Ep240: Anza CEO on Solar Procurement
Mike Hall, CEO of Anza Renewables, joins us to discuss Anza’s solar procurement platform, the algorithms behind its platform, a general overview on solar modules and more.
Feb 08, 2024•25 min
Currents
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.
Episodes
Ep239: Nomura’s Vinod Mukani on the state of the commercial bank market
Vinod Mukani of Nomura Securities is our guest for this episode. He begins with a background on his activities at Nomura and growing Nomura's infrastructure and project finance areas before switching to a discussion on the state of the commercial bank market and Nomura’s success with development loan facilities.
Feb 01, 2024•26 min
Ep238: Tariff Moratorium Update
Stefan Reisinger, partner in Norton Rose Fulbright’s Washington office, joins us to give an update on the tariff moratorium applied to solar modules imported from Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia first implemented in June 2022. He also speaks about the recent lawsuit challenging the moratorium by Auxin Solar and Concept Clean Energy, the possible implications of the lawsuit, and the outlook for importers. Please listen to the end to hear our Super Bowl picks!
Jan 25, 2024•21 min
Ep237: DoubleLine Capital making moves into infrastructure
Andrew Hsu, portfolio manager at DoubleLine Capital, joins us to discuss DoubleLine’s investment in the infrastructure space, the kind of deals on which it is focused, what differentiates DoubleLine from other means of financing, and more.
Jan 19, 2024•16 min
Ep236: Cost of Capital: 2024 Outlook
Four project finance industry veterans talk about what to expect in the year ahead for tax equity, tax credit sales and debt. The four are Jack Cargas, managing director and head of tax equity origination, Bank of America, Ralph Cho, Co-CEO, Apterra Infrastructure Capital, 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 12, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Ep235: Mini-grids and Bringing Power to Developing Areas
William Brent, chief marketing officer of Husk Power Systems, joins us to discuss Husk’s work in bringing electricity to developing areas in Africa and Asia with mini-grids. He discusses how Husk navigates regulations and works with local partnerships, what challenges it has faced, and more.
Jan 04, 2024•25 min
Ep234: Fluence President on Energy Storage Projects
John Zahurancik, president of Fluence, joins us to discuss energy storage projects, how the Inflation Reduction Act has affected them, how easy it will be for storage projects to qualify for domestic content bonus credits, what new technological advances are around the corner, and more.
Dec 14, 2023•29 min
Ep233: Plus Power on Stand-Alone Energy Storage
Brandon Keefe and Joshua Goldstein of Plus Power join us to discuss stand-alone battery storage. They talk about why stand-alone is the energy storage approach they pursued, the future of such energy storage projects, how investors have responded, and more.
Nov 30, 2023•29 min
Ep232: Insurance Affecting Projects Part II
Weather-related catastrophes have left the global insurance market with $50 billion in losses in the first half of this year, the second worst start to a year since 2011. Moderator Keith Martin discusses how climate change is affecting the availability and cost of insurance with Ernst Rauch , Chief Climate Scientist at Munich Re, Lesley Harding , Global Head of Strategic Relationships, Energy & Transition at Liberty Specialty Markets, and Dr. Maryam Golnaraghi , Director of Climate Change an...
Nov 17, 2023•43 min
Ep231: Insurance Affecting Projects Part I
Rising insurance costs and shrinking coverage are starting to limit where renewable and other energy projects can be built. Moderator Keith Martin discusses conditions in the US market with Sam Jensen , partner and co-founder at STANCE Renewable Risk Partners, and Tucker Compton , client advisor at Sterling Seacrest Pritchard, in the first of two podcasts on the topic....
Nov 16, 2023•29 min
Ep230: Clean Energy Associates Vice President Discusses Market Trends
Dan Shreve of Clean Energy Associates joins us for a wide-ranging discussion about the current environment around existing and emerging technologies in the energy mix, challenges facing renewable energy, the regulatory climate in the US and Europe, and advice for individuals who are interested in entering the renewable energy industry.
Nov 16, 2023•35 min
Ep229: Declan Falanagn, CEO of Bluestar, Discusses Renewable Investing
Declan Flanagan, founder and CEO of Bluestar Energy Capital, joins us for a wide-ranging discussion, including what he sees as the most promising markets, supply-chain risk over the next few years, how have the ability to raise capital and pricing changed over the past few months, how viable he sees some technologies such as battery storage and offshore wind, and more.
Nov 09, 2023•36 min
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, 2023•29 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, 2023•31 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, 2023•24 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, 2023•28 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, 2023•26 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, 2023•7 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, 2023•28 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, 2023•28 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, 2023•31 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, 2023•17 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, 2023•28 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, 2023•20 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, 2023•24 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, 2023•30 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, 2023•20 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, 2023•29 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, 2023•26 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, 2023•27 min
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