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Redefining Energy

Redefining Energy

De : Laurent Segalen and Gerard Reid
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Two investment bankers weekly explore how tech, finance, markets and regulations are radically redefining the world of energy: Renewable Energy, Electric Cars, Hydrogen, Battery Storage, Digitisation...
Your co-hosts: from Berlin, Gerard Reid and from London, Laurent Segalen.
Our LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/redefining-energy/
X handle: @Redef_EnergyLaurent Segalen and Gerard Reid Economie
Épisodes
  • 250. Inside the US Datacenter exuberant buildout - Oct26

    250. Inside the US Datacenter exuberant buildout - Oct26
    Oct 12 2026
    The current datacenter buildout is the biggest GDP bet in America since the railroads 150 years ago. We have never seen a frenzy quite like this. The system is running on overdrive—and the cracks are starting to show.

    While Anthropic and OpenAI announce dizzying financing numbers, measured in the trillions, the markets are beginning to cough: force majeure—effectively a default—at Oracle’s Jupiter datacenter; SB Energy abandoning its IPO; private credit funds restricting redemptions; and certain neoclouds’ bonds being priced as riskier than those of Zambia or Angola.
    And still, the buildout goes on.

    Yes, half of the announced datacenters may never be built. Yes, local politics are turning increasingly toxic, with moratoriums spreading. And yet the buildout continues—and could move even faster if only the supply chain could keep up.

    So, who should we believe: the bulls or the bears? Gerard and Laurent bring on one of the leading specialists in datacenter development, Eugene McGrane, Executive Managing Director at Cushman & Wakefield, one of the world’s largest real estate services firms. Cushman & Wakefield provides specialized real estate, financial, and strategic advisory services to the digital infrastructure and datacenter sector. Eugene’s team works with investors, developers, and technology occupiers on site selection, power procurement, land acquisition, lease negotiations, and project construction.

    We have a freewheeling conversation about what hyperscalers really want, the insatiable demand for compute, credit risks, political backlash, and how this industry seems to reinvent itself every few months. Who are the winners? Who is most exposed? And where is this extraordinary journey ultimately heading?
    So, is the glass half full or half empty? It depends on your vantage point.

    What seems clear is that demand for compute is not slowing down. And the sheer scale of the datacenter buildout is forcing the energy system to mobilize capital, infrastructure, and technology at a pace that could accelerate its modernization.

    The AI boom may be chaotic, financially extreme, and politically contentious. But the buildout is still going.

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    With the energy industry's largest proprietary dataset, world-class experts and decision-grade models, all powered by Synoptic AI, Wood Mackenzie delivers Intelligence Connected across the energy and natural resources landscape.
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    28 min
  • 249. World’s largest VPP - Oct26

    249. World’s largest VPP - Oct26
    Oct 5 2026
    The global market for Virtual Power Plants is assessed around 100GW (+/- 20GW). It is a 7bnUSD expected to grow at a CAGR above 20% in the next 5 years to reach 40bnUSD within a decade. VPP are a digitally coordinated flexible network of distributed resources: cheaper than central stations. They manage behind the meter assets like Solar, batteries, HVAC, EV…

    VPP is a term invented 30 years ago by US economist and finance scholar Dr Shimon Awerbuch, who died 20 years ago in a light plane crash over the Alps. Only aged 51, he leaves a great legacy. His foundational work in 1996 was called “The Virtual Utility” where he demonstrated that Electricity generation must be treated like a financial portfolio. He proved that Renewables (even if they were very expensive at the time) were a powerful hedge against fossil fuel volatility.

    In our series about how digital is transforming the how we track, trade, and optimise energy, Gerard and Laurent have invited Marc Rühs, CEO Next Kraftwerke, the world largest VPP with 15GW Capacity. Connecting more than 14,000 decentralised electricity producers, consumers, and storage facilities, the company contributes to grid stability and optimizes electricity production and consumption based on price signals. It trades its electricity on various European exchanges via its own 24/7 electricity trading platform. Next Kraftwerke has been part of the Shell Group since 2021.

    We have a deep conversation about how VPP work, their impact on flexibility, and the fact that they used to be ignored or discarded by incumbents. But that is changing with the arrival of AI providing better systems and increased demand.

    Along the way, we pop some balloons, such as V2G or Heating management, which work great in theory but are non-significant from a volume point of view. Maybe they will in the next decade. As Shell is reducing its footprint in Clean Energy transition assets, it is reinforcing its position in the VPP market, as Next Kraftwerke is fully integrated into Shell trading organisation.

    Marc demonstrates that the future of energy lies in intelligently connecting renewable generation, storage, demand-side flexibility, and trading capabilities to create a more resilient and sustainable energy system.
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    30 min
  • 248. Remembering Joe Romm (1960-2026): Clearing the Air on Climate Solutions - Sep26

    248. Remembering Joe Romm (1960-2026): Clearing the Air on Climate Solutions - Sep26
    Sep 28 2026
    Joseph J. Romm (1960–2026) was an MIT-trained physicist who became one of the most prominent voices in the U.S. climate movement after serving as Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy in the 1990s.

    He founded the Climate Progress blog, authored ten books—including The Hype About Hydrogen and Hell and High Water—and was named a Time “Hero of the Environment” and one of Rolling Stone’s “100 People Who Are Changing America” in 2009.

    Later, as a Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media, Romm continued to challenge what he regarded as dead-end technologies and costly distractions, including hydrogen, carbon offsets, and carbon capture. Romm died unexpectedly at the age of 66 on September 14, 2026, in Washington, D.C.

    Michael Barnard and Joe shared a long history of friendship and collaboration, strengthened by a memorable conversation 18 months ago following the release of the second edition of Joe’s seminal book, The Hype About Hydrogen.

    That conversation between Joe and Michael was a fascinating and uniquely candid dialogue about the real solutions to climate change—and about technologies they believed risked diverting attention and investment from more effective pathways, including hydrogen, carbon capture and storage (CCS), direct air carbon capture (DAC), and some proposed approaches to green steel.

    Joe had an extraordinary influence on the climate and energy-transition debate over the past three decades. His rigorous analysis, willingness to challenge conventional wisdom, and ability to communicate complex energy issues shaped the way many of us think about the transition to a clean-energy economy.

    He will be deeply missed. He will not be forgotten.
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    56 min
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