828: Why The Grid’s Not Ready for Renewables - And What ABB Is Doing About It
Episode description
How do you bridge the gap between fast-moving renewables and slow-moving utilities? Brian Nelson has spent the last two decades doing exactly that—from building house-sized transformers to now leading ABB’s renewables segment. At ACP 2025, he sat down with Nico to pull back the curtain on how utilities think, why they’re cautious, and what it really takes to bring innovation to the grid.
In this episode, you’ll hear why Brian believes in the future of smart substations, 2,000-volt switches, and solid-state breakers—all designed to meet utilities where they are while pushing the envelope of what’s possible.
Expect to learn:
🔹 Why utilities are risk-averse—and how that impacts tech adoption
🔹 How ABB is accelerating virtual power plants and grid-scale DC systems
🔹 The surprising bottlenecks holding back renewable deployment
🔹 What "local-for-local" manufacturing means post-IRA
Whether you’re frustrated by permitting delays or excited by the future of DC microgrids, this one’s a must-listen.
If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to his contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/.
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