Energy Transitions

Hosted by Enlit Europe

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Aug 2026

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About the show

Welcome to the Energy Transitions Podcast, brought to you by Enlit. In this bi-weekly podcast, your host Pamela Largue has engaging conversations with energy sector professionals at the forefront of the energy transition in Europe and beyond. Visit https://www.enlit.world/podcasts/energy-transitions/ for more information about the series and guests.

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August 4, 202630 min

Financing a bankable and just energy transition

As governments, utilities and investors navigate geopolitical uncertainty and increasing pressure to decarbonise and electrify, one question continues to dominate the energy transition: where will the money come from? Sadly, many across the world continue to suffer energy poverty and billions of dollars remain on the sidelines despite enormous demand for energy infrastructure. In the latest episode of the Enlit Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue speaks with Woochong Um, CEO of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, about how to address this persistent challenge, what it takes to unlock investment for clean energy in developing economies and how to connect the money with the projects and people needing it most. According to Um, the real challenge is not a lack of capital, but a lack of bankable projects, enabling policies and collaboration. He also emphasises that the energy transition, climate action and economic development are not competing priorities but mutually reinforcing goals.

July 28, 202628 min

The policies powering Europe's renewables integration

As the European Commission advances key legislative proposals, such as Electrification Action Plan and the EU ETS review, the focus is shifting from setting renewable energy targets to delivering them. In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue speaks with Vasiliki Klo nari , Director of Energy System Integration at WindEurope, about why this is the most consequential legislative cycle for Europe's energy future. She highlights the critical importance of coherent policies to achieve investor confidence and smarter system integration and lays out how Europe can move beyond ambition to implementation and greater energy autonomy.

July 21, 202628 min

Why competitive industry needs cheap power and smart policy

Europe has already lost around half of its primary aluminium production in recent years, driven by soaring energy costs and intense international competition and yet the ambition to decarbonise industry has never been greater. To unpack the realities facing European industry, as well as the policies that are advancing or preventing deindustrialisation, Pamela Largue speaks with Paul Voss, Director General of European Aluminium. Voss explores why competitively priced electricity is fundamental to Europe's industrial future, why long-term investment in renewables, grids and storage matters more than short-term fixes, and how geopolitical events have reshaped Europe's thinking on trade, resilience and strategic autonomy. While the industry's commitment to net zero is unwavering, Voss argues that policy must be grounded in technological reality.

July 14, 202628 min

Optimising energy storage assets for a more flexible grid

As battery energy storage systems become an increasingly critical part of the energy transition, the conversation is shifting from simply deploying more assets to ensuring they are used as intelligently as possible. In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue speaks with Henri Taskinen, CEO and co-founder of Capalo AI, about the sophisticated optimisation and trading strategies that are unlocking the full value of battery storage. He focuses in on how AI, forecasting and advanced algorithms enable storage assets to respond dynamically to changing market conditions, as well as why intelligent optimisation is becoming essential to project bankability.

July 7, 202628 min

Why energy storage is a strategic priority for Europe

In this Energy Transitions Podcast, Jacopo Tosoni says that energy storage has now become critical infrastructure to deliver energy security. In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, you will learn more about: The drivers behind the unprecedented pace of Europe's energy storage market growth; The markets leading deployment and what countries like the UK, Italy and Germany are doing differently; How storage is becoming essential alongside solar and wind as renewable penetration increases; Why long-duration energy storage is gaining momentum; The policy and regulatory changes still needed to unlock the sector's full potential; What the recent EU tripartite agreement on energy storage signals and whether it's ambitious enough; How innovation in storage technologies could strengthen Europe's industrial competitiveness and support the growing demand from AI data centres.

June 30, 202623 min

Overcoming growing pains in the UK's hydrogen sector

According to Clare Jackson , CEO of Hydrogen UK, delivering hydrogen projects can be likened to a game of Whac-A-Mole and in this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, she explains why. Hydrogen projects are easy to announce, but difficult to deliver, with early enthusiasm often giving way to the practical work of securing permits, financing, and securing infrastructure and regulatory approvals. Every hurdle exposes the next one, she explains. A project may overcome financing, only to face planning delays, for example. However, says Jackson, this situation is not evidence that hydrogen has failed or that the sector has entered a repetitive cycle with no hope of growth. Rather, it reflects the complexity of building an entirely new energy sector, where technical, financial, regulatory and market challenges must all be addressed before projects become operational. And more importantly, it reflects a maturing sector moving from hype to execution. Jackson emphasises that hydrogen, alongside carbon capture and electrification, will play a critical role in building a resilient, low-carbon energy system, if we can shift hydrogen through these “awkward teenage years”.

June 23, 202628 min

Tackling US grid congestion to meet the demand surge

The United States is experiencing an unprecedented wave of electricity demand growth. While electrification and electric vehicles continue to contribute significantly, the rapid expansion of AI-driven data centres has introduced a new level of complexity. Facilities consuming hundreds of megawatts, or even gigawatts, of power are being developed on timelines far shorter than utilities have traditionally planned for. This creates a mismatch between supply, demand and network capacity that manifests as grid congestion. In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue speaks to Nick Chaset, CEO of Octopus Energy US, to learn more about how the grid congestion challenge should be tackled. He points to the expanding role of distributed assets such as energy storage and highlights the regulatory reforms needed to unlock smarter networks. Chaset also asserts that while continued investment in generation and network infrastructure is critical, the reality is that building more assets alone may not be enough. The future grid will need to be smarter, more flexible and more responsive to survive the increasing demand loads we are expecting in the future.

June 16, 202623 min

Renewables reality check in the age of energy security

As governments grapple with volatile fossil fuel prices, supply disruptions and geopolitical uncertainty, is the renewable energy agenda being overshadowed by the growing focus on energy security? In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue speaks with Bruce Douglas, CEO of the Global Renewables Alliance, about why he believes today's energy security concerns are actually accelerating, not slowing, the shift to renewable energy. He points to growing momentum across Europe and Asia, where policymakers are accelerating renewable deployment, electrification, storage and grid investment. In his view, renewables are now not only the cleanest option, but increasingly the fastest and most cost-effective way to add new generation capacity.

June 2, 202628 min

Leveraging the Innovation Fund Heat Auction to decarbonise heat

Industrial heat accounts for roughly two-thirds of energy use in manufacturing, yet it remains one of the least discussed challenges in the energy transition. In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Pamela Largue speaks with Daniel Galis, Europe Director at the Renewable Thermal Collaborative, about the European Innovation Fund's €1 billion Heat Auction and its role in accelerating industrial heat decarbonisation. Daniel explains how competitive auction mechanisms are being used to support renewable heat technologies, explores why electric boilers dominated the first funding round, and discusses the barriers facing heat pumps, geothermal and solar thermal solutions. He also highlights a critical challenge for Europe’s industrial future: high electricity prices.

May 25, 202623 min

Are European energy policies resilient by design?

Geopolitical instability, persistent fossil fuel dependence, and the need to maintain industrial competitiveness are forcing European policymakers and energy leaders to confront increasingly urgent questions about whether policies support or hinder energy security, resilience and decarbonisation. In this episode of the Energy Transitions Podcast, Pamela Largue speaks with Marion Labatut, European Affairs Director at EDF, about the strategic choices Europe must make to remain resilient while accelerating its net zero ambitions. Labatut believes one of Europe’s strongest strategic advantages lies in expanding the use of electricity across transport, buildings, and industry. To support this, she calls for Europe to “stay the regulatory course” and to ensure greater regional coordination to reduce overall system costs and improve grid efficiency.