In the second episode of a special four-part miniseries of the Energy Transitions Podcast exploring Spain’s journey to greener mobility, host Yusuf Latief speaks with Jorge Muñoz Riesco, Head of Smart Mobility for Iberdrola. Riesco helps unpack what’s needed to ensure that EV charging and the power system evolve in sync, considering elements such as charging technologies, grid investment and forward-looking regulation. Do you want to join the conversation about mobility? Visit the Mobility Zone at Enlit Europe.
In the first episode of a special four-part miniseries of the Energy Transitions Podcast zooming in on Spain’s journey to greener mobility, host Yusuf Latief speaks with Pierpaolo Cazzola and Matteo Craglia, two leading transport and energy policy experts from the University of California, Davis’s European Transport and Energy Research Centre. Together, they unpack why, despite offering significant subsidies since 2009, EV adoption in Spain still lags behind countries like Portugal. Ultimately, Pierpaolo and Craglia explain, Spain is making progress in the sector—but more is needed to fully unlock its potential. Do you want to join the conversation about mobility? Visit the Mobility Zone at Enlit Europe. Register now to attend Enlit Europe, taking place from 18–20 November in Bilbao.
Pamela Largue speaks with José Luis Adanero López, Head of Planning, Regulation & Investment Office at Iberdrola and Simona Rossetti, Senior VP of sales Europe for Grid Technologies at Siemens Energy. López and Rossetti explore the causes and aftermath of the Spanish blackout, as well as the critical roles of grid inertia, regulatory stability, and strategic investment to build a resilient energy grid in Europe. In this episode you will learn more about: How the energy transition is causing a heightened need for resilience strategies, Lessons learned from the Spanish blackout and how to transform those lessons into actions, The impact of eliminating fossil fuels and the loss of rotating mass, The hidden challenges of introducing renewables into the system, Regulatory strategies to improve grid resilience, How to direct investment to ensure a more proactive rather than reactive approach to grid resilience, The role of digitalisation in grid stability.
In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue speaks with Dr Kirsty Hewitson, Director at UK's Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration (RAICo), to explore the groundbreaking use of embodied intelligence in nuclear decommissioning. According to Hewitson, whether drones or quadrupeds, data and decision making on the fly is empowering site operators and transforming the sector. In this episode you will learn more about: What RAICo is working on currently and the role these solutions can play in the UK's nuclear industry, How AI and robots are revolutionising the nuclear sector in the UK and around the world, The challenges of nuclear decommissioning, The role of embodied intelligence in derisking nuclear decommissioning, How to train quadrupeds and people that operate them, How to address existing skills and equity gaps, as well as ensure the next generation of talent is equipped for the future working environment, Real world applications for technologies being developed at RAICo, Whether robots will totally replace human beings in this sector.
So how can developers mitigate this risk factor, and what strategies are most effective in the current US energy landscape, which can be both polarised and politicised? Pamela Largue speaks to John Lacey, Senior Vice President and Director of Public Affairs at US-based communications firm Mower Agency, about why it's critical to build trust with communities and customers. Ultimately, according to Lacey, trust and human connection are core ingredients to ensuring energy infrastructure projects can be built at the speed and scale required, while ensuring people remain at the heart of the energy transition. In this episode, you will learn more about: The current state of US energy policy and the impact of recent changes on developers; Whether there is any political consensus on infrastructure development; What community opposition to power projects looks like and why it happens; Understanding the NIMBY mindset and mitigating it through earning trust; The importance of tailoring communication strategies to communities and technology types; Prioritising relevance over green messaging; The link between building trust and protecting the bottom line.
In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue speaks with Christophe Williams, CEO of Naked Energy, to find out how their innovative solution of evacuated tubes produces both electricity and heat, converting up to 80% of the sun’s energy into usable power and hot water. It's an important step forward in helping to decarbonise heat, the “warm elephant in the room” of climate action, says Williams. In this episode you will learn more about: Why the company chose to be called Naked Energy; What it means to redefine a mature technology like solar power; How Naked Energy is employing novel design techniques to achieve greater solar thermal efficiencies; How the British Library is using solar thermal technology to decarbonise and keep precious knowledge safe; The use cases for solar thermal technology in decarbonising the commercial and industrial sector; Christophe’s journey from the creative industries into clean tech.
In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue has a candid conversation with Monica Collings, newly appointed Chair of POWERful Women and recent recipient of an OBE, about the pressing need for greater gender diversity in the UK energy sector. Collings highlights the encouraging and disappointing results of POWERful Women's 2025 State of the Nation Report, and explains why deep structural change is needed to get the UK power sector's diversity strategy back on track. In this episode you will learn more about: How POWERful Women is tracking on its mission to achieve 40% of energy sector leadership and middle management roles to be held by women by 2030; The standout results from POWERful Women's State of the Nation report; How a lack of diversity is impacting the UK's energy sector; How to attract and retain talented women with a supportive workplace culture; Whether DEI needs to be reframed to achieve more; Why diversity in leadership is good for business and critical for the energy transition.
