Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy Podcast

Wes Ashworth

Welcome to Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, a podcast dedicated to unveiling the stories, insights, and strategies of the most influential leaders in the renewable energy sector. Our mission is to offer a platform where the voices of innovators, pioneers, and visionaries in renewable energy are amplified, sharing their journey, challenges, and triumphs with a global audience.

  1. 3d ago

    Fusion Gets Real: Will Regan on Pacific Fusion’s Path to Clean Firm Power

    Fusion has spent decades sitting just beyond the horizon. But according to Will Regan, Founder and Chief Scientist at Pacific Fusion, that story is changing fast. In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, host Wes Ashworth, President of Lee Group Search, sits down with Will to explore why fusion is moving from a distant scientific promise into a practical race around execution, manufacturing, modularity, and real-world clean energy infrastructure. Will brings a rare perspective to the fusion conversation. Before co-founding Pacific Fusion, he served as an ARPA-E Fellow, spent more than seven years at X, Alphabet’s moonshot factory, and helped create the original vision and team behind Mineral. Today, he is helping lead Pacific Fusion’s effort to commercialize pulsed magnetic inertial fusion, a pathway designed around modular pulser systems, compact chambers, and simplified fusion targets.  The conversation breaks down fusion in plain English, including why it has the potential to deliver abundant, clean, firm power with low land and material requirements. Will explains how Pacific Fusion’s approach differs from laser-driven inertial fusion and magnetic confinement systems, and why recent breakthroughs at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and in pulsed-power hardware helped make 2023 the right moment to build a company around this pathway.  A major theme throughout the episode is that fusion progress cannot be judged by vague headlines alone. Will walks through a more useful scorecard, from scientific proof of concept to scientific gain, net facility gain, power gain, and ultimately affordable power. Pacific Fusion’s stated near-term objective is net facility gain by 2030, meaning more fusion energy out than the total stored energy input to the machine.  Wes and Will also dig into the industrial reality behind commercial fusion: why modularity matters, why targets can make or break the economics, what it takes to move from one successful fusion shot to repeatable infrastructure, and how a future fusion plant could fit into the grid as clean firm power alongside solar, wind, storage, geothermal, hydro, and nuclear fission. This episode is a grounded look at one of the most ambitious frontiers in energy, without the hype. Fusion may still face major challenges in repetition, durability, supply chains, fuel, workforce, and cost. But the opportunity is enormous: clean, reliable, high-density energy that could reshape what is possible for the grid, industry, and global abundance. In this episode, we cover: Why fusion is entering a new chapter focused on executionHow Pacific Fusion’s pulsed magnetic inertial fusion approach worksWhat the 2022 NIF and Sandia breakthroughs changedWhy modular pulser systems could matter for cost and scaleThe difference between ignition, scientific gain, net facility gain, and power gainWhy Pacific Fusion is targeting net facility gain by 2030How fusion could support clean firm power and real grid reliabilityWhy fusion will need engineers, technicians, tradespeople, and builders, not just PhDsWhat a future of abundant clean energy could unlockLinks: Will Regan on LinkedIn Pacific Fusion's Website Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/ Email: wes@leegroupsearch.comhttps://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/https://leegroupsearch.com/

    36 min

  2. Jun 5

    Erica Ocampo of The Metals Company on Deep-Sea Mining, Critical Minerals, and Clean Energy

