Interchange Recharged

Will Hazlip, National Grid Ventures rep helping deploy Long Island’s first commercial hydrogen linear generator. Shannon Miller, CEO of Mainspring Energy, building fuel-flexible, software-driven linear generators. They explore the new 250 kW hydrogen-capable unit, its low-NOx, software-controlled operation, modular scaling and testing plan on Long Island, plus hydrogen logistics and regulatory implications.

Empty gigawatt factories, product recalls, participation rates that never materialised, and a policy environment that has now stripped the green premium entirely. The electrolyzer industry has had a brutal few years and most of the companies that raised hundreds of millions on the back of the hydrogen hype cycle are now sitting with fixed costs they cannot sustain and field deployments they are not proud of. Host Bridget van Dorsten speaks with Raveel Afzaal, CEO of Next Hydrogen, one of the few electrolyzer manufacturers that chose to watch from the sidelines while competitors scaled into the storm. Raveel describes the decision in blunt terms: in 2021, when cost of capital went to near zero and capital discipline evaporated, Next Hydrogen looked at the macro signals; rising inflation, rising interest rates, a market telling them their Hyundai partnership was worth a 5% share price drop, and chose to extend their runway from 18 months to five years. That meant hard capital allocation decisions, and the answer was to invest in the product, not the factory.  The conversation goes deep into a problem that rarely gets discussed publicly: the commercialisation valley of death. Getting to a working prototype is celebrated, but the productisation phase, technology readiness levels five through seven, is where the funding gap is most severe and the cost shock is greatest. Costs typically rise three to five times from prototype stage, revenues do not yet exist, and neither government programmes nor conventional investors are structured to bridge it. Raveel explains why so many companies that made it to prototype stage never made it to commercial deployment and what surviving that valley actually required.  Raveel also pushes back on a common framing around Chinese versus Western electrolyzers. His argument is that the quality question is not a national origin question , it is a materials question. What membranes, what bipolar plates, what catalyst, what functional safety architecture? Next Hydrogen's own answer to those questions is unusual: replacing nickel bipolar plates with large injection-moulded specialty engineered plastics, eliminating corrosion risk entirely and reducing cost through higher material utilisation rather than lower-grade materials. The company holds 40 patents on a cell architecture designed from the outset for direct connection to variable renewables, a design decision made in 2008, when the rest of the industry was still building for baseload.  The episode closes on what the next two to three years look like for electrolyzer manufacturers. Raveel's view is that consolidation is coming, but many companies won't survive long enough to be part of it, their fixed costs are too high and their runway too short. The companies that survive will be those with variable cost models, disciplined project selection, and a genuine answer to three questions: Can you access excess electrons? Can you deliver containerised, plug-and-play solutions that control total installed cost? Can you reliably handle the intermittent operations that direct renewable connection demands? Next Hydrogen is betting the answer starts with getting the cell design right first. Today's episode is sponsored by GridBeyond. Energy asset owners face a critical challenge: how to optimize performance and drive new revenue in competitive, fast-moving markets. GridBeyond solves this through AI-powered forecasting, energy trading and optimization. GridBeyond's platform delivers: Precision forecasting to anticipate market opportunities Intelligent market access across multiple revenue streams Real-time control that responds instantly to market conditions Optimization that combines AI insights with expert oversight Whether you're managing batteries, gas peakers, hybrid sites, or complex multi-asset portfolios, GridBeyond helps you turn assets into high-performance revenue machines. The proven platform has helped businesses across the energy sector maximize returns and accelerate their energy transition. Want to learn more? Visit go.gridbeyond.com/recharged  https://go.gridbeyond.com/recharged  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nick Chaset, CEO of Octopus Energy US and flexibility-as-a-service lead, discusses bringing UK-style residential VPPs to the US. He explains the Uplight partnership with its 60-utility reach. Topics include simplifying enrollments into one app, boosting participation through bill-focused incentives, using aggregated home flexibility to help data center interconnection, and navigating regulatory and utility-branding hurdles.

Jake Jurewicz, Co-founder and CEO of Blue Energy, builds bankable small modular nuclear projects using shipyards and prefabs. He explains why past cost overruns came from construction overhead, not reactor hardware. Hear how barged modules, fixed-price fab contracts, and hyperscaler PPAs could change financeability. Learn about a gas-to-nuclear pilot at Port of Victoria and why data centers matter for nuclear demand.

Tom Falcone, President and CEO of the Large Public Power Council, leads publicly owned utilities and advises on governance and planning for big data center loads. He discusses how public power’s local, not-for-profit model speeds deals with hyperscalers. They cover interconnection reforms, large-load tariffs that weed out speculative requests, and plans to add massive generation amid permitting and financing hurdles.

Tim Vail, CEO of ION Clean Energy, leads a company developing post-combustion carbon capture for natural gas plants. He discusses how hyperscaler AI demand is creating buyer-driven markets for low-carbon gas. They cover measuring carbon intensity across the full value chain, methane monitoring and verification, CCS costs on a $/MWh basis, and the financing and execution hurdles to scale projects.

Chris Seiple, Vice Chairman of Power & Renewables at Wood Mackenzie, explains how a 175 GW pipeline of data centers and reshoring is overwhelming traditional utility planning. Rapid-build tech loads clash with long grid timelines. New large-load tariffs, market rule changes, and grid-enhancing innovations are reshaping where investment, risk, and coordination land.

Akhil Bateja, Director of Technology Strategy at Bloom Energy with deep experience in fuel cells and hydrogen, joins to explain why fuel cells have leapt into data center power planning. He discusses how solid oxide fuel cells stack like Lego for fast, modular onsite power. They cover handling AI’s spiky loads with supercapacitors, grid resilience, DC power potential, and pathways to cleaner fuels like hydrogen and biogas.

Ed Crooks, a seasoned energy journalist and host of The Energy Gang, discusses the transformative impact of AI on the energy landscape by 2026. He explores pressing topics like the race for energy affordability and the U.S. energy dominance agenda. Key technologies such as long-duration storage, geothermal, and advanced nuclear are examined as potential solutions. The conversation delves into the role of data centers in driving power demand, the implications for climate policy, and whether AI could expedite decarbonization while balancing costs.

Bridget Van Dorsten explores the rocky landscape of renewable energies like hydrogen, geothermal, and wind as 2025 wraps up. She discusses oil majors' pullback from renewables and the challenges hydrogen faces with costs and policies. Geothermal shows resilience despite recent shifts, while wind grapples with installation drops and supply chain issues. Amidst these hurdles, some signs of stabilization emerge, alongside strategic updates and investor insights that shape the future of these crucial energy sectors.