Energy Transitions

Paolo Colella, Chief Revenue Officer for EMEA at Gentrack, discusses the urgent transformation demands facing the utilities sector. He emphasizes the need for agility and innovative customer-focused business models as prosumers rise and legacy systems falter. Colella highlights the importance of not being tied to a single technology path and retaining control over the transformation journey. He contrasts traditional multi-year changes with a more flexible, incremental approach and advocates for a modular system that empowers utilities to adapt continuously.

Europe’s metals sector, more specifically the non-ferrous metals sector, is under immense pressure to decarbonise while remaining globally competitive. One of the key challenges, according to Adina Georgescu, Energy & Climate Change Director Eurometaux, is high electricity prices, which is pushing the sector beyond what it’s capable of. According to Georgescu: “We just need to be pragmatic in Europe and accept that you need to take some good strong decisions when it comes to achieving globally competitive prices.” She is also calling on policymakers to support the creation of a sustainable metals value chain towards achieving greater strategic autonomy.

In the latest episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue speaks to Ben Pritchard, CEO of AVK, and Malin Östman, Vice President, Strategy & Business Development at Wärtsilä Energy, about how this can be achieved and the role that data centre microgrids can play as a scalable, practical solution to power constraints and grid instability. Pritchard and Östman elaborate on AVK and Wärtsilä’s new research paper, Data centre dispatchable capacity: a major opportunity for Europe’s energy transition, which models different energy scenarios for powering data centres, and provides insights into the optimal configuration of renewables, batteries, and dispatchable engines. This podcast is brought to you in partnership with AVK. 

This November, the Energy Act for Ukraine Foundation is launching the free-of-charge Solar Step programme, which aims to provide displaced and vulnerable women in Ukraine with the skills to become project managers in solar power construction. Interest in the programme has been overwhelming, says Energy Act for Ukraine Foundation CEO and founder Yuliana Onishchuk, and guest of the Energy Transitions podcast. And for good reasons. Onishchuk explains that Ukraine’s energy sector remains heavily male-dominated, and the war has further depleted the workforce. This means Solar Step has the potential to be transformative for the sector and life-changing for the women participating. Yuliana Onishchuk will be sharing her insights at Enlit Europe in Bilbao, 18-20 November. Register to join her and be a part of the conversation.

Lesley O'Connor, founder of Trifecta Energy and daughter of renewable energy pioneer Eddie O'Connor, discusses transformative changes in Europe's energy system. She emphasizes the need for systems thinking and digital tools to enhance grid efficiency. O'Connor highlights the super grid concept, which balances wind and solar resources across Europe. She explores barriers to rapid decarbonization and advocates for a focus on innovation and finance, urging for immediate digital and AI advancements to streamline the energy transition.

Spain has a strong automotive sector, a strong manufacturing tradition, and is no stranger to announcements of EV battery gigafactories. So how well-placed is the country in Europe’s battery value chain and what can we expect from its EV-to-power-grid market? These are some of the key discussion points in this fourth and final episode of the special edition Energy Transitions podcast series, with Francisco Carranza, Partner at Futuraiser. Do you want to join the conversation about mobility? Visit the Mobility Zone at Enlit Europe.

In the third episode of a special four-part miniseries of the Energy Transitions Podcast exploring Spain’s journey to greener mobility, host Yusuf Latief speaks with Jacobo Domínguez-Blanco, CEO of Vecttor, a Spanish company specialising in passenger transportation through vehicles with drivers (VTC). Domínguez-Blanco outlines how these pressures are forcing a rethink in how fleets are managed, charged, and integrated into urban energy systems. He also draws on the company’s partnership with Iberdrola, where energy saving certificates (ESCs) are used to monetise fleet electrification, to discuss the opportunities e-mobility is opening up for business in Spain. Do you want to join the conversation about mobility? Visit the Mobility Zone at Enlit Europe.

In the second episode of a special four-part miniseries of the Energy Transitions Podcast exploring Spain’s journey to greener mobility, host Yusuf Latief speaks with Jorge Muñoz Riesco, Head of Smart Mobility for Iberdrola. Riesco helps unpack what’s needed to ensure that EV charging and the power system evolve in sync, considering elements such as charging technologies, grid investment and forward-looking regulation. Do you want to join the conversation about mobility? Visit the Mobility Zone at Enlit Europe.

In the first episode of a special four-part miniseries of the Energy Transitions Podcast zooming in on Spain’s journey to greener mobility, host Yusuf Latief speaks with Pierpaolo Cazzola and Matteo Craglia, two leading transport and energy policy experts from the University of California, Davis’s European Transport and Energy Research Centre. Together, they unpack why, despite offering significant subsidies since 2009, EV adoption in Spain still lags behind countries like Portugal. Ultimately, Pierpaolo and Craglia explain, Spain is making progress in the sector—but more is needed to fully unlock its potential. Do you want to join the conversation about mobility? Visit the Mobility Zone at Enlit Europe. Register now to attend Enlit Europe, taking place from 18–20 November in Bilbao.

Pamela Largue speaks with José Luis Adanero López, Head of Planning, Regulation & Investment Office at Iberdrola and Simona Rossetti, Senior VP of sales Europe for Grid Technologies at Siemens Energy. López and Rossetti explore the causes and aftermath of the Spanish blackout, as well as the critical roles of grid inertia, regulatory stability, and strategic investment to build a resilient energy grid in Europe. In this episode you will learn more about: How the energy transition is causing a heightened need for resilience strategies, Lessons learned from the Spanish blackout and how to transform those lessons into actions, The impact of eliminating fossil fuels and the loss of rotating mass, The hidden challenges of introducing renewables into the system, Regulatory strategies to improve grid resilience, How to direct investment to ensure a more proactive rather than reactive approach to grid resilience, The role of digitalisation in grid stability.