Transmission

Sam Harden, Global Director at Enfinity Global, is a battery storage and BESS optimisation expert. He explains why toll contracts can shift rather than remove risk and how availability penalties bite. They unpack Italy’s MACSE 15-year auction and why the market is maturing into an asset class. He outlines futureproofing site design, grid services like inertia, and why skilled people are the real bottleneck.

Sam Harden, Global Director at Enfinity Global and BESS specialist in contracts and operations, breaks down why tolls shift risk into availability and can be costly. He walks through Italy’s MACSE auction and why the market is moving from a gold rush to an asset class. They explore futureproofing designs, grid services like inertia, augmentation options, and why skilled people are the real bottleneck.

Paul Mason, CIO at Harmony Energy and experienced BESS developer/operator. He discusses why treating revenue forecasts as fixed is dangerous. He explains designing for uncertainty, choosing durations, and the role of listed funds in scaling capital. He covers market selection across Europe, grid connection challenges, and how to vet optimizers and run live trials.

Paul Mason, Chief Investment Officer at Harmony Energy and experienced BESS developer-operator. He discusses designing projects to operate long-term. He warns against treating revenue forecasts as fixed. He explains why two-hour duration and market selection in France and Germany matter. He covers capital strategies, grid connection risks, and how to work with optimizers.

Michael Cupit, an energy developer building battery storage projects in Malawi and Kenya, shares on-the-ground realities. He discusses why Africa is leapfrogging fossil grids and the commercial case for renewables-plus-storage. Hear comparisons of South Africa, Malawi and Kenya grids. He outlines long finance timelines, the role of DFIs and guarantees, and the challenge of building local O&M capability.

Michael Cupit, a developer of battery energy storage projects in Malawi and Kenya, explains why Africa is a huge, misunderstood battery market. He outlines real-world risks, how contracted 15–20 year capacity deals differ from merchant markets, and why grids can be built renewables-first. He also covers financing with DFIs and guarantees, China’s changing role, and the challenge of building local O&M capability.

Philipp Lukas, founder and CEO of Future Biogas and a specialist in biomethane and anaerobic digestion, makes the case for scaling biogas beyond waste treatment. He explains how anaerobic digestion and upgrading to biomethane work. He discusses where biomethane best fits—high‑temperature industry, shipping and transport—and why the gas grid matters as a national energy store.

Philipp Lukas, founder and CEO of Future Biogas and a long-time biomethane developer, outlines how anaerobic digestion turns waste into grid-ready gas. He explores where biomethane fits best—from high‑heat industry to shipping and SAF. Conversations cover feedstocks, plant reliability, the gas grid as seasonal storage, economics versus fossil gas, and what policy and market design need to scale production.

Stuart Pomeroy, who leads business development at Paces and brings project development and project finance experience. He explains why traditional development stalls and how a parallel, data-driven workflow compresses land, environmental, interconnection, and permitting work. Discussion covers replacing some studies with data tools, predicting permitting and landowner behavior, hot US regions, off-grid opportunities, and making projects bankable.

Stuart Pomeroy, business development lead at Paces who speeds clean energy projects using data-driven, parallel workflows. He explains why traditional sequential development fails. He describes Paces’ layered data model, parallelized ecosystem, Permitting Predictor, community sentiment signals, and how compressing workstreams can cut timelines and improve pipeline conversion.