Episodes
-
2025 is set to be a year of continuing geopolitical turmoil. Donald Trump’s return to the White House will raise the temperature further at a time of major instability in the Middle East along with Russia-Ukraine.
Questions remain over where Europe’s gas will come from and a key European power-player, Germany, faces fresh elections in February.
In this episode, we delve into the latest geopolitical developments, as well as the key fundamental drivers, and assess their likely impacts, with Wayne Bryan, Principal Associate at the London Stock Exchange Group (and formerly Director of LSEG’s European Gas Research).
Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guests: Wayne Bryan, Principal Associate (formerly Director, European Gas Research), London Stock Exchange Group; Andres Cala – Senior LNG Correspondent, Montel
-
Poland’s energy sector is undergoing a critical, if slow, transition after the election of Donald Tusk as prime minister exactly one year ago. Coal still dominates the mix despite a greater use of gas and a growth in renewables. Grid modernisation and energy security have taken centre stage.
Significant challenges include high energy costs, particularly for industry. There’s also the matter of where government subsidies could, and should, be spent. Issues around policy cohesion, public and industry engagement and regional impacts all persist.
In this episode, we delve into the latest developments shaping Poland’s energy landscape. Montel’s experts provide a snapshot of the latest news, and Joanna Pandera, founder of the Forum Energii think-tank in Poland, discusses the milestones, challenges, and what Poland’s energy transition means for Europe and beyond.
Host: Richard Sverrisson, Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guests: Joanna Pandera, Founder and CEO, Forum Energii, Professor at European University in Florence; Hubert Put, Senior Energy Consultant, Montel;Marcin Czekanski,Poland Correspondent, Montel
-
Missing episodes?
-
This week, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change released a report declaring, “a new nuclear age is beginning,” arguing that nuclear power is critical in meeting global climate goals. But how is this renaissance different from earlier proclamations of an atomic revival?
In this episode, Richard talks with report co-author Tone Langengen about the case for a nuclear revival and the hurdles still in its way. Joining the discussion is nuclear expert Paul Dorfman, who questions whether nuclear can truly compete with renewables.
They cover the potential of small modular reactors (SMRs), the challenges of cost overruns, and whether nuclear and renewables can work together to create a resilient, low-carbon grid.
Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guests: Tone Langengen - Senior Policy Advisor, Climate & Energy Policy at the Tony Blair Institute For Global Change. Co-author of this report “A New Nuclear Age”; Dr Paul Dorfman - Visiting Fellow at the Science Policy Research Unit of the University of Sussex; Chris Eales – France Editor, Montel -
In October, the Nordic power market introduced a new calculation method for cross-zonal capacity to improve Nordic grid utilisation. However, so-called flow-based market coupling, in place for almost a decade in continental Europe, has received a rocky reception in the north. Particularly amongst policy makers and small companies.
So, what exactly is it, and why has it caused a furore in the Nordic region?
In this episode, Richard speaks to TenneT's flow-based expert Frank Boerman, to unpack exactly how the flow-based model works, and two of our Montel experts share insights on some of the challenges that the Nordic energy market has already faced under the new system.
Host: Richard Sverrisson – Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guests: Frank Boerman – Process Specialist at TenneT; Olav Vilnes – Nordic Editor, Montel News; Priyanka Shinde – Nordic Market Expert, Montel News
-
Global leaders at COP29 were under a huge amount of pressure going into talks this week following the UN Secretary General public voicing his concerns over the state of negotiations.
Criticisms of this year’s talks and the huge scale event that COP has become in recent years begs the question: is COP too big, and does it need reforming? We also discuss Europe's carbon market, current drivers and the reasons why prices may continue to rise.
In this episode, Richard speaks to Trevor Sikorski from Energy Aspects and our Carbon Correspondent reports from COP29 in Baku.
Host: Richard Sverrisson – Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guests: Trevor Sikorski – Head of Natural Gas and Carbon Research at Energy Aspects. -
At the start of November, the Swedish government announced that it was vetoing plans for 13 offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea due to security concerns. The announcement was met with much criticism from developers and lobby groups who felt blindsided by the cancellations and concerned about what this decision suggests about Sweden’s future energy priorities.
