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Coming from the heart of the Montel newsroom, Editor-in-Chief, Snjolfur Richard Sverrisson and his team of journalists explore the news headlines in the energy sector, bringing you in depth analysis of the industry’s leading stories each week.
Richard speaks to experts, analysts, regulators, and senior business leaders to the examine not just the what, but the why behind the decisions directing the markets and shaping the global transition to a green economy.
New episodes are available every Friday.
327 Episodes
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The US-EU USD 750bn energy deal announced at the end of July left many observers scratching their heads, not least because of the eye watering sums involved. However, European heavy industry, steel and aluminium in particular, were left facing a 50% US import tariff. The uncertainty for Europe's steel and aluminium companies has prompted issues of "scrap leakage" and imports of material from countries outside Europe, with producers struggling to remain competitive against Chinese overca...
In March 2025, the balancing price in all of the Swedish price zones crashed to the technical floor of EUR -10,000/MWh - setting off a trend of volatile prices and turbulent balancing markets in the Nordics. Six months on, small producers and certain market actors in the region are struggling to navigate a complex system and differing responses from TSOs across the region, with many market participants calling out for change. In this episode, Richard speaks to Nordic market experts about why ...
Volatile prices, falling liquidity and declining profitability are some of the many headwinds the Nordic power market faces in the months ahead. In addition, could political meddling create more damage to the highly complex and problematic market? And why are public misunderstandings about the issue fuelling political debate? In this episode, Richard speaks to our guests at the Montel Nordic Energy Day in Oslo. They discuss why a free and competitive market is still the best solution, and the...
According to a recent report from Montel Analytics, the UK and Ireland curtailed GBP 152m of renewable energy in the first half of 2025. Is this counter productive to the UK’s green and clean energy goals? Who foots the bill? Is the lack of adequate infrastructure in Europe’s grid hindering the green energy transition? In this episode, Richard speaks to the author of the report and Renewable UK about how much curtailment is costing the industry, how it’s affecting investments in wind power pr...
Temperatures reached 40C across Europe this week in the latest of several heatwaves which have engulfed the continent this summer. In response, power prices soared in many regions, with countries like France curbing nuclear power production because rivers – used for cooling purposes – became too warm. In this week’s episode, Richard discuss the impact of rising temperatures on power production, consumption and prices. How can Europe futureproof its power market from extreme weath...
It’s been 10 years since the Paris Climate Agreement entered intro force. Yet, tariffs, trade wars, and the reversal of the US’s climate policies are putting the global energy transition at risk. Where does this leave the relationship between the EU, the US, and other global trading partners? And should Europe’s solar and wind developers shun Chinese products? In this week’s episode, Richard speaks to Lord Adair Turner - Chair of the Energy Transitions Commission about car...
This is the fifth episode of Plugged In’s five-part CEO summer series, where Richard interviews prominent leaders in Europe’s energy sector. In this final special episode, Richard speaks to Dr Annegret Groebel, President of the Council of European Energy Regulators and Director of International Relations at the German Regulatory Authority, BNetzA. They talk about the challenges with energy regulation in 2025, and what the next move is for Germany and its bidding zones. Pres...
This is the fourth episode of Plugged In’s five-part CEO summer series, where Richard interviews prominent leaders in Europe’s energy sector. In this episode, Richard sits down with Jarand Rystad, CEO and Founder of energy research and intelligence company, Rystad Energy. They talk about the changes in China’s oil demand, the production - or lack - of hydrogen, and the challenges with battery and solar power in Europe. Presenter: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel News Guest...
This is the third episode of Plugged In’s five-part CEO summer series, where Richard interviews prominent leaders in Europe’s energy sector. In this episode, Richard speaks to Asta Sihvonen-Punkka, CEO of Finnish TSO, Fingrid. They discuss the ongoing issues with balancing Finland’s power market, the oversupply of renewable energy in the Nordics, and the future of Finland’s nuclear energy programme. Presenter: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel News Guest: Asta S...