In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue speaks to Per Löfberg, Senior Project Manager at charging solutions scale-up Elonroad, to find out more about how charging innovation is helping to drive electrification. In this episode you will learn more about: The challenges facing e-mobility in Europe and limitations posed by the grid infrastructure and battery dependency; How Elonroad's innovation is using conductive electric roads to enable on-the-go charging; The differences between indictive and conductive charging; Why road electrification holds great promise for port decarbonisation in particular; Why the US, Sweden, France and Singapore are exploring e-mobility innovation like electric roads; The popular use cases being explored for deployment of these systems; Addressing regulatory and investment gaps hindering development of e-mobility innovation; What's next for Elonroad on its innovation journey.
In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue speaks with John Ahlberg, Founder of nuclear scale-up Kärnfull, about the polarised opinions concerning Swedish nuclear energy and whether this divide still exists. Ahlberg also highlights the game changing technologies and business models that are building confidence in the sector. In this episode you will learn more about: Why nuclear energy is a controversial topic in Sweden; Why the government is warming up to nuclear energy; What technology options are most likely going to materialise in the country; New business models that could influence the future development of the sector; The challenges and pressure points in the region's electrification journey and the role of nuclear in mitigating these.
In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue speaks to Linda Wennberg, Agile Unit Leader Sustainable Energy at ABB's Smart Power Division, about how to foster innovation through effective partnerships. In this episode you will learn more about: The challenges and opportunities around innovation in energy; Why acceleration and scalability are important to make the most of the opportunities to innovate; Why companies that can quickly scale their innovations gain a competitive edge; How to innovate in a sector where product lifecycles are decades long; How the need for speed is changing the way engineers work on energy transition solutions; The partnerships that ABB Smart Power has invested in to accelerate innovation; The main technology/innovation trends that will have the biggest impact on the energy transition. This episode is brought to you in partnership with ABB’s Sustainable Energy Unit Listen to all episodes here: https://www.enlit.world/podcasts/energy-transitions/ Connect with our host, Pamela Largue, on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamela-largue-95897245/
In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue speaks to Alex Robertson, newly appointed CEO of ENERGYNEST, about why he believes power-to-heat technology is more than just hot hair and holds genuine promise for Europe's pathway to industrial decarbonisation. He also explains why the switch from gas to electrification is less daunting and more intuitive than we might think. In this episode you will learn more about: Why power-to-heat is an effective way to decarbonise the energy system, providing flexibility and heat when and where needed; How the industrial mindset is shifting from being gas consumers to actively participating in the electricity market; The applications where power-to-heat is having the biggest impact; The infrastructure requirements to implement a power-to-heat solution and the cost implications involved; Challenges to overcome in terms of implementing these solutions; such as intermittent renewables, heat storage requirements and the need to reach high temperatures for some industrial processes; The importance of these solutions for industrial competitiveness in Europe; The maturity of these solutions and potential for innovation and efficiency improvements; Why power to heat is a good compliment for renewable energy.
In this episode of the Energy Transitions Podcast, Pamela Largue spoke with two experts on the front lines of recruitment, Alison Lowry, founder of STEM Select and Tom Essex, founder of KIGYO, to find out how to tackle the workforce challenges from the ground up. In this episode you will learn more about: How to move from planning to action when it comes to solving workforce challenges; Why transferable skills are still underutilised and how to change that; How to ensure we attract more women and other underrepresented groups; The role of governments in fostering more effective recruitment; What educational institutions need to do to address skills gaps and headcount challenges; The need for more attractive vocational training programmes to boost the net-zero workforce; Why reskilling programmes are critical to ensuring a sustainable energy transition; Why collaboration between stakeholders might be the greatest asset in solving this challenge.
In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue finds out more about how to tap into EVs as a source of flexibility by speaking with Gabrielle Clark, Energy and Climate Policy Officer at Eurelectric and Andrew Horstead, Global Power & Utilities Lead Analyst at EY. In this episode you will learn more about: How EVs in Europe could unlock 114TWh of battery capacity for grid flexibility; The current EV uptake in Europe and how customers and prosumers perceive the value of EVs; Barriers to unlocking flexibility with EVs, such as double taxation, lack of smart meters and insufficient charging infrastructure; How to maximise the value proposition of EVs for all stakeholders and why there's a positive outlook for total cost of ownership; How to raise awareness and incentivise drivers to become active players in the electricity market; The importance of aligning market-specific policy and technical action across Europe; Why standardisation in V2G compatibility and data exchange are critical.
