Redefining Energy

Laurent had the pleasure and privilege of sitting down with Markus Rauramo, CEO of Fortum, during the Eurelectric “Power Play” conference in Brussels this June.   Fortum, the Finnish energy company also active in Sweden and Poland, finds itself right on the front line when it comes to tensions with Russia—not exactly your average utility boardroom drama.   The conversation kicks off with Markus’s...

What Really Happened During the Iberian Blackout This Spring? And How Should We Make Sense of the Conflicting Reports?   To shed light on the events, Gerard and Laurent are joined by global energy expert Steve Berberich , who served as President and CEO of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) from 2011 to 2020. Steve led CAISO through the August 2020 blackout in California and now se...

Six years ago, Simon Moores, CEO of Benchmark Minerals Intelligence shook the world in a now legendary testimony in front of the US Senate. Then, Simon predicted the exponential growth of batteries and the control that China was starting to exert of the supply chains. Fast forward today, we bring in, Caspar Rawles, Simon’s trusted lieutenant, and COO of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence to assess how...

Laurent remembers vividly his trip to Sofia Bulgaria in winter 2009 when the Russians had cut the gas for Bulgaria during a -15C winter. Russia was already playing hard ball because of (guess what) a financial disagreement with Ukraine. The blackmail lasted 3 weeks, and the poor Bulgarians were cutting the trees from their equivalent of Hyde Park or Central Park not to freeze to death.     Lots of...

We have recently witnessed spectacular black outs: South Australia 2016, Texas Uri 2021, California 2020-21-25 and Iberia 2025. We are not even mentioning fragile grids in the Global South.  We will do an episode on those blackouts later this year. The U.S. electrical grid, now over a century old, struggles to meet modern demands. Utilities are slow to adapt, and supply chains are congested, posin...

The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) recently released a widely publicized report titled “The Climate Paradox” , which has garnered significant positive attention from outlets such as the Guardian, the BBC, the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and much of the European press. Beginning with the statement, “Climate action has reached an impasse,” the report, authored by Lindy Fursman (who hol...

KKR is a Private Equity giant whose involvement in the Energy/Infrastructure sector has grown bigger over the decades. Energy/Infrastructure investments now represents approx 10% of their global Asset under Management of c.700bnUSD. KKR’s approach combines several strategies which are developed in different vehicles from run of the mill yield funds to more risky platforms. Since the beginning of t...

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...