Redefining Energy

On one hand, tariffs are causing significant disruption in the global automotive industry. On the other, the electric vehicle (EV) market continues to surge, seemingly unaffected. According to the latest Q1 2025 data from Rho Motion, 4.1 million EVs were sold globally in Q1 2025—a 29% year-over-year increase compared to Q1 2024. Growth is particularly strong in China (+36%), followed by Europe (+2...

Laurent and Gerard sit down for an in-depth (and at times fiery) conversation with Ben Backwell, Chair of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), to unpack the current state of the wind industry. Ben joins from Brazil, where preparations for COP30 are already underway. As GWEC has just released its flagship  Global Wind Report 2025 —a must-read for anyone serious about the energy transition—they re...

There's been a great deal of excitement and curiosity surrounding the idea of a Transatlantic Interconnector. So, as co-founders, Laurent Segalen and Simon Ludlam, alongside their adviser Gerard Reid, have decided to release a special episode to bring our listeners up to speed on where things currently stand. While we can’t dive into our discussions with governments and system operators—those are...

As we start receiving data for the year 2024 in terms of Energy Production and Consumption, it is time to have a forensic analysis of the global Energy Complex in 2024. Last month we had the always comprehensive IEA Global Energy Review, and now to go deep into Electrification, we just received the Ember's sixth Global Electricity Review. We brought in two of its three authors: Dr Katye Altieri an...

Capitalizing on the Infrastructure giants’ Blind Spots: How can a specialised PE fund thrive under the new US Administration? The Energy Transition encompasses more than just power and AI. We have chosen to explore the niche yet crucial areas of waste gas, biofuels, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and emissions capture. At the heart of this journey is Cresta, a $2 billion specialist fund position...

Early March, Gerard and Laurent were invited by the Cambridge University Energy Technology Society (CUETS) for a live session of Redefining Energy. In front of hundreds of attentive students, they had a comprehensive debate with Pr. David Cebon about the Electrification of Trucks. What are the issues (technical, economic) and what are the proposed solutions from Electric roads to batteries? We enj...

The XXIst century economy will be powered by 'critical minerals' such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earths. China has spent the past 20 years building a dominant position across the supply chain for these metals. The rest of the world is finally waking up to the economic and geopolitical challenges that this presents and is actively trying to secure the supplies of critical minerals by crea...

Laurent welcomes Kristian Ruby, Secretary General of Eurelectric, to discuss Energy Security, Resilience and Flexibility though the impact of E-Mobility. Energy Security has become a critical issue, especially with the recent sabotage of undersea cables in the Baltic Sea by Russian and Chinese vessels, extreme weather events knocking out a third of the Irish Grid, and Russia’s ongoing attacks on U...

It has become a tradition to welcome Luca Pedretti, Co-Founder of Pexapark, to the show to discuss the evolving PPA market, especially now that Pexapark has released its annual State of the Market report. Laurent and Gerard are joined by Luca to highlight the key insights from this year’s findings: Corporate PPA demand remains stable, but with new entrants More deals, but smaller sizes: The number...

As urgent calls for climate change action continue, an energy supercycle is underway, driven by the increasing need for electrification and digitalization, particularly in high-growth sectors like AI and data centers. Securing a reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy supply to meet this demand is crucial. At the 2025 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting at Davos, Hitachi, Ltd. Executive Chair...

2024 has been another exceptional year for the battery industry. We have invited Aaron Wade to discuss the various technological and economic aspects of this rapidly expanding universe. Aaron is a rising star in the battery world. Not only is a key member of the Volta Foundation, but he is also Business Development Lead at Gaussion, a U.K. start up that improves charging capacities in batteries. T...

While Gerard Reid was at Davos, schmoozing with world leaders, Laurent Segalen was invited by Luca Pedretti on the Pexapark podcast. They had a conversation around where to invest in the Energy Transition.  Laurent has designed a typology of possible investments from the least desirable to the essential.  1)      Aspirational 2)      Shoehorn 3)      Compliance 4)      Profitable 5)      Salvation...

As the price of gas and LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) becomes a key factor for the value of the world’s energy, we have decided to bring in a top gas expert to explain where the market is and how is it going to evolve. Seb Kennedy is a leading market analyst and Founding Editor of Energy Flux ( www. EnergyFlux.news ), an independent newsletter that analyses global gas and LNG markets through the len...

