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.
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In this week’s episode , the Rethink Energy team discusses:
-Microquanta’s perovskite test in Quzhou City indicates that even single-junction perovskites have an advantage over silicon PV with their performance under heavy cloud cover
-Shell’s SAF facility pause calls into question the future of SAF, with cost concerns liable to see it lose market share in the future market to hydrogen
In this week’s episode , the Rethink Energy team discusses:
-China’s battery industry advance now includes the Chinese government assuming direct ownership of the rare earths sector.
-Fervo Energy commissions a 400 MW geothermal plant in Utah, the state’s first – with EGS technology enabling geographically broader options for the geothermal industry.
-The 2024 US election is a threaten to the green hydrogen industry – but biofuels may retain bipartisan support.
In this episode the Rethink Energy team discusses:
-South Korean nuclear power’s reported cost of just $40 per MWh on the Korea Power Exchange strikes a stark contrast with US newbuild nuclear LCOE of $180 per MWh based on the Vogtle 3&4 construction cost blowout – several explanations have to be brought to bear to explain this vast discrepancy.
-South Korea’s nuclear power ambitions are being ramped up consistently under President Yoon, with billions allotted to R&D around Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and a pilot project pink hydrogen production scheme being agreed this month.
In this episode the Rethink Energy team discusses:
-The latest SNEC Exhibition in Shanghai, the biggest conference in the solar industry, shows that technological upgrading continues, with some silicon PV modules over 25%, and the first perovskites brought to market by Microquanta and Utmolight in the BIPV sector.
-Norway’s hydropower fleet is getting gradually outscaled by rising electricity demand – prompting the country to join the ranks of Nordic governments considering a nuclear-powered energy strategy.
Conrad Oakey of Novatech Automation, which runs 25% of US substations, joins us to discuss grid automation. The US grid is seeing a resurgence of demand growth amidst supply chain re-onshoring, EV adoption, and data center build out. It’s also changing in quality, with demand and supply becoming much less predictable over time. “You have to electrify and automate everything in order to reach net-zero on time.” says Oakey. “Those devices in your house, that grid-forming inverter on your solar panel, needs communication with the grid. And as the grid becomes more and more varied in its generation sources, we have to sense and adapt, rather than the old mode of plan and predict. That means more points of measurement and automation and control, with-fidelity and low-latency data for system operators.”
In this episode the Rethink Energy team discusses:
-New Zealand has lifted its ban on offshore oil and gas exploration, with the government expecting $6 billion investment – a similar sum would build 1 GW of wind-solar for each million citizens.
-GCL Technology is to build an FBR granular polysilicon factory in the UAE – one of several proposals from Chinese solar manufacturers made over the past 12 months. If they all go ahead, this future ‘Gulf state solar industry’ across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman would be big enough to supply the entire EU or US market.
In this episode the Rethink Energy team discusses:
-The EU’s adoption of the Net Zero Industry Act is still just a preliminary step, allowing national subsidies for manufacturing – but we remain sceptical. Solar wafer production, for example, is better off under the low cost conditions of India.
-Shell has contracted UK equipment manufacturer Ceres to develop a pressurized solid-oxide electrolyzer (SOEC), for use in high-heat industries – relying on free heat provision to sustain more power-efficient electrolysis.
In this episode the Rethink Energy team discusses:
-The Biden Administration doubles down on solar tariffs – but the more important move to protect US solar manufacturing is a new round of Department of Commerce anti-dumping investigations.
-Gotion has joined its fellow Chinese giants in releasing a fast-charging lithium iron phosphate battery, stating that this will deliver 500km range off a 10-minute charging time.
-In the US, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) adoption will continue to languish until a political decision is made and EU-style minimum-usage targets are imposed.
Neil Spann, CEO of Power Roll, joins us to discuss the British startup’s microgroove technology. The main development angle which the company is pursuing for these microgrooves is a unique photovoltaic cell-module architecture which can be used for thin-film solar – for now, that means perovskites. We discuss the state of the solar market, of the Building-Integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) sector, of perovskite adoption in general – and the specifics of Power Roll’s technology and its plans for manufacturing scaleup and commercialization.
In this episode the Rethink Energy team discusses:
-Several liquid carbon dioxide energy storage (LCES) projects have now come online in the past few years – with perhaps 1 GWh total worldwide of what may constitute a more efficient and powerful version of compressed-air technology.
-Pink hydrogen production agreements have become a minor trend for scandinavian nuclear power plants. Nuclear’s status as consistent green power which however can’t easily load-follow and thus can end up as cheap “excess” power makes it a natural fit for electrolyzers, and Europe has a large nuclear fleet with many decades of potential lifespan remaining.