Power Plays

por Charlotte Kirk and Lucy Shaw

Noticias de negocios Noticias de tecnología

Temporada 1

Can the world copy Australia's data centre & renewables policy, with Hamish McKenzie from the Grattan Institute

Recorded on 13 August in California / 14 August in Australia. Excited to have Hamish McKenzie as our co-host this week. He is Deputy Director of Climate Change and Energy at the Grattan Institute, and previously worked in the private sector and parliament. This week we focus on 3 stories shaping Australia’s energy transition, and what they tell us about similar challenges playing out in the US and UK: 1. Australia’s proposed “bring your own power” rules for data centres: Australia already has 160 data centres, with over 90 in the pipeline, as investment and electricity demand grow rapidly. We discuss the government’s proposed framework requiring new data centres to procure 100% renewable electricity from additional generation, secure firming capacity, provide grid flexibility and respond to locational incentives. We look at how renewable matching could work, including proposals to divide procurement into different periods of the day rather than relying on annual matching. We explore the tension between data centres that can be developed in ~2 years and renewable projects that can take over 7, and what this could mean for wind, offshore wind, batteries and gas firming. 2. Australia’s 82% renewable-electricity target and electricity-market reform: Australia’s National Electricity Market is approaching 50% renewable generation, but project development is slowing as the country works towards its 82% renewables target by 2030. We discuss delays to wind and transmission, community opposition, differing state policies and concerns that projects awarded support through the Capacity Investment Scheme may not all reach construction. We explain the tenor gap, developers need long-term revenue certainty to finance projects, while buyers are often reluctant to sign contracts beyond a few years. We examine the proposed contract-recycling mechanism intended to bridge that gap, and the challenges of implementing market reform across Australia’s federal and state governments. We discuss the changing generation mix: solar and batteries are growing rapidly, wind is struggling, batteries are increasingly displacing gas from intraday firming, and wholesale prices have fallen sharply over the past year. 3. Australia’s domestic gas policy during the Iran War: Australia is one of the world’s largest LNG exporters, while remaining heavily dependent on imported liquid fuels and exposed to international energy-market volatility. We discuss how east-coast LNG exports connected domestic gas consumers to global markets and contributed to higher and more volatile prices, particularly during the 2022 energy crisis. The government’s proposed domestic gas-reservation policy would require LNG exporters to make gas equivalent to 20% of exports available to the domestic market. We consider whether lower domestic gas prices could slow electrification, while improving energy security and limiting exposure to extreme global price spikes. We also look at batteries increasingly replacing gas for short-duration firming, while gas retains a role during longer periods of low renewable generation. We finish with Australia’s wider transition: renewables have risen from around 8% of electricity in 2010 to close to 50% today, rooftop solar and household batteries have scaled rapidly, and policymakers are now looking to commercial and industrial solar as another source of quickly deployable capacity.

T1 · E23

17 ago 2026

52:49

How Battery Swapping Could Transform Electric Trucking, with Will Rowe, CEO of Swaptopus

Recorded 3 August 2026 This week, Charlotte and Lucy are joined by Will Rowe, Founder and CEO of Swaptopus, the joint venture between Octopus Energy Generation and CATL, building a battery-swapping network for electric HGVs across the UK and Europe. Story 1: Swaptopus & the future of electric freight Drawing on Will's experience in electrification and commercial transport, the discussion explores how battery swapping could accelerate HGV electrification across Europe. Topics include: ⚡ Battery swapping for HGVs: Why Swaptopus believes swapping can reduce downtime, improve vehicle utilisation and overcome grid constraints compared with conventional charging. 🚛 Designing the optimal system: The trade-offs between battery size, charging infrastructure, battery inventory and European freight duty cycles, and how autonomous trucks could reshape vehicle architecture. 🔋 Battery stations as energy assets: How swapping hubs could participate in electricity markets through flexibility services, energy trading and capacity markets alongside freight operations. ♻️ Battery manufacturing & second life: Standardisation across truck manufacturers, European battery supply chains, and how retired truck batteries could be repurposed for commercial and industrial energy storage. ⚖️ Hydrogen vs batteries: Why battery-electric trucking has accelerated so rapidly, whether infrastructure risks becoming stranded, and why flexible infrastructure matters more than backing a single technology pathway. 📈 Demand-side electrification: Why governments have focused on renewable generation but paid far less attention to electrifying transport, heating and industry, and the policy changes needed to accelerate adoption. Story 2: Andy Burnham, North Sea oil & climate leadership 🛢️ Andy Burnham's comments on taking a more pragmatic approach to North Sea oil and gas prompt a wider discussion about energy security, affordability and decarbonisation. Should climate leadership be measured by reducing fossil fuel production or fossil fuel demand? The role of gas in supporting highly renewable electricity systems. Lessons from Norway and China, where fossil fuel production continues alongside rapid electrification. The balance between industrial competitiveness, energy security and long-term climate goals. Story 3: Could balcony solar be a game changer in the UK? ☀️ The UK is set to legalise plug-in balcony solar systems, potentially opening rooftop generation to millions more households. We discuss: Whether balcony solar is primarily about electricity generation or consumer empowerment. How consumer-owned solar could accelerate the adoption of batteries and flexible demand. The role of distributed energy resources in the future electricity system. How electricity pricing and network charging should evolve as more consumers become both generators and users.

