In this episode, we explore how the explosive growth of AI is driving a rapid expansion of data centres, and how this surge is reshaping power systems and energy infrastructure around the world. Richard Howard, Aurora’s Global Research Director, is joined by Malavika Gode, Senior Associate in our UK Advisory team, to unpack the energy implications of this accelerating global trend and what it means for the future of electricity systems. Main topics include: The projected surge in power demand fr...
Jun 24, 2025•38 min•Ep. 249
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Harrison Moore, Head of Energy and Renewables at Azure Capital. He joins our Head of Australia, Weije Mak and Laura Perez del Olmo, Advisory Associate in our Sydney office to discuss the investment landscape in Australia for power and renewable assets. Harrison has over 15 years of experience in corporate advisory, working across a wide variety of engagements, including M&A and capital raisings, in particular within the energy, infras...
Jun 18, 2025•24 min•Ep. 248
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Rosheen McGuckian, CEO, NTR. She joins our Head of Research for Western Europe & India, Marc Hedin, and Steph Unsworth, Research Senior Associate in our Oxford office, to discuss the consequences of grid constraints in European countries. Rosheen serves as the Chief Executive Officer of NTR, a leading investor and asset manager in Europe’s transition to clean energy. With over 25 years of experience and more than 3 GW of clean power i...
Jun 10, 2025•35 min•Ep. 247
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Jürgen Mayerhofer, CEO & Co-Founder of enspired. He joins our Managing Director for Iberia & LATAM, Ana Barillas, to discuss battery optimisation. Jürgen holds an MBA in energy management and has worked in the energy sector for 20 years, contributing to the expansion of renewables in the grid in various expert positions. Under his leadership, enspired has evolved from a small-scale startup into a trusted institution with dozens of...
Jun 03, 2025•37 min•Ep. 246
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Matt Grover, Director of Energy Markets at Fluence in Australia. He joins our Managing Director for APAC, Hugo Batten, and our Head of Research in APAC, James Ha, to discuss battery dispatch and economics. At Fluence in Australia, Matt leads the team responsible for the company’s Mosaic software product, which supports dozens of renewable generators and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) assets in trading on the Australian National Elec...
May 27, 2025•40 min•Ep. 245
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Mallika Ishwaran, Chief Economist, Shell. She joins our Managing Director for APAC, Hugo Batten, and our Global Research Director, Richard Howard, to discuss Shell’s 2025 Energy Security Scenarios. As Shell’s Chief Economist, Mallika advises on macroeconomic issues, economic trends, and related policy matters, shaping Shell’s long-term scenario outlooks. Prior to joining Shell, she had a distinguished career in the UK government, holding ...
May 20, 2025•39 min•Ep. 244
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Tom Glover, UK Country Chair, RWE. He joins Caroline Still, Project Leader in our Oxford Advisory team, to discuss the main challenges GB’s power sector is facing. As RWE’s UK Country Chair and Chair of the RWE UK Renewables Boards, Tom serves as the company’s most senior representative in the UK. He is responsible for leading national-level engagement and managing relationships with key stakeholders. In addition to his role at RWE, Tom i...
May 13, 2025•28 min•Ep. 243
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Jonathan Dillon, Partner at Clifford Chance. He joins our Global Research Director, Richard Howard, to discuss clean energy investment trends in Europe. Jonathan specialises in domestic and cross-border M&A for clean energy, renewables, and brownfield infrastructure assets. He advises private equity, infrastructure funds and other financial investors and has particular experience in competitive sale processes and the establishment of ...
May 06, 2025•41 min•Ep. 242
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Margaret Cooney, Chief Operating Officer at Octopus Energy in New Zealand. She joins our Managing Director for APAC, Hugo Batten, and our Head of Australia, Weije Mak, to discuss New Zealand’s power market. Prior to Octopus Energy, Margaret was the Head of Powershop in New Zealand. She has also held roles at Meridian in New Zealand, and at OFWAT in the UK as their Head of Market Reform. Main topics include the following: New Zealand’s pre...
Apr 29, 2025•33 min•Ep. 241
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Jacob Stedman, CEO of Blykalla. He joins our Head of Nordics & Baltics, Alexander Esser, to discuss the role of nuclear energy and, more specifically, of small modular reactors (SMRs). Jacob is the CEO of Blykalla, a Swedish company specialising in the development and supply of lead-cooled SMRs. He is an accomplished entrepreneur and business leader with over 20 years of experience, having founded and led multiple start-ups and scale-...
Apr 22, 2025•38 min•Ep. 240
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Dawn Owens, Head of Project Development and Commercial Markets at Fervo Energy. She joins our Managing Director for North America, Oliver Kerr, and Emma McElrath, Advisory Associate in our Oakland office, to discuss geothermal power in the US. In addition to overseeing the development of the geothermal company Fervo Energy, Dawn also serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at Stanford University. She brings a wealth of experience in the power secto...
