The Audacious Plan To Build a Transatlantic Electricity Cable | Ep246: Laurent Segalen

This week on Cleaning Up, host Bryony Worthington sits down with investor and energy strategist Laurent Segalen, co-host of the Redefining Energy podcast, for a sweeping conversation that spans carbon markets, uranium trading, battery innovation, and Laurent’s bold plan to connect Canada and Europe with a 5,000km subsea electricity cable.

Laurent shares the personal moments that shaped his obsession with energy security, from witnessing Cold War division in Germany to cleaning an oil spill off the beaches of Brittany, and how those experiences led him to the heart of Europe’s carbon trading system and into high-stakes commodity markets.

Along the way, Laurent recounts:

• How he became becoming one of the most profitable uranium traders on the market
• The financial mechanics behind interconnectors, and why east-west cables make money
• Why sodium batteries could reshape grid storage
• His experience designing carbon markets, and whether they are working or not.

At the centre of the discussion is NATO-L (North Atlantic Transmission One Link): an audacious proposal to link Canadian hydro and wind to European markets through ultra-high-voltage subsea cables.

Leadership Circle:

Cleaning Up is supported by the Leadership Circle, and its founding members: Actis, Alcazar Energy, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Schneider Electric, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit https://www.cleaningup.live.

Links and more:

• NATO-L website: https://nato-l.com/
• Redefining Energy Podcast: https://www.redefining-energy.com/
• Ep92: Simon Morrish "650 Leagues of HVDC Under the Sea": https://youtu.be/m6KIMswZkWA