In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue speaks to Faustine Delasalle, Executive Director Industrial Transition Accelerator and CEO of Mission Possible Partnership, to highlight the pros and cons of Europe's Clean Industrial Deal and to understand whether the policies it contains will address the fragility of European industry. In this episode you will learn more about: The current fragile state of Europe's industries in light of the energy crisis and the need for rapid decarbonisation; The main pillars of the Clean Industrial Deal, designed to reshore and revitalise industrial activities; Potential policy pitfalls and gaps still to be addressed; The importance of reducing energy costs for energy-intensive industries; Why Europe might not be best placed to produce large amounts of clean energy and will need to look abroad to the likes of India, North Africa and the Middle East; The importance of creating markets for made-in-Europe clean commodities; Why industrial decarbonisation doesn't necessarily equal greater competitiveness for European industry; Why there is optimism about reaching a point where clean industry will be the new normal for Europe.
In this episode of the Energy Transitions Podcast, Pamela Largue speaks with Kenneth Irvin, Partner and Co-Chair of the Energy Practice Team at Sidley, to unpack the policy changes that have had the biggest impact domestically and abroad. Irvin considers the knock-on effect of declaring an energy emergency and explains why he believes there is still hope for renewable energy in the US. In this episode you will learn more about: The stand-out policies and executive orders passed in the first month of Trump's presidency; The potential impact of Trump's America-first policy reforms; The future outlook for US renewables energy markets; The sentiment of US and European investors; The importance of patient capital and a long term outlook to investing in the US; How the US's renewed focus on fossil fuels could impact the energy transition in the US and in Europe; Trump's critical mineral mission in Ukraine. This episode was recorded on 26 February 2025, prior to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's meeting with President Donald Trump at the Whitehouse, which took place on 28 February 2025.
In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue speaks with Sozon Kokkinaras, VP of Sales for Eastern Europe at Trilliant, to learn more about the kinds of digital tools being deployed in the smart energy transition, the contexts in which they work and why AI can prove beneficial to utilities' bottom lines. In this episode you will learn more about: What a smart energy transition means in terms of infrastructure deployment; How to manage becoming smarter and simultaneously more vulnerable; The increasingly important role of cybersecurity for a smart, more decentralised grid; How to manage the vast amount of data generated from smart devices; Whether AI is making the energy sector smarter or merely producing more data; How AI can aid the (smart) energy transition in terms of revenue protection and directing investments; Case studies demonstrating the positive impact of smart technology.
In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue spoke to Christoph Gardlo, COO and co-founder of ESFORIN, about how industrial customers are looking to flexibility marketing to maximise their assets in a way that provides grid stability and an economic advantage. In this episode you will learn more about: The importance of industrial flexibility in the context of Europe's decarbonisation, Gamechanging moments in the last ten years impacting the availability of industrial flexibilities, Outlook for intraday markets considering different asset classes and Europe's greener generation profile, The changing mindset and bias of industrial asset owners, How industrials are integrating new energy strategies to maximise available assets and flexibility, Overcoming the local inefficiencies created by flexibility, The complexities of real-time trading and the influence of digitalisation and automation. This episode is brought to you in partnership with ESFORIN. Join ESFORIN, 12-13 March at European Industrial Energy Days in Amsterdam, to learn more about how they are marketing controllable flexibilities profitably for businesses and the environment.
In this episode of the Energy Transitions podast, Pamela Largue speaks to Ralf Korntner, Head of NextGen Grid Management at Siemens AG, and Aila Kleemann, Head of Sales & Business Development for IoT at Siemens AG, about how to accelerate grid modernisation in a way that maximises digital tools and gets the most out of current grid assets. In this episode you will learn more about: How to manage the jump from legacy to modern technology; Making the most of the current grid infrastructure to boost resilience; The importance of digitalisation and the power of data to get more out of the grid; The importance of partnerships and effective change management strategies as a means to achieve grid modernisation goals; How Siemens is partnering with Alliander to accelerate flexible grid management in the Netherlands; The mission behind Siemens' Xcelerator programme and how it's making a positive and tangible impact. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Siemens AG.
In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue sat down with Dr Frederik Doyé, Senior Vice President for Hub Europe at Siemens Energy, and Luca Marchisio, Head of System Strategy at Terna, to understand why and how Europe needs to urgently invest in grid development to achieve greater grid resilience and energy security. In this episode you will learn more about: The critical role of the grid in Europe's energy transition; How Europe is tracking on expanding the grid and establishing the backbone needed for net zero; How modernising the grid can increase resilience; Why a more interconnected grid can help lower energy prices; The importance of investment security in ensuring investment; The most important and urgent actions needed to deliver net zero. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Siemens Energy
In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue talks to Jeff Benoit, Vice President - Clean Energy Solutions at PSM, about the challenges US plant operators face and the strategies being employed to mitigate the risks associated with increasing renewables and the potential impact of hydrogen. In this episode you will learn more about: The role of gas in the US' future energy mix; Key challenges plant operators face to ensure gas assets are ready for a decarbonised future; How asset management strategies need to be adjusted to meet sustainability standards Understanding the important role of retrofits; The influence of hydrogen and the impact on the gas sector; Whether carbon capture and storage is an option for US plant operators; How AI and automation are impacting the energy landscape.