    The energy transition is often discussed in terms of solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, batteries, and grid infrastructure. But beneath all of that progress sits a harder question: where do the critical minerals come from? In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, host Wes Ashworth sits down with Erica Ocampo, Chief Sustainability Officer at The Metals Company, for a candid and thought-provoking conversation about deep-sea polymetallic nodules, critical mineral supply chains, recycling limits, ocean ecosystems, and the real-world trade-offs behind clean energy growth. Erica brings a rare perspective to this debate. Originally from Colombia, she began her academic journey in music before becoming a chemical engineer and sustainability leader. Her career has spanned Dow, Sims Limited, and now The Metals Company, giving her deep experience across chemicals, plastics, packaging, metals recycling, ESG reporting, circular economy strategy, and emerging critical mineral supply.  At The Metals Company, Erica works at the center of one of the most complex and controversial questions in the energy transition: whether polymetallic nodules found on the deep ocean floor can provide nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese with a lower overall impact than some land-based mining pathways. These metals are essential for batteries, manufacturing, infrastructure, electrification, and energy security.  This episode does not offer easy answers. Instead, Erica and Wes explore the uncomfortable realities that often get left out of clean energy conversations. Recycling is essential, but it cannot meet near-term demand alone. Mineral supply chains are not just environmental systems, they are geopolitical systems. Land-based mining can carry serious social and ecological costs. Deep-sea mineral collection raises legitimate questions about ocean ecosystems, governance, monitoring, and trust.  The conversation also dives into The Metals Company’s work in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, the nature of polymetallic nodules, the engineering behind nodule collection, the environmental studies surrounding the NORI-D area, and why Erica believes sustainability leaders must move beyond slogans and engage with evidence, risk, and trade-offs.  Listeners will hear Erica’s perspective on why discomfort can be productive, why pragmatic sustainability is not the same as compromise, and why building trust may be just as important as building technology. She also shares what it means to build ESG systems before a new industry scales, how to think about guardrails from day one, and why the future of clean energy depends on asking better questions about materials, ecosystems, communities, and accountability. Topics covered include: Critical minerals and the physical reality of the energy transitionDeep-sea polymetallic nodules and The Metals Company’s approachNickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese supply challengesWhy recycling matters but cannot solve the whole problemChina’s role in critical mineral processing and geopoliticsEnvironmental trade-offs between land-based mining and ocean nodule collectionSocial impacts of mineral extraction and Indigenous community concernsOcean ecosystem uncertainty, plume impacts, and monitoringESG strategy, governance, transparency, and stakeholder trustPragmatism, sustainability leadership, and the future of clean energy mineralsThis is a must-listen episode for renewable energy leaders, sustainability professionals, battery and EV stakeholders, mining and metals executives, policymakers, investors, and anyone who wants a more honest understanding of what it really takes to build the clean energy economy. Links: Erica Ocampo on LinkedIn The Metals Company Website The Metals Company Videos Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/ Email: wes@leegroupsearch.comhttps://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/https://leegroupsearch.com/

    45 min

  3. May 29

    Frank Tybor of Infravision: Rewiring the Grid with Drone Robotics

    Transmission may be the most important energy story most people are not talking about. In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, host Wes Ashworth sits down with Frank Tybor, Chief Technology Officer at Infravision, to unpack one of the biggest bottlenecks in the energy transition: how we actually build the grid fast enough to support renewable energy, AI data centers, electrification, industrial growth, and rising power demand. Frank brings a rare systems engineering perspective to the conversation. His background spans SpaceX, Energy Vault, ThinkOrbital, and now Infravision, where he is helping scale drone-enabled robotics for transmission construction. At Infravision, the mission is not simply to replace helicopters with drones. It is to rethink the full construction workflow, combining heavy-lift drones, intelligent ground equipment, specialty line hardware, software, trained crews, and repeatable field systems. Wes and Frank explore why traditional transmission construction is so difficult to scale, especially when projects depend on highly specialized helicopter operations, skilled labor, complex terrain, environmental constraints, and tight outage windows. They also dig into why the old timeline for grid buildout no longer works in a world where solar farms, data centers, and new loads can come online far faster than transmission infrastructure. Frank breaks down how Infravision’s drone-enabled system supports pilot line stringing, tension stringing, emergency response, and challenging construction environments where helicopters may be expensive, constrained, risky, or unavailable. The conversation also covers what utilities actually care about when adopting new technology: safety, reliability, cost, schedule certainty, and confidence that the system works repeatedly in real field conditions. Key themes include: Grid expansion as a critical constraint on clean energy deploymentWhy transmission construction has lagged behind other areas of energy innovationHow drone-enabled robotics can reduce risk and improve construction scalabilityThe role of intelligent ground equipment, winches, line hardware, and control systemsWhat the energy transition, AI growth, and industrial load growth mean for grid infrastructureWhy the next wave of grid innovation may come from better construction systems, not just better generationThis episode is a must-listen for utility leaders, renewable energy developers, grid infrastructure professionals, investors, policymakers, and anyone interested in the physical realities behind the energy transition. Links: Frank Tybor on LinkedIn Infravision's Website Infravision Videos Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/ Email: wes@leegroupsearch.comhttps://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/https://leegroupsearch.com/