T1 · E22

6 ago 2026

53:55

What Miatta Fahnbulleh means for UK energy, with Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett

Recorded on 29 July. We're excited to welcome our second-ever guest host—and our first-ever triumvirate recording. Joining Charlotte and Lucy is Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, former government advisor at the UK Deparment for Energy, Head of Renewable Delivery Policy & Strategy at DESNZ, senior energy adviser in Number 10 during the energy crisis, and currently a Policy Fellow at the University of Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy, and host of the Energy Revolution Podcast. We unpack what the UK's new Energy Secretary means for the future of energy policy, why electrification and demand-side policy are becoming the next major challenge after years of renewable build-out, and how new proposals to reform grid connections could reshape the race to build AI data centres. We also explore whether the UK's successful Contracts for Difference model has reached its limits, before looking at what China's solar manufacturing glut and India's push for domestic production reveal about the trade-offs between industrial policy, energy security and rapid decarbonisation. In this episode What Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh's appointment means for UK energy policy and the shift from generation to consumers Why electrification, affordable electricity and demand-side policy are becoming the next frontier of the energy transition The debate around locational pricing, grid reform and what really determines where major industrial projects get built Ofgem's proposed grid connection fees for data centres and whether large electricity users should pay more for new infrastructure Contracts for Difference vs corporate PPAs, and what the next phase of renewable deployment could look like China's solar manufacturing oversupply, India's domestic manufacturing ambitions, and the balance between resilient supply chains and rapid deployment

T1 · E21

31 jul 2026

40:01

Carbon Reimagined: eSAF Approval, On's Low-Carbon Running Shoes, CO₂ Electrolysis in India & Europe's €100 Billion Industrial Bet

Recorded 23rd July: First Charlotte explores how carbon is shifting from being viewed solely as a waste product to becoming a valuable industrial feedstock. From sustainable aviation fuel and captured-carbon running shoes to low-carbon chemicals and Europe's latest industrial policy, the episode examines how renewable electricity and CO₂ are reshaping heavy industry, and what it will take to scale these technologies commercially. Then Lucy discusses the first days of the UK's new government under Prime Minister Andy Burnham, the appointment of Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh, and what their early policy announcements could mean for energy affordability, electrification and the UK's long-term transition away from fossil fuels. This week's topics include: The ASTM approval of the methanol-to-jet (MTJ) pathway, creating a second commercial Power-to-Liquid route for sustainable aviation fuel alongside Fischer-Tropsch. Why MTJ could lower the cost of eSAF through higher jet fuel selectivity and smaller, more modular production plants. How captured carbon is being turned into high-performance running shoe midsoles through Infinium and On's new partnership. Dioxycle's collaboration with Adani to produce low-carbon formic acid from captured CO₂ using electrolysis. The European Commission's proposed €100 billion Industrial Decarbonisation Bank and Carbon Contracts for Difference. Reforms to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), including the expansion of carbon removals and new support for industrial decarbonisation. The UK's new government, early energy policy signals, electricity affordability, North Sea oil and gas, and the future direction of UK energy policy.

