🎙️ PODCAST: Industrial Sun CEO Wade Gungoll and Christine Larson, Head of Strategy & Operations at Modern Energy, recently joined Sean McMahon on the Renewable Energy SmartPod podcast from SmartBrief to discuss the role of #Renewables in heavy industries like chemical processing, manufacturing and oil and gas. They also outline opportunities and challenges related to #DataCenters.

Check out the full podcast here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ebZKneMP

We are thrilled to share that Modern Energy has been recertified as a B Corporation for the third consecutive time! We first joined the movement in 2017.

Certified B Corporations, B Corps for short, are companies dedicated to using business as a force for good. B Corps meet high verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability to all their stakeholders.

Thanks to our team, leaders, and partners for making this impact together!

To learn more about the B Corp movement, visit: https://lnkd.in/dtqqZchY

Lazard's Levelized Cost of Energy (#LCOE) analysis has been one of my favorite data sets since my earliest days in the #energytransition space, working on Bain & Company's energy outlook. Although this year's LCOE report outlines several current challenges for solar and wind in particular due to higher interest rates, supply chain uncertainty, and need for baseload power / firming resources, it also highlighted several promising themes:

1. Innovation - in technology, capital structures, and policy - will continue to be critical to drive the energy transition. As the challenges facing solar and wind highlight, the industry needs to continue to generate new products and business models to fill energy needs in an ever shifting landscape

2. As we innovate, costs for new technologies will continue to come down. Just as solar has seen an 83% drop in costs since 2009, and declines in lithium-ion batteries are driving the EV and battery-storage industries, newer technologies like hydrogen are seeing and will continue to see cost declines as their supply chains, scale of production and cumulative experience mature.

3. While LCOE is useful for understanding big-picture trends, decision-making happens at a more detailed level, considering what is economically competitive and feasible based on specific offtaker or local dynamics. This may challenge new resources in some areas where on-the-ground realities of land, permitting, curtailment / power prices create barriers masked in LCOE analysis, but in other situations, as is being seen in hydrogen, individual customer needs may push technologies further than what would be expected based on the 10,000 ft view.

Full report here:

Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability is offering a unique and valuable short course in Washington, D.C. on climate and sustainability. [cc Brian Murray]

While solar still has a lower levelized cost of energy (LCOE) than natural gas, early-stage renewable projects require substantial upfront investment, making them more vulnerable to rising interest rates as debt financing becomes more expensive. Because of this, investors will likely become more selective, potentially leaving lower-quality projects unfunded.

Although the overall impact of rising interest rates on the energy transition is uncertain, one thing is clear: as investors become more discerning, the quality of early-stage projects will be critical.

Read more in Utility Dive: https://lnkd.in/gP759GQw
#RenewableEnergy #ProjectDevelopment #EnergyTransition