    44 min

  4. May 22

    Community Solar’s Hidden Engine: Trust, Access, and Scale with Sandhya Murali

    Episode: Sandhya Murali, Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer at Perch Energy Community solar is often described as a simple promise: sign up, receive credits, save money, and support clean energy. But behind that promise is a complex operating system that determines whether community solar actually works for customers, developers, utilities, and the communities it is meant to serve. In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, Wes Ashworth sits down with Sandhya Murali, Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer at Perch Energy, to unpack the hidden infrastructure behind one of the most important segments of the clean energy transition. Sandhya brings a rare combination of capital markets discipline, founder operating experience, and deep commitment to clean energy access. Before joining Perch, she co-founded Solstice, a mission-driven community solar company focused on expanding access for renters, low-to-moderate income households, and others historically left out of rooftop solar. Her earlier career in investment banking at Barclays, along with her MBA from MIT Sloan, gives her a unique lens on how mission, finance, and market design intersect in renewable energy.  This conversation moves beyond the usual case for community solar and into the work most people never see: subscriber acquisition, billing, crediting, eligibility verification, compliance, customer trust, and retention. Sandhya explains why community solar is not only about generating clean power. It is also about making sure the customer experience is reliable, understandable, and financially meaningful. A major theme throughout the episode is trust. Many customers still wonder whether community solar is real, whether there is a catch, and whether the savings will actually appear on their utility bill. Sandhya breaks down how clear enrollment, accurate billing, transparent savings, and responsive customer support all shape whether the model can scale. The episode also explores low-to-moderate income access and why Sandhya believes inclusion cannot be treated as a side initiative. She makes the case that community solar should be designed for the households most burdened by energy costs, while also remaining financeable for developers and investors. That means better program design, simplified enrollment, utility consolidated billing, and practical solutions that reduce friction without increasing risk. Wes and Sandhya also discuss Perch Energy’s role as a scaled community solar subscriber management platform. After Perch’s acquisition of Solstice, the company manages more than 3 GW across over 1,000 community solar projects in 16 states, serving more than 430,000 residential customer equivalents.  Key topics covered include:  Why the hardest part of community solar is often invisible  How subscriber management functions like critical infrastructure  Why trust is the foundation of customer adoption and retention  The importance of utility consolidated billing  How self-attestation could simplify low-income enrollment  Why community solar markets need stable policy and predictable rules  How scale helps, and where local market complexity remains  What regulators and utilities can do to improve program design  Why community solar matters in a future defined by load growth, affordability, and distributed energy For clean energy leaders, developers, policymakers, investors, and anyone working to make the energy transition more inclusive, this episode offers a practical and deeply human look at what it takes to turn clean energy access into reality. Links: Sandhya Murali on LinkedIn Perch Energy's Website Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/ Email: wes@leegroupsearch.comhttps://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/https://leegroupsearch.com/

    39 min

  5. May 15

    Quino Energy’s Flow Battery Bet on Safer, Longer Grid Storage

    Energy storage is no longer a future need. It is becoming the backbone of a reliable, renewable grid. In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, Wes Ashworth sits down with Eugene Beh, Founder and CEO of Quino Energy, to explore one of the most important questions in the energy transition: how do we store renewable power affordably, safely, and for long durations? Quino Energy is developing water-based organic flow batteries that store electricity in quinone molecules, a fundamentally different approach from lithium-ion batteries and traditional vanadium flow batteries. Instead of relying on expensive mined metals or flammable battery cells, Quino is focused on organic electrolytes that can potentially lower costs, improve safety, and scale through existing flow battery infrastructure. Eugene breaks down the basics of flow batteries in simple terms, explaining how liquid electrolytes act like fuel tanks and how flow battery stacks function more like an engine. He also explains why Quino’s quinone-based electrolyte can work with existing vanadium flow battery hardware with minimal changes, creating a faster path to deployment. The conversation goes deep into the real challenges of commercialization: manufacturing, degradation, bankability, safety, and proving performance in the field. Eugene shares how Quino’s continuous, zero-waste production process converts widely available dyestuff materials into battery-ready electrolyte without downstream purification. He also discusses why non-flammable storage matters for hospitals, communities, data centers, islands, military bases, and other critical infrastructure. Listeners will also hear about Quino’s field demonstration plans, including a project serving a medical center in Lancaster, California, and the company’s strategy to repurpose existing tank storage infrastructure for grid-scale energy storage. This episode is a clear, practical look at how chemistry, infrastructure, and manufacturing come together to solve one of the grid’s biggest bottlenecks. Topics covered include: Why long-duration energy storage is becoming essentialHow flow batteries differ from lithium-ion batteriesWhy quinone-based electrolytes could reduce flow battery costsThe safety and permitting advantages of non-flammable storageHow existing fuel tank infrastructure could become grid storageWhy data centers and critical facilities are strong early marketsWhat it takes to move battery chemistry from the lab to the fieldHow Quino Energy is approaching commercialization through partnershipsIf you care about renewable energy, grid reliability, long-duration storage, battery innovation, or the future of clean infrastructure, this episode is a must-listen. Links: Eugene Beh on LinkedIn Quino Energy's Website Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/ Email: wes@leegroupsearch.comhttps://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/https://leegroupsearch.com/