T1 · E20

28 jul 2026

55:15

From heatwaves to hidden capacity: How extreme heat is reshaping the electricity grid

Recorded 12th July. This week we explore how extreme heat is reshaping electricity systems around the world, and why one of the biggest opportunities is improving how we use the infrastructure we already have. We begin by examining the record-breaking heatwaves across Europe, where soaring temperatures have contributed to thousands of excess deaths while exposing how electricity grids, homes and energy markets were designed for a cooler climate. We discuss Why cooling demand is becoming just as important as winter heating, How heat affects both electricity demand and electricity generation, Why technologies such as heat pumps, demand response and dynamic grid management will become increasingly important. We then turn to the United States, where PJM recorded all-time peak electricity demand during an East Coast heatwave. Despite having substantial backup generation, batteries and demand response capacity available, fragmented market rules and regulatory frameworks limited how effectively these resources could be used. We explore the forecasting errors, emergency reliability orders and operational challenges that forced grid operators to keep thermal power plants online and curtail large electricity users. The conversation also examines the hidden environmental and public health consequences of relying on diesel backup generators during grid emergencies, and why better coordination of distributed energy resources could provide cleaner, lower-cost alternatives. Finally, we look at two companies tackling one of the electricity sector's biggest challenges: unlocking more capacity from the grid we already have. GridSolver (WattCarbon & Resilience Energy) has launched an open-source platform that maps more than 66,000 US neighbourhoods to identify where batteries, flexible demand, EV charging and rooftop solar would provide the greatest value to the electricity grid. GridCARE, a Stanford spinout backed by a $64 million Series A, uses AI-powered digital models to identify hidden capacity across existing transmission and distribution networks, enabling faster grid connections without waiting years for new infrastructure. In this episode Extreme heat and electricity systems: Europe's record-breaking heatwaves and excess mortality Why cooling demand is becoming a major challenge for electricity grids How heat affects transmission lines, power plants and system reliability Why heat pumps can reduce both emissions and electricity costs Demand response and flexible electricity consumption during extreme weather The US grid under stress: PJM's record electricity demand during the East Coast heatwave Emergency reliability orders and backup generation Why forecasting errors created operational challenges The regulatory barriers preventing greater use of flexible resources The environmental and health impacts of diesel backup generators Getting more from the existing grid: How GridSolver identifies where distributed energy resources create the greatest value Why different neighbourhoods require different flexibility solutions How GridCARE uses AI to uncover unused grid capacity Why utilities are increasingly focused on improving grid utilisation before building new infrastructure How better coordination of existing assets could reduce electricity costs and accelerate new grid connections

T1 · E19

14 jul 2026

48:37

Can AI heat your home instead of overloading the grid?

Recorded 30 June – We explore how engineering, software and market design are reshaping AI infrastructure and electricity systems. Charlotte examines three stories linked by a common theme: making existing infrastructure dramatically more productive. From NVIDIA's warm-water cooling technology and AI-powered water heaters to the largest virtual power plant ever assembled, we explore how AI is driving innovation far beyond the chip itself. Lucy then discusses a major US Supreme Court ruling that could increase political influence over the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), what that means for electricity markets, and why a new Columbia University report challenges the popular narrative that data centres are driving electricity price increases. 1. NVIDIA redesigns AI cooling with 45°C warm-water liquid cooling NVIDIA's next-generation Rubin AI platform is designed to operate using 45°C direct liquid cooling. Instead of cooling entire data halls with chilled air, warm water removes heat directly from chips, greatly reducing refrigeration energy and water consumption. AI competitiveness may increasingly depend not only on tokens per megawatt, but also on tokens per litre of water and per square metre of data centre space. 2. What if AI GPU's ran inside your water heater? Startup WATTER has partnered with AI company Subconscious to embed GPUs inside domestic hot water systems. Instead of treating heat as waste, every AI inference simultaneously produces hot water. Combining GPUs, liquid cooling, heat exchangers and thermal storage could create a new model of distributed AI infrastructure, much like the evolution of distributed electricity systems. 3. Sunrun, Tesla and Renew Home launch the largest US virtual power plant A 16.8 GW virtual power plant combines 7.8 GW of residential battery capacity, 9 GW of flexible demand, up to 9 million homes and more than 12 million connected devices. Rather than serving only utilities, the platform is designed to support AI data centres and hyperscalers, demonstrating how software can transform millions of distributed assets into critical electricity infrastructure. 4. Is politics beginning to reshape US electricity markets? A recent US Supreme Court decision could make independent regulators more susceptible to presidential influence. We discuss: why independent regulation matters for competitive electricity markets historical examples of governments influencing market design how political priorities could increasingly shape electricity regulation why investor confidence depends on stable, independent institutions 5. What is really driving electricity prices? A new report from Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy concludes that data centres are not the primary driver of recent electricity price increases. Instead, rising costs largely reflect: ageing transmission and distribution infrastructure wildfire and storm resilience investments equipment cost inflation higher natural gas prices broader structural issues within electricity markets 6. Markets versus public ownership Drawing on recent visits to Kenya and South Africa, Lucy reflects on how electricity markets are evolving internationally, including: electricity market liberalisation across Africa private investment versus state ownership wheeling arrangements and direct power sales what the UK's political debate could mean for future electricity market design.