In this episode, Richard speaks to WindEurope about their fears regarding Sweden’s decision and discusses the nuances of Sweden’s Ministry of Defence with Defence Consultant and former Swedish Army Lieutenant Colonel.
Host: Richard Sverrisson – Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guests: Giles Dickson – CEO, WindEurope; Tobhias Wikstrom – CEO, Parachute Consulting; Anton Tigerstedt – Editor Sweden, Montel News
-
It has been a big week for global politics.
On the same day that the United States voted Donald Trump as their 47th President, the German coalition government broke down after a budget row over cutting energy costs to companies and financial support for Ukraine.
In this episode, Richard explores what this new US administration will mean for energy markets, and he speaks to one of our guests live from Munich about what the initial reaction to the news has been in Germany. Listen to a discussion on where this leaves the country – and the wider energy transition – as it enters a period of limbo until a new government is elected.
Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guests: Nadia Martin Wiggen – Director, Svelland Capital; Tobias Federico – Managing Director of Energy Brainpool GmbH & Co. KG
-
This week, the UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her budget – the first from a Labour government in 14 years.
Whilst there were no big surprises for the energy sector, the budget still raised some interesting questions about the challenges in the UK when it comes to channeling private investment, and how effective the funding is going to be.
In this episode, Richard dissects what the announcements and fiscal decisions laid out by the Government will mean for energy businesses in the UK.
Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guests: Pranav Menon – Product Manager for GB Power Renewables, Aurora Energy Research; Johnny Gowdy – Director, Regen; Paul Buckworth – Montel Analytics
-
It is over a year since Hamas attacked Israel, which triggered a wider conflict in the Middle East; the territory that produces around a third of the world’s oil. And much of its gas.
Yet, despite the escalating military attacks and rising geopolitical tensions, the price of oil has not increased as significantly as some experts assumed, especially when compared to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago.Why? In this episode, Richard speaks to geopolitics expert and co-founder of global data and intelligence firm, Energy Aspects, about what this tells us about the oil market, and what it suggests about our assumptions on the impact of geopolitical events vs the reality on the ground.
Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guests: Richard Bronze – Co-Founder, Energy Aspects; Luke Roshan – Correspondent, Montel News -
The last two years of the conflict in Ukraine, and the rise in malicious cyberattacks, has raised concerns security risks over Europe’s plans to be more self-sustainable in energy supply.
Now, as countries across Europe roll out their plans for further decarbonisation and electrification, the security of these plans has come into question, pushing the energy sector firmly onto NATO’s radar. Is Europe’s energy market set up to deal with security threats?
In this episode, Richard speaks to two of the authors of a new report from Eurasia that puts the pressing issues of energy storage and grid compacity in Europe into a new – more urgent – context of security.
Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guests:Amund Vik – Senior Advisor to Eurasia Group and former Deputy Energy Minister in the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy; Henning Gloystein – Head for Energy, Climate, and Natural Resources at Eurasia Group; Laurence Walker – Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Montel News
-
It's clear for many that Europe needs to ramp up battery energy storage capacity over the next decade to help decarbonise the economy. But where does this leave battery developers and manufacturers who must navigate the complex markets and battle against negative pricing?
In this episode, Richard speaks to Neoen’s MD of Sweden about the largest battery in the Nordic region that will start operating early next year. In addition, we hear from Rystad Energy’s battery expert about the market conditions and the competitive threat from China that we have already seen start to impact local European manufacturers.Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guests: Laetitia Prot – Managing Director Sweden, Neoen
Lars Lysdal – Advisory Partner and battery expert, Rystad Energy -
This week marked a historic milestone for the UK as it shut down the last remaining coal-fired power station in Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Nottinghamshire. Once the backbone of the country’s energy supply, coal has been an essential part of the energy mix for over a century.
In this bonus episode, Richard speaks to Matthew Scrimshaw, CCO of Montel, who shares his memories of growing up in his childhood home which overlooked the iconic power plant. Matthew recounts stories of his grandfather going to work in another nearby coal unit, and being mesmerised as a boy by the Ratcliffe-on-Soar station.
Matthew, Richard, and Montel’s Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Laurence, reflect on coal’s role in the industrial revolution, the integral position it held in the politics of the 1970s and 80s, and how the dirty fuel will be remembered in British history.