    41 min

  6. May 8

    Vinnie Campo of Haven Energy on the Future of Home Batteries

    Electricity demand is accelerating from every direction: AI, data centers, transportation, home electrification, industrial load growth, and rising expectations for reliability. But building new grid infrastructure is getting harder, slower, and more expensive. In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, Wes Ashworth sits down with Vinnie Campo, Co-founder and CEO of Haven Energy, to explore how residential batteries could become one of the most important pieces of the modern grid. Vinnie returns to the show with a major update on Haven Energy’s evolution. What began as a company helping homeowners access batteries has grown into a broader mission: deploying, owning, and operating distributed energy assets that can provide real, dispatchable capacity for utilities while giving homeowners backup power, lower costs, and a simpler energy experience.  The conversation explores why the current grid challenge is different from past demand cycles. Vinnie explains how electrification is pushing load growth into millions of homes and neighborhoods, not just large data centers. That creates a localized infrastructure challenge where transformers, substations, and transmission systems are under increasing pressure. Instead of relying only on new centralized generation, Haven is focused on deploying distributed batteries where capacity is needed most.  Wes and Vinnie also break down Haven’s business model shift from selling batteries to owning and operating them through a low-cost subscription model. By bringing financing, sales, installation, and optimization closer together, Haven is working to reduce soft costs, simplify the customer experience, and make home batteries accessible to a much broader market.  Key topics covered include: Grid capacity constraints and why demand growth is different this timeHow AI, transportation, and home electrification are reshaping electricity needsWhy utilities are moving from virtual power plant pilots to full-scale deploymentThe role of residential batteries as localized grid infrastructureHaven Energy’s shift toward battery subscriptions starting around $49 per monthWhy homeowners want simplicity, backup power, lower bills, and less complexityHow distributed power plants could become as important as centralized assetsThe role of AI in reducing permitting, design, installation, and interconnection frictionWhy Vinnie believes every home could eventually have a batteryThis episode is a clear look at the future of home batteries, distributed power plants, virtual power plants, grid reliability, and the next era of residential energy. If you care about how the grid evolves, how utilities meet new demand, or how homeowners become part of the energy system without becoming energy managers, this conversation is essential listening. Links:  Vinnie Campo on LinkedIn Haven Energy's Website Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/ Email: wes@leegroupsearch.comhttps://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/https://leegroupsearch.com/

