Published by Schneider Electric
The sustainability business podcast features conversations shaping the future of energy. Every episode includes a conversation between energy professionals on the topics and questions that are at the forefront of the global energy market.
Listen on Apple PodcastsIn this episode Russell Reading interviews Leticia Hermida, Global Corporate PPA Director at Acciona Energy, about hybrid PPAs, contracts that combine generation technologies (most often solar PV and battery storage) to deliver more stable, predictable renewable energy to corporate buyers. They cover why hybrids are gaining traction, the role of storage duration, and how these structures manage price volatility and volume risk. Leticia explains common hybrid structures, regional trends (notably in Spain, Europe, the US and Chile), common misconceptions, and practical advice: define your objectives, assess value beyond headline price, and explore flexible PPA designs to meet decarbonization and risk-management goals.
Host Russell Reading speaks with Gabor Szabo, Renewable Energy and Carbon Advisory Senior Consultant, from Schneider Electric about Hungary’s evolving renewables landscape, with strong solar growth, an emerging PPA market and corporate interest from the automotive and industrial sectors. The episode covers wind development challenges and recent regulatory changes, grid constraints, and how upcoming GHG protocol guidance and a new government could shape corporate decarbonization and future renewable projects.
Russell Reading speaks with Stefano Dessi, Offtake Manager for Italy and France, of Uniper Renewables about Italy’s fast‑evolving clean energy market — solar overtaking hydro, rising battery storage deployment, and hurdles for onshore/offshore wind amid north–south transmission constraints. They explore current and upcoming support schemes (FER‑AX and the proposed FER‑Z), zonal pricing, corporate PPA demand, and developer strategies — and why these shifts could reshape investment and revenue models through 2028 and beyond.
Host Russell Reading talks with Stephanie Moran, Energy & Sustainability Procurement Manager of Coveris, about upcoming changes to the GHG Protocol and SBTi v2 drafts, and what they mean for PPAs, hourly matching, additionality, and corporate reporting. They also discuss Coveris' no‑waste packaging vision and CO2 clean demonstration plant as examples of practical decarbonization. The episode highlights concerns that uncertainty, added complexity, and potential costs could slow corporate action and affect renewable deployment, while exploring possible market and policy outcomes as the final standards emerge.
On this episode of the Renewable Roundup, Russell Reading speaks with Kenny Schoolcraft of Zeigo Network about “Powered Land” — land that comes bundled with grid access or interconnection privilege. Kenny explains what Powered Land means, why it’s suddenly in high demand, and how it shortens development timelines and reduces execution risk for data centers, renewables and investors. They discuss how market differences (ERCOT, PJM, MISO, CAISO, etc.) shape the value of powered land, why transmission and interconnection queues are the current bottleneck, and how hyperscalers and corporates are adapting their strategies to secure quick, reliable power.
Host Russell Reading interviews Dr. Calum McDonald, Business Director of the Point and Sandwick Trust, about the UK’s largest community‑owned wind farm in the Outer Hebrides. The episode explains the Scottish community trust model, the commercial scale and governance of the 9MW project, local projects funded by revenues, challenges in development, and advice for groups considering community energy.
Host Russell Reading and Zander Dale, a Managing Consultant at Schneider Electric, dive into the second conversation about insetting. They discuss what it is, why it matters, and how companies can build credible value-chain climate programs. They discuss core requirements like linking actions to the value chain, additionality and causality, robust quantification and traceability, handling co-claims and permanence, safeguards for communities and nature, and the role of independent verification. Practical examples include regenerative agriculture, biochar, low-carbon industrial processes, and logistics fuel switching; plus advice on next steps, integrating insetting with procurement and supplier engagement, and using digital tools and standards to ensure transparent, verifiable outcomes.
This episode explores "insetting" or the investment in emissions reductions or removals directly within a company’s value chain. Zander Dale, a Managing Consultant at Schneider Electric explains what insetting is, how it differs from offsetting, and the common project types such as regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, supplier energy efficiency and low‑carbon processing. Listen to learn why insetting matters for scope 3 targets, how credibility and accounting work, and how insetting can deliver carbon reductions alongside nature, biodiversity and supply‑chain resilience benefits.
Host Russell Reading speaks with Craig Konz, Renewable Energy Carbon Advisory Manager from Schneider Electric about the emerging practice of adding battery storage to virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs). They cover financial and non-financial benefits including risk reduction, accounting effects, grid stability and potential revenue streams, as well as common deal structures seen in the U.S. and Europe. The conversation also explores developer perspectives, revenue-sharing models, forecasting challenges as storage proliferates, and a call for creative, win-win offers that evolve with markets and support grid resilience.
Russell Reading and Mark Chappell, Senior PPA Manager at Zeigo Network, recap highlights from Solar & Storage Live, discussing the recent surge in panel exports, evolving PPA dynamics, and how CFDs are reshaping the UK market. The episode explores battery energy storage (BESS) — scaling challenges, longer-duration trends, revenue streams and practical advice on selling co-located batteries with solar projects, emphasizing value-led approaches over simple price competition.
