How does a major renewable operator decide what gets built, where, and with whose capital? Lolita Carry, Director of Portfolio Strategy at Engie North America, explains how Engie manages a 20GW BESS, wind, and solar pipeline across ERCOT, PJM, MISO, and CAISO.
In this episode Alejandro de Diego speaks with Lolita Carry about how one of the US's largest battery storage operators structures its investment decisions across multiple ISO markets.
They take a look at how Engie steers a 20GW development pipeline across ERCOT, PJM, MISO, and CAISO; the capital recycling model behind Engie's 2.7GW asset sale to SES; what the Broad Reach Power acquisition brought to Engie's battery portfolio; how ancillary service saturation and energy price cannibalisation are reshaping BESS investment cases; and why Engie remains bullish on batteries despite tightening revenues.
You can watch or listen to new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.
Transmission is a Modo Energy production. Your host is Alejandro De Diego - US Market Analyst
Modo Energy helps the owners, operators, builders, and financiers of battery energy storage understand the market — and make the most out of their assets. Want all the latest power market news? Sign up for our free Weekly Dispatch newsletter: https://bit.ly/TheWeeklyDispatch
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction — Engie's 20GW pipeline and the portfolio challenge
4:01 Capital allocation and key technologies in focus
5:17 Priority ISO markets: ERCOT, PJM, MISO, CAISO
6:04 What makes each market unique
9:27 BESS + solar development: from site to FID
11:00 Risk assessment and project showstoppers
12:32 Network upgrades and interconnection queue dynamics
14:49 Raising and lowering the investment bar across markets
18:01 Where Engie captures the most value: development vs. construction vs. operations
18:59 The capital recycling model — Engie's 2.7GW SES deal explained
20:20 How grid-scale batteries operate day to day
21:45 BESS revenue decline: ancillary services, cannibalisation, and energy arbitrage
22:34 Investment stance
23:27 In-house energy management vs. external optimisers
24:07 Advantages of scale vs. smaller developers
29:10 Career advice for those entering the energy investment sector
30:20 The Broad Reach Power acquisition — lessons and integration
32:05 Final plug and contrarian view on the energy industry