Apr 15, 2025•46 min•Ep. 229
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Marion Calcine, Chief Investment Officer at Ardian Infrastructure and Member of the Ardian France Executive Board. She joins our Research Lead for France & Iberia, Christina Rentell, to discuss investment strategies. As CIO, Marion supervises investment processes for Ardian Infrastructure Funds in Europe and in the Americas. She has served, or currently serves, on the boards of 3New, 4New, 2i Rete Gas, Trados M45, and Mila. On top of ...
Apr 08, 2025•30 min•Ep. 238
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Guillaume de Goÿs, CEO of Aluminium Dunkerque. He joins our Head of France, Pierre Dennery, and Julia Breuing, Research Associate in our Berlin office to discuss the challenges energy consumers are facing from tariffs, electricity, and carbon prices. Guillaume began his career in the tire industry at Michelin before transitioning to the aluminium sector, working first in Cameroon and later in France. He is now CEO of Aluminium Dunkerque, ...
Apr 01, 2025•26 min•Ep. 237
This week on Energy Unplugged, we're thrilled to welcome Sir Alex Chisholm, UK Chair of EDF and a Board Director at BT Group plc, along with Kirsty Gogan, Founding Director & Co-CEO of Terra Praxis and Managing Partner at LucidCatalyst. They'll be joining Dan Monzani, our Managing Director for the UK, Ireland, and India, for an insightful discussion on the role of nuclear power. Prior to EDF Energy and BT Group, Sir Alex worked at the top level of the UK Government, including 4 years in char...
Mar 25, 2025•48 min•Ep. 236
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Wendy Lam, CEO of Capsol Technologies. She joined our Head of Nordics & Baltics, Alexander Esser, to discuss the future of industrial decarbonisation. Wendy is an experienced technology leader with more than 20 years’ experience at major international industrial companies and has a proven track record of driving growth, developing strategic partnerships, and commercializing new technologies worldwide. Now, she leads Capsol Technologie...
Mar 18, 2025•36 min•Ep. 235
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re excited to welcome Lucy Yu, CEO of the Centre for Net Zero, and Jon Norman, President of Hydrostor. They’ll join Marc Hedin, our Head of Research for Western Europe & India, to discuss how flexibility plays a crucial role in enabling a clean power grid. The Centre for Net Zero is an independent research unit within Octopus Energy, focused on providing data-driven insights into the future of demand flexibility. Hydrostor, based in Toronto, specializes in t...
Mar 11, 2025•46 min•Ep. 234
This week on Energy Unplugged, we're excited to welcome Carolina Nester, Head of Operations for Iberia at Sonnedix. She joins Christina Rentell, our Research Lead for France & Iberia, to discuss the challenges of curtailment and its impact. With over 17 years of experience in the photovoltaic (PV) sector, Carolina has a broad background spanning solar module manufacturing, installation permitting, design, construction management, and the supervision and control of solar assets, as well as PV...
Mar 05, 2025•28 min•Ep. 233
In this episode of Energy Unplugged, our Head of Southeast Europe, Evangelos Gazis, is joined by Rebecca McManus, our Renewables Lead for European Power Markets, to disclose the main insights for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) from our European Renewables Market Overview Report. Over the past decade, Europe's solar and wind energy capacity has increased to over 528 GW, driven by rising power demand, supportive policies, higher commodity prices, and supply chain improvements. CEE is on the cusp...
Feb 25, 2025•26 min•Ep. 232
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re thrilled to welcome Nat Bullard, Co-Founder of Halcyon. He joined Oliver Kerr, our Managing Director for North America, and Hugo Batten, our Managing Director for APAC, to discuss the current state and future of global decarbonisation. Nat is the Co-Founder of Halcyon, an AI-powered platform focused on energy transition and decarbonisation. He is also the Founder and Managing Director of Business Climate, a decarbonisation consulting firm based in Singapore, ...
Feb 18, 2025•45 min•Ep. 231
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re excited to welcome Sandhya Ganapathy, CEO of EDP Renewables North America. She joins our North America Managing Director, Oliver Kerr, to explore the US power market—its appeal, and the challenges and opportunities shaping its future. Before stepping into the CEO role in 2022, Sandhya was the Global Head of Investments and M&A, and also served as the Head of Investments and M&A for North America. With her vast experience in evaluating renewable energy...
