Show Notes
This week on Energy Unplugged, Lara Panjkov, Aurora Energy Research's Head of Research for APAC, and Zelin Chen, Aurora's Market and Research Lead for China, are joined by Anders Hove, Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. For years, the story of China's energy transition was one of scale: more solar, more wind, more batteries, more transmission. Now the challenge is changing. As renewable generation surges and power demand continues to grow, China's focus is shifting from building clean energy capacity to integrating it. That transition is exposing new questions around market design, system flexibility, provincial decision-making and the role of coal, gas and storage in an increasingly renewable power system. Drawing on more than a decade of experience studying China's energy sector, Anders reflects on China's rise from low-cost manufacturer to global clean energy leader and explains why the country's power sector has entered what he describes as its "messy midgame". The conversation explores the latest Five-Year Plan, the evolution of renewable support mechanisms, the growing importance of flexibility, and whether China's biggest challenge is no longer building infrastructure, but using it more effectively. Main topics include:
China's rise from clean energy follower to clean energy leader
Why integrating renewables is becoming harder than building them
The push and pull between central planning, provincial governments and market reform
Whether flexibility, not infrastructure, will determine the success of China's energy transition
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This week on Energy Unplugged, Emma Woodward, Principal in Aurora Energy Research’s GB & Ireland Advisory team and GB Flexible Energy Lead, is joined by Peter Kavanagh, CEO of Harmony Energy. Britain has built one of Europe’s most mature battery markets, largely without subsidy. But success brings its own complications. As batteries scale, the debate is shifting from whether the technology works to whether the market around it does. Merchant revenues remain volatile; projects can spend years waiting for grid and planning approvals, and batteries are still not always fully utilised when they could provide a cheaper alternative for balancing the system. At the same time, support for long-duration storage raises a more uncomfortable question: could policy designed to accelerate storage end up distorting a market that has already proved it can compete? For Peter, the message is increasingly simple: batteries have demonstrated their value. Now the challenge is removing the barriers that stop them delivering more of it. Main topics include:
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This week on Energy Unplugged, Jose Munoz, Market Lead for Spanish-speaking South America at Aurora Energy Research, and Melissa Carreño, Product Manager for Peru and Colombia, are joined by César Butrón, Chairman of the Board of COES, Peru's national system operator. For two decades, Peru has benefited from some of the cheapest electricity in Latin America, supported by abundant low-cost gas from Camisea. But the conditions that shaped that success are beginning to change. Demand is rising, cheap gas can no longer be taken for granted, and investors are struggling to finance new renewable projects despite strong resources and significant interest in the market. At the same time, policymakers face difficult decisions around gas infrastructure, battery storage, transmission expansion, and system reliability. Drawing on decades of experience at the centre of Peru's power sector, César explains why the country is not facing a shortage of electricity, but a potential shortage of affordable electricity, and what that means for Peru's next phase of development. Peru's challenge is no longer keeping the lights on. It's deciding what will power them next. Main topics include:
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