T1 · E18

3 jul 2026

45:46

Will Burnham be good for UK energy policy? And how a US rule change could unlock distributed energy

Recorded 21st June. Lucy joins from a sweltering London, while Charlotte records from Lake Tahoe after racing the Broken Arrow Skyrace with The North Face team. We cover three stories spanning UK energy politics, FERC 2222, and rare-earth supply chains: Andy Burnham, Labour and the Future of UK Energy Policy Lucy looks at Andy Burnham’s election to Parliament in Makerfield and what it could mean for the future direction of Labour’s energy and infrastructure agenda. The discussion covers: why Burnham’s victory is being viewed as more than a routine by-election what a more devolved approach to energy policy could mean the debate around public ownership, public control and essential infrastructure whether nationalisation would reduce energy bills, or whether market design is the bigger issue how locational pricing and planning reform could affect where clean energy gets built the trade-off between local decision-making and a national energy strategy why affordability may become more politically important than net-zero targets FERC 2222, Data Centres and Virtual Power Plants Charlotte turns to the US, where FERC has ordered six major grid operators to explain whether data-centre interconnection costs are being shifted onto existing electricity customers. The discussion covers: how FERC Order 2222 opened wholesale electricity markets to aggregated DERs, including batteries, EVs, rooftop solar and flexible loads why the debate has intensified as hyperscale AI campuses seek hundreds of megawatts to gigawatts of new power demand why capacity is becoming one of the most valuable resources in the electricity system how 10,000 residential batteries can form a virtual power plant, while 100,000 batteries could provide roughly 1–1.5 GW of dispatchable capacity how VPPs can unlock value from existing infrastructure rather than waiting years for new transmission and substations why capacity payments, demand response and ancillary services are creating new revenue streams for distributed assets how community batteries and resilience hubs could provide backup power during outages while supporting grid reliability Phoenix Tailings and Rare-Earth Supply Chains Charlotte discusses Phoenix Tailings, the US rare-earth processing company that secured $500 million of financing from the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital. The discussion covers: how rare-earth magnets underpin EVs, wind turbines, robotics, defence systems, data centres and industrial automation why China’s dominance of refining and magnet production has become a strategic concern the difference between mining rare earths and processing them into usable oxides, metals and magnets how Phoenix Tailings uses mine tailings, industrial waste streams and secondary feedstocks why rare-earth separation is one of the most technically challenging parts of the supply chain how advanced separation chemistry and electrochemical processing could reduce waste, emissions and reagent use the key scale-up challenges around yield, recovery, reliability, offtake and commercial execution Across the episode, the common theme is infrastructure: who pays for it, who controls it, and how governments, markets and technology shape the systems needed for the energy transition.

T1 · E17

22 jun 2026

46:49

Part 1: The Supply Chains Behind Nuclear Growth - From Critical Minerals Recovery to Uranium Enrichment, plus Energy Storage updates

Recorded 14th June: Charlotte and Lucy are both in the US this week - Charlotte in San Francisco and Lucy in Boston. This episode was so packed that we’re releasing it in two parts, so we don’t have to cut any of the good bits. Here in Part 1, Charlotte dives into the nuclear supply chain - not just reactors, but the materials, processing and fuel infrastructure needed to make nuclear power possible. First up: DISA Technologies, the Wyoming-based mineral processing and uranium remediation company that raised a $33 million round led by Galvanize Climate Solutions, with participation from BHP Ventures. DISA is scaling its High Pressure Slurry Ablation technology, which uses particle-to-particle collisions to liberate valuable minerals from ore, tailings and legacy mine waste. We discuss: why comminution is one of the biggest energy loads in mining how better mineral liberation can improve recovery rates why uranium remediation could become a critical part of rebuilding domestic nuclear fuel supply chains Charlotte then turns to Urenco, one of the world’s largest uranium enrichment companies, which announced a $1.5 billion expansion of its facility in New Mexico. The conversation explains: the uranium fuel cycle why enrichment is such a strategic choke point the difference between LEU and HALEU why fuel availability matters just as much as reactor deployment in any future nuclear buildout Finally for Part 1, we move from nuclear fuels to grid storage, covering recent momentum in sodium-ion and second-life batteries, including: ESS Tech’s partnership with Alsym Energy CATL’s 60 GWh sodium-ion agreement with HyperStrong GM’s partnership with Peak Energy for stationary storage Moment Energy’s $40 million Series B to repurpose EV batteries for grid applications Across all of these stories, the common theme is that the energy transition is increasingly about supply chains, processing capacity, infrastructure bottlenecks and the industrial systems needed to scale.ed to scale the energy transition.

