Currents

Dr. Alana Duerr, director, offshore wind North America at DNV GL, joins us to discuss the outlook for floating wind in the United States. We get into what floating wind is, the different types, in which global markets floating wind has already gotten traction, where floating wind will work in the US, its advantages and challenges and more.

Tom Dickson, CEO of New Energy Risk, joins us to discuss how the company is enabling project finance and bankability for new technologies through insurance. We go over the void that New Energy Risk is filling, how its product offerings evolve over time, how to scale energy storage, how carbon capture will compare to other industries, trends in capital markets and more.

Robert Mudge, principal at The Brattle Group, joins us to go over the company’s report on the impact COVID-19 is having on utilities. We go over how electric load has been affected, how effects vary among different types of utility customers, how they are expected to change over time and by region, the financial consequences for utilities, how states are responding, commodity pricing and more.

Many developers report trouble raising tax equity this year for renewable energy projects. This is the third in a series of calls since late March with different tax equity investors to test the current condition of the market. Keith Martin, partner in Washington, is joined by Robert Capps, managing director at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Eric Cohen, group head – renewable energy finance at Fifth Third Bank, Eric Heintz, director of energy finance at M&T Bank, B. Scott McClain, executive vice president and managing director at First Horizon Bank and Yonette Chung McLean, managing director at RBC Capital Markets.

Richard Matsui, CEO and co-founder of kWh Analytics, and Dana Olson, solar segment leader at DNV GL, are back to discuss the second annual "Solar Risk Assessment" report in which they, along with industry experts from eight other companies, share their quantitative insights on solar production risk. We get into the trends that are being seen in the market, the underperformance that is being found, what is causing it and much more.

PG&E is on its way out of bankruptcy, and there are many lessons to learn from the largest American utility’s second trip through bankruptcy. We briefly cover the political and regulatory issues lurking in the background and then dive into the lessons learned from people who were affected by the bankruptcy, cover what they would do differently if it were to happen again, address how to price bankruptcy risk and discuss how the industry is approaching projects with PG&E offtake contracts and California in general. Jim Berger and Christy Rivera, partners with Norton Rose Fulbright, are joined by Kevin P. Malcarney, senior vice president and general counsel at Clearway Energy, Paul Pace, senior vice president and team leader at KeyBank, and Pascal Uttinger, managing director, project finance in the Americas, at MUFG.

Brian Warshay, principal consultant, DER and energy storage at DNV GL, joins us to discuss opportunities in behind-the-meter storage. We get into how companies can make money in BTM solar and storage, how the projects are financed, how companies are changing their business models to adapt to the evolving market, additional entities that can get involved in BTM storage, how customer data can be used to increase value to energy providers and customers, what he is currently seeing in the community storage market and more.

Another economic stimulus bill is expected in August. A refundable tax credit proposal has gotten traction among Republicans. Tax equity is harder for many developers to find this year. A key motion being argued before a federal court in Washington this month could affect contest rights in tax equity deals. Keith Martin, partner in Washington, gives a lively half-hour update on what is new in the market.

Steve Cunningham, managing partner of Madison Energy Investments, joins us to explain the details of investing in C&I solar. We discuss what C&I means in the context of size, offtaker and style, why it exists and what the benefits are versus utility-scale solar, what makes C&I attractive for investors, the specific risks in C&I, how site control is handled, the benefits of scaling and much more.

Caitlin Smith, vice president, and Matthew Berend, co-founder, of AB Power Advisors, and Sam Porter, senior counsel at Norton Rose Fulbright, join us to discuss energy storage projects in ERCOT. We discuss what storage projects have been done so far in ERCOT, the regulatory background, ancillary service opportunities for storage, how much storage is currently in the queue, what incentives there are to build storage, who might be interested in these projects and more.

Bob Powell, founder and CEO of Brightmark, joins us to discuss his company and the important environmental problems it is solving. He discusses the projects on which the company is working in renewable natural gas, how he decided to get into the RNG space, how the arrangements are typically structured, the value for offtakers, the company’s work in advanced plastics recycling and where he sees the next big opportunity.

Richard Dovere, managing member of C2 Energy Capital, joins us to discuss how COVID-19 has affected the distributed generation sector. We discuss factors that are coming into play on resiliency and the role of DG, the current appetite for new PPAs, how the pandemic is affecting project returns, how the tax equity and debt markets are responding to market conditions and more.

Andy Klump, CEO of Clean Energy Associates, joins us to discuss trends the company is seeing in quality assurance and independent engineering work globally since COVID-19 became a pandemic. He discusses the type of work the company is still able to do amidst shutdowns, the trends it sees in the supply chain, where energy storage is headed, lessons learned that the storage industry should consider, his prediction for how the renewables industry will emerge post-pandemic and more.

Aki Marceau, director of electrification of transportation, and Yoh Kawanami, director of customer energy resources, operations at Hawaiian Electric, join us to discuss Hawaiian Electric’s efforts to electrify transportation on the islands. We talk about the unique position that the utility is in, how it has been affected by COVID-19, the utility’s demand response department, its EV charging program with Enel X and more.

How should carbon sequestration transactions be structured in light of proposed regulations the IRS issued on May 27 about claiming section 45Q tax credits? The IRS has disallowed over half the tax credits claimed so far. Keith Martin, David Burton and Amanda Rosenberg talk about three ways to structure such transactions and more.

Many developers report that the tide appears to be flowing out on tax equity. At the same time, the two largest tax equity investors say it is business as usual for them. We talked to Peter Cross, managing director at Credit Suisse Securities, Jorge Iragorri, head of the alternative financing group at Morgan Stanley, George Revock, head of alternative energy and project finance at Capital One, and Darren van’t Hof, managing director of environmental and community capital at US Bank, about the current state of the market.

James Bowen, co-founder of Energetic Insurance, joins us to discuss his company’s story and the problems that its insurance policy solves. We get into who should consider using the product, the value proposition, who benefits, how the policy helps when there is a lack of tax equity, if it can enable securitizations or other capital market transactions and more.

Giovanni Bertolino, head of e-mobility at Enel X, joins us to discuss the rapidly evolving electric vehicle sector and the potential impact on the renewable grid. We discuss Enel X’s role in energy and transportation, some of the broader impacts of COVID-19, how government incentives encourage sales of EVs and installation of charging infrastructure, how increased EV adoption might affect the energy grid, smart charging strategies that utilities are using today and more.

In times of economic and financial crisis, commercial lending and private sector investment into emerging markets – even for projects or opportunities with sound economics and credit fundamentals – often dry up. Development finance institutions and export credit agencies are often called upon to step into the breach. While aggregate investment declines, IFIs, in effect, see a larger piece of a smaller pie. In these unprecedented times of global pandemic and meltdown of the world economies and markets, DFIs and ECAs are able to take a longer view beyond the immediate crisis and play a leading role in getting emerging markets back on track. A panel of senior representatives of leading IFIs join us to discuss what their institutions are doing to tackle the crisis. Sarah Devine and Ken Hansen, partners at Norton Rose Fulbright, moderate a panel including Tony Bakels, director of credit and special operations at FMO, Georgina Baker, vice president, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Central Asia at I

Keith Martin, partner in Washington, joins us to discuss the recent executive order banning equipment provided by companies in foreign adversary countries. We get into what the ban covers, which power projects are affected, how it will work in practice, when it will take effect and how it might affect equipment already installed. We also cover the recently launched investigation that may lead to tariffs on imported electrical transformers and their components.