EP.262 Tom Palmer on Powering the Grid: The Growing Role of Large-Scale Battery Storage
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Tom Palmer, Head of Business Development in Zenobē’s Network Infrastructure business. He joins Malvika Gode, Senior Associate at Aurora Energy Research, to explore how large-scale battery storage is transforming grid stability and enabling the transition to a fully renewable power system.
Tom is an economist by background and brings a wealth of experience from across the energy sector, having previously worked at RWE Renewables, Cornwall Insight, Origami Energy, Palantir Solutions, EDF Energy, and Ofgem. At Zenobē, Tom focuses on developing grid-scale battery projects that support transmission and distribution networks as they adapt to increasing renewable penetration.
Main topics include:
How large-scale batteries are stabilising renewable-heavy grids and supporting the energy transition.
Integration with transmission and distribution networks and lessons from pioneering grid-forming projects.
Technical, commercial, and market challenges, including balancing mechanism inefficiencies and evolving regulatory frameworks.
The future of grid-scale storage, from longer-duration projects to new revenue streams and system-wide flexibility.
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EP.261 Martin Daronnat on Structuring the Future: How FPAs Are Powering Europe’s Battery Revolution
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Martin Daronnat, Head of Flexibility & Structured Origination at ENGIE . He joins Casimir Lorenz, Aurora’s Managing Director for Central Europe, for a deep dive into the emerging market for flexibility purchase agreements (FPAs) and their role in financing and operating large-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS).
Martin has over 10 years of experience in energy, with a strong background in flexibility and renewables structuring and origination. Under his leadership, ENGIE offers flexibility offtake agreements and structured products that make energy assets bankable while optimising risk exposure, including market and credit risk. In 2024, ENGIE closed Germany’s first long-term fixed-price physical FPA, enabling a large-scale BESS project to reach financial close.
Main topics include:
How flexibility purchase agreements (FPAs) support large-scale battery storage projects and make them bankable.
Exploration of the key factors that determine FPA pricing, including technical battery parameters, market and credit risk, and contract terms.
How portfolio effects and strategic positioning influence the value of batteries for traders and asset owners.
Differences between fixed-price, partial, and merchant FPAs across European markets.
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EP.260 Lawson Steele on Hydrogen, Storage Solutions and Decarbonising the UK Grid
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re joined by Lawson Steele, CEO of Haldane Energy, to explore the strategic and practical role of hydrogen in long-duration energy storage and the UK’s energy transition. Marten Ford, who leads Aurora’s work in GBN Ireland on low-carbon fuels and hydrogen, guides the conversation through the challenges and opportunities facing the UK’s power system over the next decade.
Lawson is responsible for the day-to-day management of Haldane Energy and is a founder and director of the Windward Energy group of companies. He has over a decade of experience in renewables and energy infrastructure, building wind portfolios and independent distribution networks.
Main topics include:
• The strategic rationale for hydrogen long-duration energy storage and its role in replacing aging gas-fired power plants
• How hydrogen provides high energy density and flexible dispatchable power relative to alternatives like batteries or pumped hydro
• Design and operation of closed-loop hydrogen systems, including electrolysers, salt cavern storage, and hydrogen fuel power stations
• Commercial viability and the importance of government schemes to de-risk investment in large-scale hydrogen energy storage
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EP.259 Juan Carlos Jobet on Chile’s Energy Transition
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Juan Carlos Jobet, former Chilean Minister of Energy and Mining and now Dean of the Business School at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez. He joins José Muñoz, Aurora’s Country Lead for Chile, to discuss Chile’s path to a cleaner, more resilient energy system, from the coal phase-out and renewable growth to the country’s ambitions in green hydrogen and the decarbonisation of mining.
Juan Carlos served as Minister of Energy and Mining from 2019 to 2022, overseeing a period of profound change in Chile’s power sector. With a background spanning public service, investment banking and executive leadership in energy and infrastructure, he brings a unique perspective on the intersection of policy, markets and global energy challenges.
Main topics include:
• The policies and partnerships that have enabled Chile’s rapid growth in renewables
• The role of large-scale storage and grid infrastructure in supporting the transition
• Green hydrogen’s progress and the challenges still to overcome
• Mining’s role in the transition and pathways to reduce its emissions
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EP.258 Ben Guest on Batteries, Flexibility and the Future of the UK Grid
This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Ben Guest, Managing Director and Head of Gresham House Energy Transition, as well as Fund Manager of the Gresham House Energy Storage Fund. He joins Caroline Still, Principal in our Oxford Advisory team, to discuss the role of storage and flexibility in enabling the UK’s energy transition.
Ben has over two decades of experience in the energy sector and leads the UK’s largest utility-scale battery storage fund. He has overseen the deployment of over 800 MW of operational battery projects, with a pipeline of more than 2 GW under development.
Main topics include:
Why storage is central to decarbonisation and balancing renewable intermittency
The role of batteries in addressing grid bottlenecks and deferring costly reinforcements
Long-duration storage, Dunkelflaute, and how policy must evolve to incentivise optimal system performance
Welcome to ‘Energy Unplugged by Aurora’, a mix of in-depth conversations with key international industry leaders, policymakers, and academics, sharing their unique perspectives on the global energy transition.
Hosted by various Aurora experts, we explore the hottest topics and trends across the energy landscape. From renewables, battery storage, and grid integration, to hydrogen, commodity markets, and technology innovation, our high-profile guests weigh in with their valuable insights.
Stay informed and engaged with the latest developments in the energy industry, with a new episode released every week!
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