T1 · E16

18 jun 2026

31:50

Nyobolt's ultra-fast charging batteries, Antora's giant thermal battery, and Trump's attempted coal revival

Recorded 7th June. In this episode, we catch up after Charlotte’s set the record for the Fastest Known Time running the Camino de Santiago, and Lucy being elected as a local councillor. We then dive into four major energy stories spanning cutting-edge battery technologies, industrial decarbonisation, coal policy, and mine safety. Nyobolt's $60M Series C: The Future of Ultra-Fast Charging Nyobolt has become the latest UK battery unicorn after raising a $60 million Series C round. Charlotte explores why the company is taking a different approach from most battery developers by prioritising charging speed and power delivery rather than simply increasing energy density. Why conventional lithium-ion batteries struggle with ultra-fast charging How niobium-based anode materials allow lithium ions to move more rapidly through the battery The trade-off between energy density and power density Why fast charging matters more for robots, mining equipment, defence systems, and industrial automation than passenger EVs How higher utilisation can create significant economic value for robotic and autonomous systems The growing opportunity for high-power batteries in AI infrastructure and data centres Antora Energy's 5 GWh Thermal Battery Project Antora Energy has deployed one of the world's largest energy storage projects, using renewable electricity to provide industrial heat rather than electricity. Charlotte discusses why industrial heat represents one of the biggest decarbonisation challenges globally and how thermal batteries could help solve it. How Antora stores electricity as heat in solid carbon blocks at temperatures above 2,000°C Why industrial facilities need heat rather than electrons How thermal storage enables renewable energy to provide reliable 24/7 industrial steam and process heat The role of thermal batteries in sectors including steel, cement, chemicals, food processing, and pulp and paper How Antora's radiative heat transfer system differs from conventional thermal storage technologies The potential future use of thermophotovoltaics to convert stored heat back into electricity Why ethanol production is proving to be an attractive first commercial market Trump's $700 Million Coal Push The Trump administration has announced a new package of support for the US coal industry. Lucy examines the rationale behind the policy, the economics of coal in modern electricity markets, and whether coal still has a role to play in supporting grid reliability. New funding for coal plant upgrades, export infrastructure, and proposed new coal plants The difference between coal as a reliability resource and coal as baseload generation Whether preserving existing coal plants makes economic sense How coal compares with renewables, batteries, gas, and other firm power resources Whether AI-driven electricity demand changes the case for coal, as data-centre developers favour nuclear, geothermal, renewables, and storage over new coal generation China's Deadliest Coal Mine Accident Since 2009 We conclude with a discussion of a tragic coal mine accident in China that claimed 82 lives and what it reveals about the broader costs of fossil-fuel dependence. The human cost of coal mining and industrial accidents How safety regulations affect the economics of coal production Whether major incidents accelerate transitions away from coal The balance between energy security, affordability, and worker safety

T1 · E15

10 jun 2026

49:14

Trump's trip to China on rare earths, electricity market reforms in the US, and the evolving Chinese EV market

This week on Power Plays (recorded May 13th, 2026), we are joined by a guest co-host, Henry Sanderson, while Charlotte completes an epic run in Spain. Henry is the author of Volt Rush, former journalist at Bloomberg and the Financial Times, and fellow at RUSI and Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. This week we cover: Trump's trip to China - why is he going, what will he ask for in the negotiation to secure rare earth supply chains, and will this lead to more investment in the US cleantech sector? The PJM's electricity market reform proposals - why there are calls for reform to capacity markets, what those reforms could look like, and will they will improve reliability? The Beijing Auto Show and evolving EV trends - the move towards luxury EVs and battery swapping for heavy-duty vehicles like trucks Struggling European battery manufacturers - Morrow's bankruptcy, why Europe's manufacturing has lagged China's Power price moves - how lower power prices drive EVs, changes in China's market connectivity and design

T1 · E14

14 may 2026

42:59

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