Host: Richard Sverrisson – Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guests: Laurence Walker – Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Montel News; Matthew Scrimshaw – Chief Commercial Officer, Montel
-
In September, the growing uncertainty surrounding the hydrogen economy brought new projects from producers like Shell and Equinor to a halt. Is this the start of a wave of hydrogen project cancellations that we are about to see in Europe? Has H2 passed peak hype?
Richard speaks to Montel’s Environmental Markets Reporter and the Hydrogen Science Coalition about why we are seeing hydrogen projects collapse now, and what is next to come.
Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guests: David Cebon – Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Cambridge University and founding member of the Hydrogen Science Coalition; Rachael Burnett – Environmental Markets Reporter, Montel News -
Europe’s gas supplies are plentiful. Some in the industry are relaxed ahead of the coming winter, but with the rising military escalation in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, and the global market apprehensively awaiting November’s US Election, this positive sentiment might be about to change.
In this week’s episode, we speak to hedge fund Svelland Capital about the impending challenges to the gas market.
Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, MontelGuests: Nadia Martin Wiggen – Director, Svelland Capital; Andres Cala – Senior LNG Correspondent, Montel
-
This week, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, unveiled her team of new commissioners and set out their priorities for the next five years.
Amongst her new team are some key, experienced players for energy and climate, whose home countries are already avid supporters of the EU’s plans to decarbonise its economy.
Does this new, energy-charged Commission combined with Draghi’s report recommendations mean that we are going to see some drastic change in the next five years?
In this week’s episode, we hear initial reactions to the announcement from our own Brussel’s Correspondent and Eurelectric’s Policy Director.
Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guests: Siobhan Hall – Brussel’s Correspondent, Montel News;
Cillian O’Donoghue – Policy Director, Eurelectric -
Harmonisation and international standardisation; those were the words that were often heard this week when analysts, traders, and energy producers came together to discuss the challenges facing the guarantees of origin market at the GO Conference in Reykjavík this week.
The GO market is a driver for investment in renewable energy production pipeline, but how does it need to change to bring in more firms, especially energy intensive industry, and help boost demand across Europe?
In this episode, Richard speaks to industry experts from the conference in Reykjavík and our reporter Enza Tedesco goes on a tour of one of Iceland’s new power plants.
Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guest: Lars Ragnar Solberg – Principal Consultant, AFRY
Halldór K. Sigurðarson – Business Director, Landsvirkjun
Merve Güngör – Policy and Networking Manager, RECS -
The global power system is changing. Carbon emissions are declining. The green transition is in full flow. This is good news for the planet, but what do the next few years on this journey to 2030 look like for carbon prices?
In this episode, we talk about the impact of impending EU regulations that businesses are bracing themselves for. With supply due to decrease faster than demand, and the squeeze on industries who will no longer benefit from the EU’s free emissions allowance, we ask the question: who is going to feel the brunt of decarbonisation?
Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guest: Alexandra Härmatis - Senior Corporate Carbon Trader, Vertis Environmental Finance -
A Montel News investigation has aired claims of insider trading in Germany’s power market. Signals received by some to help balance the grid are allegedly being used to front-run prices for same-day delivery. We’ve spoken to traders who claim this is an open secret worth millions of euros. Listen to a discussion with the reporter who broke the story.
Host: Richard Sverrisson, Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guest: Nathan Witkop, Editor Clean Energy Desk, Montel -
The guarantees of origin (GO) market is complex and opaque. Listen to a discussion that unpicks the complexity, simplifies the jargon and lays bare the controversies in the market. With big tech looking to source more and more green energy, how can the market – projected to be worth EUR 4bn by 2030 – increase its credibility and boost liquidity? And why has Norway ruled out an exit from the GO market?
Host: Richard Sverrisson, Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guest: Daniel Arnesson, Manager, Renewable Power Analysis, Veyt -
Germany plans to massively increase imports of hydrogen and its derivative products such as ammonia and methanol over the next five years but are the targets unrealistic and how green is the fuel? Listen to a discussion on what “hydrogen ready” could mean for infrastructure such as pipelines and power plants, the immense costs involved and the timescale for the decarbonisation of industry.
Host: Richard Sverrisson, Editor-in-Chief, Montel
Guest: Henning Gloystein, Director, Eurasia Group. - Show more
