Energy Unplugged by Aurora

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Ben Guest, Managing Director and Head of Gresham House Energy Transition, as well as Fund Manager of the Gresham House Energy Storage Fund. He joins Caroline Still, Principal in our Oxford Advisory team, to discuss the role of storage and flexibility in enabling the UK’s energy transition.

Ben has over two decades of experience in the energy sector and leads the UK’s largest...

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Karin Burns, CEO of San Diego Community Power (SDCP). She joins Oliver Kerr, Aurora’s Managing Director for North America, and Farhad Billimoria, Head of US West Research, to discuss the rise of community choice aggregation (CCA) and its role in accelerating California’s clean energy transition.

Karin has led SDCP since 2022, overseeing its rapid growth into one of the large...

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Helen Clarkson, CEO of Climate Group. She joins Richard Howard, Aurora’s Global Research Director, to discuss the role of business and government in accelerating the transition to net zero.

Helen has led Climate Group since 2017, overseeing initiatives such as RE100, EV100, SteelZero, and the Under2 Coalition, which mobilise companies and governments worldwide to commit to a...

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Philip Hirschhorn, Ministerial Appointee to the NEM Wholesale Market Settings Review Expert Panel, and Tim Nelson, Chair of the independent review of Australia’s NEM. They join Hugo Batten, Aurora’s Managing Director for APAC, and Hana Ramli, Principal in our Australian Advisory team, to discuss the draft recommendations of the Wholesale Market Settings Review and their impl...

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Heather Reams, President and CEO of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES). She joins Oliver Kerr, Aurora’s Managing Director for North America, to discuss the role of conservative leadership in driving clean energy policy and the prospects for bipartisan cooperation.

Heather has led CRES since 2016, building its role as a leading right-of-centre voice for pragmati...

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Christoph Bellin, Head of Development & Projects at Alpiq. He joins Claudia Günther, our Research Lead for Northwestern Europe, to explore the evolving roles of flexible assets like battery storage and pumped hydro in Europe’s energy transition.

Christoph is a senior energy executive with over two decades of experience in the European energy market. At Alpiq, he leads th...

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Elyette Roux, Executive Vice President for the Power Grid market division at Nexans, and Managing Director of the company’s Accessories Business Unit. She joins Pierre Dennery, Aurora’s Country Head for France, to examine the global challenges of deploying the grid infrastructure required for the energy transition.

Elyette joined Nexans in 2021 and now oversees a division re...

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Ben Wilson, President of National Grid Ventures. He joins Dan Monzani, our Managing Director for UK & Ireland, to explore how infrastructure, interconnectors and electrification are shaping the future of the UK and global energy systems.

Ben sits on the Executive Committee of National Grid and was appointed President of NGV in August 2024. NGV is the group’s competitive ...

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Robert Brook, SVP and Managing Director of the Americas at Neara. He joins our Managing Director for North America, Oliver Kerr, to discuss the evolving state of grid infrastructure in the US and the technologies poised to transform it.

Robert brings over 30 years of experience across the energy and information technology sectors. A recognised expert in infrastructure, asset...

In this episode, we explore how the explosive growth of AI is driving a rapid expansion of data centres, and how this surge is reshaping power systems and energy infrastructure around the world. Richard Howard, Aurora’s Global Research Director, is joined by Malavika Gode, Senior Associate in our UK Advisory team, to unpack the energy implications of this accelerating global trend and what it means for the future of electricity sys...

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Harrison Moore, Head of Energy and Renewables at Azure Capital. He joins our Head of Australia, Weije Mak and Laura Perez del Olmo, Advisory Associate in our Sydney office to discuss the investment landscape in Australia for power and renewable assets.

Harrison has over 15 years of experience in corporate advisory, working across a wide variety of engagements, including M&am...

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Rosheen McGuckian, CEO, NTR. She joins our Head of Research for Western Europe & India, Marc Hedin, and Steph Unsworth, Research Senior Associate in our Oxford office, to discuss the consequences of grid constraints in European countries.

Rosheen serves as the Chief Executive Officer of NTR, a leading investor and asset manager in Europe’s transition to clean energy. Wit...

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Jürgen Mayerhofer, CEO & Co-Founder of enspired. He joins our Managing Director for Iberia & LATAM, Ana Barillas, to discuss battery optimisation.

Jürgen holds an MBA in energy management and has worked in the energy sector for 20 years, contributing to the expansion of renewables in the grid in various expert positions. Under his leadership, enspired has evolved fro...

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Matt Grover, Director of Energy Markets at Fluence in Australia. He joins our Managing Director for APAC, Hugo Batten, and our Head of Research in APAC, James Ha, to discuss battery dispatch and economics.

At Fluence in Australia, Matt leads the team responsible for the company’s Mosaic software product, which supports dozens of renewable generators and Battery Energy Storag...

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Mallika Ishwaran, Chief Economist, Shell. She joins our Managing Director for APAC, Hugo Batten, and our Global Research Director, Richard Howard, to discuss Shell’s 2025 Energy Security Scenarios.

As Shell’s Chief Economist, Mallika advises on macroeconomic issues, economic trends, and related policy matters, shaping Shell’s long-term scenario outlooks. Prior to joining She...

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Tom Glover, UK Country Chair, RWE. He joins Caroline Still, Project Leader in our Oxford Advisory team, to discuss the main challenges GB’s power sector is facing.

As RWE’s UK Country Chair and Chair of the RWE UK Renewables Boards, Tom serves as the company’s most senior representative in the UK. He is responsible for leading national-level engagement and managing relations...

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Jonathan Dillon, Partner at Clifford Chance. He joins our Global Research Director, Richard Howard, to discuss clean energy investment trends in Europe.

Jonathan specialises in domestic and cross-border M&A for clean energy, renewables, and brownfield infrastructure assets. He advises private equity, infrastructure funds and other financial investors and has particular e...

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Margaret Cooney, Chief Operating Officer at Octopus Energy in New Zealand. She joins our Managing Director for APAC, Hugo Batten, and our Head of Australia, Weije Mak, to discuss New Zealand’s power market.

Prior to Octopus Energy, Margaret was the Head of Powershop in New Zealand. She has also held roles at Meridian in New Zealand, and at OFWAT in the UK as their Head of Ma...

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Jacob Stedman, CEO of Blykalla. He joins our Head of Nordics & Baltics, Alexander Esser, to discuss the role of nuclear energy and, more specifically, of small modular reactors (SMRs).

Jacob is the CEO of Blykalla, a Swedish company specialising in the development and supply of lead-cooled SMRs. He is an accomplished entrepreneur and business leader with over 20 years of...