The Rethink Energy Podcast complements the Rethink Energy weekly strategy bulletin, as we dive deeper into the dynamic factors of the energy market. We discuss the week’s key issues, while providing insight into our own research and forecasts to give clearer direction of where momentum is building through the energy transition.
Guests welcome for future episodes. Write to [email protected] for details.
In this week’s episode, the Rethink Energy team discusses:
-Hydrogen has a little-explored route into the trucking segment, with hydrogen-fired combustion engines offering lower Capex than battery EVs.
-Australia has committed $1 billion AUD to solar manufacturing – but this only enough for the module segment, plus something more in the cell segment – maybe perovskites? Also in Australia, the value of curtailed energy per year, if stored and dispatched, is growing rapidly towards a similar $1 billion per year.
In this episode of Rethink Energy talks, we’re joined by Tyler Hortin, CEO of Lion Energy, to discuss the future of battery energy storage in the US.
That includes Lion Energy’s use of technology such as EMS and BMS to optimise charge and discharge timing, integrating multiple demand and supply sources as well as accounting for electricity price variation on the grid. We also discuss the US reshoring agenda, the indefinite dominance of lithium-iron phosphate, and the rapid growth of the battery segment.
In this episode of Rethink Energy Talks we’re joined by Nicola Battey, Director of Sustainability at Hometree – a residential installer of heat pumps, solar panels and batteries in the UK.
We discuss the adoption of heat pumps and other residential energy systems – including why the UK is behind mainland Europe, and the abrupt rise to viability of batteries, even without a photovoltaic system.
In this week’s episode, the Rethink Energy team discusses:
-South Korea’s hydrogen fuel cell powered tram system, due for mid-2028 – and why such experiments should be shelved in favour of electric power.
-The US now has one wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) compliant with the Jones Act – but its final cost came to $715 million, larger than the original $500 million price tag from back in 2020, and double the usual global price. This represents another cost factor hindering the nascent US offshore sector.
-JetZero’s decision to go with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for its blended wing-body (BWB) airline design will prove a mistake in the long run, with hydrogen set to take over the industry over time.
-Natron Energy has announced a 24 GW sodium-ion battery factory in the US, geared towards short-duration, high-power applications such as EV fast charging infrastructure and securing industrial power supply.
In this week’s episode, the Rethink Energy team discusses:
-Hazer Group’s turquoise hydrogen production pilot scheme and whether the synthetic graphite byproduct will compensate for the cost of its high energy intensity.
-China has produced 100 GWh of energy storage batteries in H1 2024 – showing the continued rapid growth of the BESS industry to accompany wind and solar at scale.
-Ming Yang’s 16.6 MW dual-rotor wind turbine has put out to sea – but floating wind is always going to be more expensive than fixed-base, which in turn is more expensive than onshore.
In this week’s episode , the Rethink Energy team discusses:
-ClearVue’s Building-Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) glass, and the startup’s latest agreement with Alu-Tec WLL to foster distribution of its products through the MENA region.
-Illinois has introduced a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) incentive – not steep enough to close the gap with jet fuel, but another step toward the new industrial segment.
-NREL’s latest offshore wind transmission research, which includes a description of a $100 billion intra-regional HVDC backbone stretching from North Carolina to New Hampshire – going far beyond the limited approach of connecting each project to the shore piecemeal.
In this week’s episode , the Rethink Energy team discusses:
-Solar manufacturing output has stalled for the first time in over a decade, passing 50 GW a month in June 2023 – a level from which it first grew to 70 GW, before shrinking back to 50 GW in June 2024. This reinforces the reality of vast solar equipment stockpiles, and that the new limiting factor on project development is transmission.
-A hydrogen demonstrator flight should be achieved in 2026 by KLM and ZeroAvia – and with SAF-based pilot flights already achieved a few years back, that means the gap between the two aviation fuel routes has widened to the better part of a decade. But the bigger SAF gets, the bigger hydrogen, which is a feedstock for SAF, also has to become. And the slower hydrogen adoption is now, the more sudden and steep it will be when it finally takes off.
In this episode of Rethink Energy Talks, we’re joined by Duncan Burt, the Chief Strategic Growth Officer at Reactive Technologies, a pioneering grid frequency stability company which measures the stability of power grids around the world.
These measurements replace the old method of modelling – enabling grid operators to know for certain exactly how far they have to go to maintain the stability of the grid, whether by curtailing renewable outputs or investing in infrastructure. As much as 25% of all curtailment is already related to frequency concerns, rather than outright transmission constraints or excess supply compared to demand.
In this week’s episode , the Rethink Energy team discusses:
-China’s ammonia-coal co-firing pilot scheme, and how otherwise-curtailed renewable energy could help to make green ammonia affordable. China curtailed 17 GWh of its wind and solar in 2023.
-First Solar’s TOPCon patent investigation which is looking to inconvenience its silicon-based rivals – and how First Solar will pursue next-gen photovoltaic technology in future, looking beyond single-junction.
-The offshore wind breakage issue, and how incidents like the recent one at Vineyard One will interfere with risk perception and project financing, even if there is no broader reliability problem lurking like the one which came out with Siemens Gamesa last year.
In this week’s episode , the Rethink Energy team discusses:
-Oregon-based startup Origami Solar’s plan to manufacture steel solar module frames for the US market – and how that matches up to aluminum.
-Archer Aviations’ electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft are to be used as air taxis alongside Southwest Airlines’ operations at Californian airports – but finding a profit margin may be tough.
-Chile and Saudi Arabia have announced monumental battery energy storage fleets – with Saudi’s coming alongside a spate of Chinese solar panel and wind turbine factory announcements in the country.