For the first episode of 2025, Gerard and Laurent have the pleasure of welcoming Shanu Mathew. Shanu is a Senior Vice President at Lazard Asset Management and Portfolio Manager/Analyst on US Sustainable Equity.   We are going to analyse the performance of “Cleantech” Equities throughout 2024 and discuss what to expect for 2025. Let’s be honest: 2024 was an annus horribilis for “Core” Cleantech wit...

Happy new year to all our listeners. It has become a tradition for the first episode of the year: Gerard, Laurent and Michael present their 2025 Predictions in the Energy Transition. Here are the predictions that were made a year ago. 1) Stellantis will outsource its EV production in China 2) Politics: Elections in 2024 could derail the Energy Transition 3) Oversupply of everything energy related...

Merry Christmas. This is our last Episode of the Year where Laurent and Gerard summarise what impressed them, surprised them and shocked them. AI, Hydrogen, Renewables, USA vs Europe vs China, Climate. What worked, what did not work. 2024 is a year that will be remembered at pivotal in so many aspects. We salute our friends, our influencers and unveil our book of the year: “The coming wave” by Mus...

Gerard delivered a master class at TedXBerlin about the four forces driving the Energy Revolution Solar, Batteries, Electronics and China. It is called “Welcome to the Era of Energy Disruption”   An excellent introduction for tomorrow’s world.    You can watch Gerard on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXwGvLj4rak  

Just Climate is a 1.5bnUSD vehicle established by Generation Investment with the mission to invest in the highest impact solutions that can radically reduce or remove emissions. They occupy the “missing middle” between VC and PE-Infra allowing growth, FOAK and deployment. Their positioning comes on the heels of VCs such as Prelude Ventures, Energy Impact Partners or Breakthrough Energy Ventures. L...

Northvolt, once the poster child of the European battery industry, shocked the world last month by filling for Chapter 11 in the United States.  The Swedish battery start-up burned through billions of euros in capital from investors such as Volkswagen, Goldman Sachs, and others, with little to show for it. Laurent and Gerard conduct a postmortem on this debacle of epic proportions. With access to...

Deploying solar and heat pumps in the residential sector is all well and good, but many attempts to scale have unfortunately failed. Beyond the king Octopus, Simon Phelan and his company Hometree have managed to become an unlikely challenger in the deployment of the Energy transition inside home. And Simon has achieved this feat by flipping the system onto his head. Hometree is a company that offe...

Laurent goes live to Baku COP29 to discuss with Bruce “Almighty” Douglas, CEO Global Renewable Alliance and tireless promoter of Renewable Energy. He is the one who coins the famous “Triple Renewables” rallying cry, and has been rewarded by joining the precious list of TIME 100 Climate leaders. With Bruce, Laurent dives into COP. Shambolic, Rudderless and Essential nevertheless. The world of renew...

As COP29 begins, the ripple effects of the re-election of Donald Trump are reaching the shores of the Caspian Sea.   COP28 welcomed 85,000 delegates, within which a significant contingent of Oil lobbyists. COP29 is supposed to be the “Finance COP”, whatever that means, but all major head of states will not participate. What to expect from COP29?   Are COP still useful? Is it the correct format? Wh...

First, Gerard is sorry, he couldn’t make it as he was on a ship in the Irish Sea, and his Starlink wouldn’t connect. So, it is just Laurent interviewing a young superstar, Peter Paul van Voorst, CEO of the mobile battery management platform Skoon. Skoon, based in Rotterdam, is now seven years old and manages more than 1,000 mobile batteries in 14 countries. Mobile batteries range from 1kw to 1MW a...

Gerard and Laurent welcome Kristian Ruby, secretary general of Eurelectric, about their new report entitled “Power Barometer – Zeroing in on Electrification”.   To quote the IEA, we enter in the “Age of Electrification” where electrification rate is going to accelerate significantly. We have an extensive conversation about the good news (growth of renewables, energy security progress in response t...

What are VPP? Virtual Power Plants. What are DER? Distributed Energy Resources? As the grid becomes more intermittent while the load is growing, those VPP/DER platforms provide a critical role by shedding demand, sometimes for a few minutes, to alleviate stress on the Grids. VPPs can avoid starting polluting peakers via pre-agreed and targeted demand reduction, shift consumption via batteries and...