This is the second episode of Plugged In’s five-part CEO summer series, where Richard interviews prominent leaders in Europe’s energy sector. In this episode, Richard interviews Leonhard Birnbaum, CEO of Eon, about Europe’s power market. They discuss the boom in renewable energy, the issues surrounding security of supply, and the importance of investing in Europe’s grid infrastructure. Presenter: Richard Sverisson - Editor-in-Chief Guest: Leonhard Birnbaum - CEO of E...
This is the first episode of Plugged In’s five-part CEO summer series, where Richard interviews prominent leaders in Europe’s energy sector. In this episode, Richard speaks to Dhara Vyas, CEO of Energy UK about the state of the UK’s energy sector one year on from the Labour government coming into power. They discuss the UK’s renewable energy targets, the UK government’s green energy policies, and the problem of rising energy prices. Presenter: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-i...
The US, China, and now Europe are seeing a surge in data centres as big tech firms and other businesses develop their AI models. But, will these data centres cause the dramatic rise in power consumption that many are predicting? In this episode, Richard goes deep into the subject with data centre experts from RISE and Greenscale to understand who the tenants of these data centres are, what challenges the tech and energy industries need to overcome together, and how data centres will con...
This week, LNG prices rose to a 10-week high in Europe in response to the escalating conflict in the Middle East. With the shadow of a threat from Iran to close its vital waterway for global LNG shipments, in this episode, we discuss the likelihood of this happening, the political power dynamics at play and the implications for global energy markets. Richard speaks to Eurasia Group’s Head of Energy and Kpler’s Principal LNG Analyst about the changes in shipping movements that we have s...
Since spring 2025, power prices in the Nordics have been below zero, thanks to a myriad of factors, including low power demand and a glut of green power production. Whilst this has been good news for some consumers in the region - who have been paid to use their electricity - the prevalence of sub-zero prices has created jitters for investors and many in öthe markets are feeling the impact of the negative downturn. In this episode, Richard speaks to a panel of experts from Montel’...
In May, Danish energy producer, Orsted, pulled out of the UK’s Hornsea 4 project, citing "economic reasons", and earlier this week, industry leaders in The Netherlands have expressed their serious concerns about the high costs and potential delays which threaten the delivery of key offshore wind projects. In this episode, Richard speaks to the CEO of WindEurope about the state of Europe’s renewable energy sector. He also speaks to a panel of experts from the UK and The Netherlands - including...
Spain and Portugal will be sending joint letters to the EU energy commissioner and French energy minister, urging them to apply pressure on the current plans for interconnections, following April’s blackout in the Iberian Peninsula. But are high costs, local resistance, and fears over the impact of cheap imports stiffening Paris’s opposition to further power links with Spain. This week we speak to key Spanish and French market experts to unpack some of the issues that the topic of...
As Europe eyes an end to Russian gas imports by 2027, fresh geopolitical tensions are reshaping energy markets once again. Could Trump’s mediation efforts result in a ceasefire in the Ukraine and could Russian gas re-enter Europe—directly or via shadow routes? In this week’s episode, Richard speaks to two policy experts about what peace versus a ceasefire could really mean for gas prices, energy security, and the green transition. How do emerging interdependencies with the US, Qatar, and Afri...
In recent months, the European Commission has published what it describes as “simplified rules” of the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), but is the policy still unclear and too complicated for energy and metals traders? In this episode, Richard talks to experts about the CBAM, and why some commodity trading firms are holding off - despite the official January 2026 start date. Could some be at risk of ceasing trading temporarily? Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Monte...
Since parts of Spain, Portugal, and France temporarily lost power on Monday 28th April, TSOs and policy makers across Europe have been quick to try and assess how much their own networks are at risk of a similar blackout. Whilst we await conclusions from Entso-e’s investigations as to the cause of the outage, in this week’s episode Richard speaks to the Secretary General of Eurelectric and Rystad Energy about what this incident tells us about the reliability of Europe’s grid and our increasin...
After a long delay, European TSOs finally released their bidding zone review this week. The report was met with much backlash from Germany’s government and industry leaders strongly opposed to the proposal to split its zone into five. In this week’s podcast episode Richard speaks to commentators for and against dividing Germany’s price zone, and explores how the industry can expect TSOs in Germany and the Nordic region to respond in the next six months. Presenter: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-...
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