Net Metering and Community Solar Update

As the community solar market continues to expand, our associate Ana Vucetic joins us to provide an update on the market and takes us through important recent changes in net metering rules across several key states.

Mar 07, 201815 min

Ep23: Solar Revenue Puts with Richard Matsui, KwH Analytics

Richard Matsui, CEO of KwH Analytics, joins us to discuss the Solar Revenue Put, an innovative new financial product that may change the way many solar projects are financed. While the solar industry faces the potential impact of tariffs, we explore how this product can reduce project costs.

Feb 26, 201818 min

Ep21: Interview with a Wind Energy Pioneer: Jacob Susman

Jacob Susman has been investing and developing projects in renewable energy since 1999. He led OwnEnergy from inception to its sale to EDF Renewable Energy, where he is now VP, Head of Origination. In today's episode, Jacob sits down with Todd to discuss what it takes to build a successful renewable energy startup and offers his insights on opportunities in today's market.

Jan 17, 201841 min

Ep20: Tax Changes Affects on Transactions

Join Keith Martin, David Gillespie and Michael Masri as they take you through over a dozen provisions in the recently enacted tax bill that will affect transactions in the power and broader infrastructure markets. This special episode was recorded live on December 19 starting with an overview of the changes followed by answering audience questions.

Dec 21, 20171 hr 15 min

Tax Bill's Impact on the US Power Market

A massive tax-cut tax bill that is in the final stages in Congress has significant consequences for the US power industry, especially renewable energy companies. Keith Martin, partner in the Washington office, joins us to discuss the implications.

Dec 06, 201718 min

Ep18: Mexico Power Auctions

Dramatic change is underway in Mexico's power sector. Clean energy auctions awarding long-term power purchase agreements have been a great success so far. The results of the third and most recent auction were announced in November, bringing some of the lowest prices for renewable energy in the world. We're joined by Raquel Bierzwinsky, partner in the New York and Mexico City offices, to discuss the auction and the reform of the Mexican renewables sector more broadly.

Nov 28, 201734 min

Ep17: Back-leverage Loans: Trends and Issues

Back-leverage loans have become the primary way to raise debt for tax equity-funded renewable energy projects in the US. Today, we're joined by Ralph Cho and Mike Pantelogianis, Co-Heads of Power and Infrastructure Finance, North America at Investec, to discuss the state of the back-leverage loan market.

Nov 14, 201728 min
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