Feb 11, 2025•36 min•Ep. 230
This week on Energy Unplugged, we are delighted to welcome Javier Cavada, President & CEO for EMEA, Mitsubishi Power. He joins our Global Research Director, Richard Howard and our Lead Expert for European Hydrogen Markets, Dilara Caglayan, to discuss electrification as a key pillar of decarbonisation. With over 20 years of global experience in the energy sector, Javier has successfully guided companies through every stage of corporate development and growth. Before joining Mitsubishi Power, ...
Feb 04, 2025•39 min•Ep. 229
This week on Energy Unplugged, we're thrilled to welcome Philipp Man, Founder & CEO of terralayr, and Mikko Preuß, Vice President of the company. They join Eva Zimmerman, Senior Associate in our Berlin Research team, to discuss the German battery market. As a company, terralayr is committed to overcoming the challenges of renewable energy with a mission to create a future powered entirely by renewables. Their goal is to ensure a reliable, sustainable power supply, no matter the fluctuations ...
Jan 28, 2025•35 min•Ep. 228
This week on Energy Unplugged, we are delighted to welcome Kelcy Pegler, CEO of FlexGen. He joins Olivier Beaufils, our Head of US Central, to explore the current landscape and future outlook of the energy storage industry in the U.S. Prior to joining FlexGen, Kelcy founded and chaired several companies in the renewables space, including Sofdesk (solar & storage software company) and Roof Diagnostics Solar (a residential solar installation company). He has been recognised by several business...
Jan 21, 2025•32 min•Ep. 227
In this episode of Energy Unplugged, we are delighted to welcome Scott Mercer, CEO of Focused Energy discussing nuclear fusion with our Managing Director for North America, Oliver Kerr and Eva Zimmermann, Senior Associate in our Berlin office. Scott has served as the CEO of Focused Energy since February 2024. Before joining Focused Energy, he founded and led Volta Charging, guiding the company from its inception to a successful initial public offering (IPO). Over the course of his career, Scott ...
Jan 14, 2025•32 min•Ep. 226
In this episode of Energy Unplugged, we are thrilled to welcome Andrew Flanagan, CEO of RWE Clean Energy. He chats with Oliver Kerr, our Managing Director for North America, to discuss the current and future landscape of U.S. power markets. With over 25 years of experience in the US energy sector Andrew has a wealth of expertise. He leads the third-largest renewable energy business in North America and his career spans working with international teams across Europe. Andrew holds an MBA from Nort...
Jan 07, 2025•35 min•Ep. 225
In this episode of Energy Unplugged, we're excited to welcome Rohan Ma, the former Director of Energy Software at Tesla. Rohan joins Hugo Batten, our Managing Director for APAC, and Julia Hoos, our Head of USA East, for an insightful discussion on battery market economics. Rohan's career has focused on the intersection of energy economics and technology. The last 8 years saw him leading the global Energy Software team at Tesla, launching initiatives like Autobidder, Tesla's Virtual Power Plant, ...
Dec 17, 2024•39 min•Ep. 224
In this episode of Energy Unplugged, we are thrilled to welcome Tyler Norris, James B. Duke Fellow at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. Tyler joins our Managing Director for North America, Oliver Kerr, to discuss the interconnection processes within U.S. power markets. Tyler's PhD research at Duke University focuses on electric power systems. His background includes roles as VP of Development at Cypress Creek Renewables, Director at S&P Global Platts, and Special Advisor ...
Dec 10, 2024•40 min•Ep. 223
In this episode of Energy Unplugged, we are delighted to welcome Axel Thiemann, CEO of Sonnedix, to discuss the investment climate for Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Europe. Axel joins our Global Research Director, Richard Howard, recorded live at the Aurora Battery Conference in November 2024. Axel has been with Sonnedix since 2011 and became CEO in 2018. Under his leadership, the company has experienced rapid growth and diversification to more than 3.5GW of operational capacity. Today...
Dec 02, 2024•29 min•Ep. 222
In this episode of Energy Unplugged, we are delighted to welcome Benjamin Merle, Chief Product Officer at Enpal, as he joins our Managing Director for Central Europe, Hanns Koenig, to discuss solar energy solutions and their role in the German power market. Since 2020, Benjamin has been responsible for product development and energy market topics at Enpal. Before this, he played a key role in establishing Aurora's German branch and worked as a consultant at McKinsey. He studied International Bus...
Nov 27, 2024•37 min•Ep. 221
In this episode of Energy Unplugged, we are delighted to welcome Miguel de Jesus, Managing Director for the Philippines at ACEN. He joins our Managing Director for APAC, Hugo Batten, and our Market Lead for Wider Asia, Patrick Tan, to discuss the current state of the Philippines' power market. Miguel oversees ACEN's operations in the Philippines and has held key leadership roles within the company. These include leading the company's solar developments in Vietnam, pioneering ACEN’s retail electr...
Nov 19, 2024•34 min•Ep. 220