Russell Reading speaks with Mark Chappell about why Poland is emerging as a major market for corporate PPAs. They discuss the rapid growth in solar PV, successful offshore auction results, and the increasing role of battery storage (BESS) to manage grid impacts and price cannibalization. The episode also covers how Poland’s coal-heavy grid makes renewable procurement there especially impactful for corporate decarbonization, ongoing grid and permitting challenges, and uncertainty around AIB membership and certificate transferability. Read the full white paper, "Will 2026 be the breakout year for the Polish PPA Market?": https://www.zeigo.com/2026/05/08/will-2026-be-the-breakout-year-for-the-polish-ppa-market/
Russell Reading sits down with Drew Lewis, Head of Commercial at Zeigo, to recap Perspectives Impact in Nashville, where corporate sustainability leaders and solution providers gathered to discuss market shifts in renewables and decarbonization. Key themes included AI’s growing influence on energy demand and procurement, evolving guidance around GHG accounting and Scope 2/SBTi, and the continued urgency (and complexity) of Scope 3 emissions and supplier data. Episode Timestamps: 1:30 — What is Perspectives Impact? Drew explains the purpose of Perspectives Impact: bringing corporate sustainability stakeholders together to track market dynamics, renewables strategy, and target-setting progress, with a regional focus for each event. 3:34 — AI + GHG Changes: The New Market Pressure Points The conversation highlights how AI is reshaping the landscape both as an efficiency tool and as a driver of data-center demand—raising questions about power costs, PPAs, and potential GHG protocol changes like 24/7 matching. 11:09 — From Boot Camp to Rooftop: Why These Events Matter Drew shares that the most energizing moments were the interactive renewable energy boot camp and the networking conversations—where attendees left motivated by practical ideas they could take home and apply.
Russell Reading is joined by clean tech consultant Tristan Dorman to break down why commercial battery storage is surging: covering energy price volatility, grid reliability, falling system costs, and maturing tech. They explore how batteries unlock value through self-consumption of solar, peak shaving, off‑peak arbitrage, and participation in flexibility/capacity markets, plus what businesses should evaluate before investing (including approvals and future load growth). The episode closes with a look ahead at batteries becoming “standard,” rising demand (including from AI/data centers), and improvements in battery chemistry and deployment models.
In this episode, Russell and Kenny unpack the rapid rise of battery energy storage systems (BESS) and why they’ve moved from a niche technology to a foundational part of modern power grids. They explore how falling costs, policy signals, and real-world market examples like CAISO are reshaping grid reliability, developer strategies, and corporate energy procurement, while looking ahead to how storage value and contract structures will continue to evolve.
On this episode of Renewable Roundup host Russell speaks with Lauren Stewart of Zeigo Network about corporate PPA trends across Europe from 2024–26. They discuss Spain’s surge in solar PPAs, Germany and the Nordics’ market dynamics, and cooling sentiment in 2025. The conversation highlights a shift toward better‑designed deals—hybrids, baseload and shaped profiles—with examples like Merlin Properties’ long‑term solar deal and Airbus’ baseload PPA with TotalEnergies. Lauren explains how developers and buyers are adapting and where the market may head next.
Russell Reading interviews Pascal Olin from Alight about the growing value of on-site (behind‑the‑meter) solar and battery storage for corporates. They discuss how on-site systems offset rising non‑commodity costs, the role of BESS in increasing self‑consumption and tariff optimization, and why markets like the UK and Poland are hotspots. The episode also covers practical steps to get started: building a business case, engaging stakeholders across procurement, finance and operations, running pilots, and scaling successful projects across sites and countries.
Russell interviews Gregorio Morales, Chief Commercial Officer of Sonnidex, about the company’s evolution into a next‑generation independent power producer. They discuss shifting from project-level sales to portfolio-based strategies, closer customer engagement, and advanced risk management. The conversation covers practical plans—hybridizing assets with battery storage, building a trading desk, and offering flexible PPA structures tailored to customer needs across Spain, Portugal and Italy. Gregorio explains how these moves add customer value and create quality growth for Sonnidex. They conclude by outlining the future vision: leading the market transition to resilient, decarbonized, customer-focused energy solutions that balance reliability, competitiveness, and flexibility.
Host Russell interviews Killian Daly, Executive Director at EnergyTag, on the widening gap between Europe’s renewable targets and the projects being developed, and how corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) can help bridge it. They cover market challenges like falling capture value, the case for firmed/hybrid PPAs with storage, government guarantees and aggregation, and how standardization and hourly matching rules could reshape corporate procurement and scale renewable investment. LinkedIn Post referenced in this episode: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/killianpdaly_european-parliement-ppas-and-cfd-summary-activity-7429916724591755264-l8aG?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAR-uP0B7ANn1mHKV5ACTMdmtRkrBF9SRw0
This episode of Renewable Roundup explores North American corporate PPA trends in 2025. Russell Reading talks with Ethan Cox, a Zeigo Renewable Developer Account Manager, about the dominance of ERCOT (Texas) capturing around 50% of corporate PPA megawatts, the sharp decline in wind deals to about 6.5%, and the factors driving those shifts—land availability, regulatory and permitting hurdles, tariffs, and tax-credit changes. They also discuss the outsized influence of hyperscalers (Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon), which accounted for the majority of corporate PPAs, how non-hyperscalers chase the best-priced deals often in ERCOT, and how potential GHG protocol guidance could push buyers to source closer to load. The episode closes with observations on pricing trends, the recent “gold rush” for projects before policy changes, and uncertainty around future price impacts as tax credits and regulations evolve.
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