    46 min

  7. May 1

    Sachu Constantine of Vote Solar: Clean Energy Won’t Win by Accident

    Clean energy may be cheaper, cleaner, and more scalable than ever, but that does not mean the transition will happen fast enough, fairly enough, or automatically. In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, host Wes Ashworth sits down with Sachu Constantine, Executive Director of Vote Solar, to explore the policy, power structures, and market rules shaping America’s clean energy future. Sachu brings more than three decades of experience across international development, utility regulation, solar policy, and clean energy advocacy. His journey spans Peace Corps service in Ghana, regulatory work at the California Public Utilities Commission, private sector experience with SunPower, and national leadership at Vote Solar.  The conversation centers on a critical tension: solar and storage are ready, but the system around them often is not. Sachu explains why better technology does not always win on its own, especially in an energy system shaped by monopoly utilities, legacy incentives, interconnection bottlenecks, rate design fights, and regulatory processes many communities never get a meaningful chance to influence. Wes and Sachu unpack how utilities actually make money, why public utility commissions matter, and how policies around net metering, resource adequacy, demand charges, interconnection queues, virtual power plants, and distributed solar can either accelerate or slow the transition. They also dig into one of the episode’s most important themes: equity is not a side issue. Communities facing high energy burdens, poor service quality, and limited clean energy access should not be last in line for the benefits of solar. They should help shape the system from the beginning. Listeners will come away with a clearer understanding of where clean energy decisions really get made, why public participation matters, and what it takes to build a future where solar is affordable and accessible to all. In this episode, we cover: Why clean energy is inevitable only if we actively shape the rulesHow utility incentives influence the pace of solar adoptionWhy public utility commissions are critical to the clean energy transitionThe role of interconnection queues in slowing renewable deploymentHow distributed solar, batteries, and virtual power plants can support grid reliabilityWhy affordability is one of the defining energy issues of the momentHow energy equity shows up in real communities, bills, and service qualityWhat policy changes could accelerate solar adoption in the next five yearsWhy coalition building and community trust are essential to lasting progressHow everyday people can use their voice to influence energy decisionsThe energy transition is not just about technology. It is about who has power, who gets access, who pays, who benefits, and who shows up when the rules are being written. Guest: Sachu Constantine, Executive Director, Vote Solar Host: Wes Ashworth, President of Lee Group Search Episode Theme: Solar policy, energy equity, utility regulation, grid modernization, clean energy advocacy, and the future of distributed energy Links:  Sachu Constantine on LinkedIn Vote Solar's Website Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/ Email: wes@leegroupsearch.comhttps://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/https://leegroupsearch.com/

    47 min

  8. Apr 24

    Howard Wenger, Nextpower: Building the Utility-Scale Solar Integrated Platform

    Episode 100 of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy marks a major milestone and captures a pivotal shift happening across the solar industry. In this episode, Wes Ashworth sits down with Howard Wenger, President of Nextpower, a company delivering a utility-scale solar integrated platform designed to improve performance, reliability, and speed at scale. With more than four decades in solar, Howard brings a rare perspective. He has helped build and scale companies from the earliest days of the industry to today’s global deployments exceeding hundreds of gigawatts. At Nextpower, he is leading the transition from fragmented system design to a fully integrated approach that combines hardware, software, and data into a unified platform. This conversation explores how solar power plants are being redefined in response to rising electricity demand, increasing system complexity, and the need for long-term performance certainty. Key topics covered in this episode include: The shift from individual components to utility-scale solar integrated platforms and why it mattersHow disaggregation helped scale the industry and why integration is now the next phaseWhere projects break down today when systems are not designed holisticallyThe role of software, AI, and automation in improving plant performance and decision-makingHow Nextpower is investing in engineering, robotics, and system design to optimize outcomesWhy resilience is now directly tied to financing, insurance, and long-term asset performanceThe impact of data center demand and electrification on the pace of solar deploymentWhat could constrain growth over the next several years, including grid and policy dynamicsHow utility-scale solar paired with storage is shaping the future generation mixHoward also reflects on key moments that signaled solar’s ability to scale, including the development of one of the world’s first 10 megawatt solar parks, and how the industry has evolved from a niche market to a global energy backbone. A central theme throughout the episode is accountability. When systems are fragmented, responsibility is distributed and performance can suffer. An integrated platform approach brings design, execution, and operations into closer alignment, improving reliability and reducing risk over the life of the asset. Looking ahead, the conversation outlines what a fully integrated solar power plant could become by 2030. Systems that are engineered to work together from the start, supported by software and automation, and capable of delivering consistent, insurable performance over decades. As solar continues to scale as one of the fastest and most cost-effective sources of new power, this episode provides a clear view into how the industry is evolving and what it will take to meet the next wave of demand. Links:  Howard Wenger on LinkedIn Nextpower's Website Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/ Email: wes@leegroupsearch.comhttps://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/https://leegroupsearch.com/

    38 min
See All (107)

Ratings & Reviews

4.2
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Welcome to Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, a podcast dedicated to unveiling the stories, insights, and strategies of the most influential leaders in the renewable energy sector. Our mission is to offer a platform where the voices of innovators, pioneers, and visionaries in renewable energy are amplified, sharing their journey, challenges, and triumphs with a global audience.

Information

You Might Also Like