Redefining Energy Laurent Segalen and Gerard Reid

Glencore’s CEO Gary Nagle has once described ESG as “some person in the basement in office number 27 engaged in a box-ticking exercise.” And a lot of fossil fuel companies – while being less explicit – share the same opinion on ESG… and have voiced their hostility indirectly through complicit media outlets.
The ESG movement is facing a significant backlash. On the one hand there has been too much greenwashing, on the other hand, ESG has become a political punching ball in certain US States dependent on the fossil fuel industry. Some European Oil companies want to list in NY to get a better valuation and are complaining about too much sustainability scrutiny. And Larry Fink, Blackrock CEO, went in the last four years from hero to zero of the ESG wave.
Going back a few years a lot of the ESG popularity was linked to an overweighting of Tech and Luxury stocks which performed wonderfully, a trend partially reversed by the war in Ukraine and the rise of interest rates. In 2024, we have seen outflows in ESG labelled funds from a peak three years ago. Still, they represent, according to the FT, a 7tnUSD pot of money, so it is a big industry.

We’re not experts… but a system that rates ExxonMobil higher than Tesla on ESG raises eyebrows.

To add insult to injury, there is a multiplication of standards and regulations (CSRD, SFDR) which make the whole ESG universe very confusing. There are byzantine debates about passive vs active management. There are endless conversations about the adequacy of “engagement” and if shareholders should behave as activists. And finally, there is a clear transatlantic drift when it comes to that issue.

We are totally lost! 

To try to understand better if ESG is dead, or if it will have to reinvent itself, we bring in Jean Jacques Barberis Deputy CEO and Head of Institutional and Corporate Clients Division & ESG at Amundi. Amundi is EU’s largest EU Asset Manager and a leader in Green investing. Jean-Jacques Barbéris is currently responsible for the global development of the institutional business at Amundi. With Jean Jacques, Laurent and Gerard take no prisoners and call a spade a spade… and then realise that Paris-aligned targets are for real, that “engagement” with companies deliver results, and that a proper investment strategy starts to yield results.

We thank DLA Piper for supporting the show.

We bring in Nick Wayth, CEO of Energy Institute (EI), for the release of the 73rd Edition of the Statistical Review of World Energy. The Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy™ analyses data on world energy markets from the prior year.
Previously produced by bp, the Review has been providing timely, comprehensive and objective data to the energy community since 1952. The Strategic Review is now a collaboration between the EI, KPMG, Kearney and Heriot University. Five key stories emerge from the 2023 data:
Record global energy consumption, with coal and oil pushing fossil fuels and their emissions to record levelsSolar and wind push global renewable electricity generation to another record levelOngoing Ukraine conflict cements gas rebalancing in Europe  Dependence on fossil fuels in major advanced economies is likely to have peakedGrowth economies struggle to curb fossil fuel growth, but renewables accelerate in China   Although we disagree on the message and question the concept of Primary Energy (super misleading), we salute the consistency and comprehensiveness of that Report. Keep them coming.

https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review

UK is at the nexus of the subsea interconnector’s new economy. Great Britain is connected to Continental Europe by 8 interconnectors representing up to 15% of its power consumption.

Subsea cables are now a growing industry because of the benefits they bring to the grids, such as resiliency, capacity, lower prices, and renewable energy balancing. Alongside batteries and pumped Hydro, interconnectors are the best flexible green infrastructure currently available on our road to net-zero.

How has the technology evolved over the recent years? What are the economics in terms of CAPEX and OPEX? What are the revenue models? Is there a role for infrastructure investor? What are the technological challenges? How are the permitting and regulatory frameworks? How far and how deep will we go in the development of interconnectors, as we start hearing about transcontinental projects. 

To answer all those questions, we have invited Rebecca Sedler, aka “The Mother of Interconnectors” (reference to Games of Throne). After a long career at E.ON and EDF, Rebecca is Managing Director of the Interconnectors business for UK National Grid. We will start by the Viking Link, her more recent achievement, linking GB to Denmark with a 750km cable and only 3.7% loss. Finally, we will talk about the bright future of subsea interconnectors.

“We are going to America”  www.nato-l.org 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/26/climate/green-energy-wars-undersea-cables-intl?cid=ios_app


We thank Amundi for supporting our show. EU Largest Asset Manager and leader in Green investing.

Laurent interviews Georgios Stassis, PPC’S CEO, during Eurelectric Power Summit 24.

PPC, the Greek Utility, is a remarkable turnaround story: from a soviet-style dinosaur a few years ago, PPC has become a thriving forward-looking profitable modern Utility.
With Georgios, we discuss the investment in renewables, the phase out of lignite, digitisation, the investment in new segments (Datacenters, E Mobility, Demand Response…) and share an overview of regional integration with interconnectors and the successful acquisition of Enel Romania.

And, to crown it all, a Quiz: Eurelectric or AC/DC?

In April, we did Ep129 Minutes about China and announced the interview with a real expert. Here it is.
With David Fishman, an American based in Shanghai, we dig deep into China’s Energy Transition. We try to reconcile the rise of renewables and the rise of coal use. We try to decipher what is decided locally and nationally. We investigate what is the result of command-and-control measures vs market forces. We cover wind, solar, batteries, EVs. Our goal is not to give good points or bad points, our mission is to share with our listeners the fascinating but complex picture of what is happening in China. And we debunk a lot of the cliches that we read in the Western media.
To paraphrase Churchill: “A riddle wrapped in mystery inside an enigma”.
As the US and the EU are becoming more and more wary and protectionist in relation to China’s progresses in clean technologies, we try to stay neutral when it comes to subsidies, “overcapacity” and real advances made by China Inc.
Beyond those cliches, we talk about human capital and the fundamental concern about energy security which are powerful drivers boosting the Chinese energy transition. In David’s opinion, China is turning the corner on Coal and Fuels, and we might already have seen peak emissions. And we like that!  

For institutions which would like to partner with our show, please ask for our media kit.  

We thank Amundi for suppiorting our show. 

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David Fishman is an economic consultant at the Lantau Group specializing in the Chinese power sector. His work includes regulatory and commercial intelligence for Chinese nuclear power, solar, wind, and distributed energy markets. His specific experience includes Chinese power market and policy intelligence and forecasting, solar and wind pricing forecasts, renewable asset transactional due diligence, China business matchmaking, and green power procurement planning and execution for multinationals with factories in China.   Check David Fishman on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/china-electricity-2023-statistics-summary-david-fishman-mknic?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&utm_campaign=share_via  

Last week, Laurent was in Athens for the spectacular Eurelectric Summit (we will talk more about it in 2 weeks’ time, with a special Episode) meanwhile, we bring in our friend Jan-Michael Hess, organiser of the Berlin EcoSummit 4-5 June to discuss Clean Tech and his annual gathering of more than 100 Start-Ups and hundreds of investors.
If you don’t have your tickets (yet) https://ecosummit.net/