Transmission

Eight in ten clean energy projects never make it through development. Not because of bad ideas, but because of how the process is run: sequential, analog, and fragmented across consultants, spreadsheets, and months of waiting.
In this episode of Transmission, Alejandro speaks with Stuart Pomeroy from Paces .Stuart breaks down exactly why the traditional development model fails, what a parallel workflow looks like in practice, and how compressing land, environmental, interconnection, and permitting work into a single ecosystem can cut development timelines by more than half.
You can watch or listen to new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.
Transmission is a Modo Energy production. Your host is Alejandro De Diego - US Market Analyst
Battery revenues, nodal spreads, trading strategies, Ko answers your most business-critical questions instantly, powered by Modo's IOSCO-aligned benchmark data. Try Ko for free now→ https://modoenergy.com/sign-up
For more information on Paces,
Head to their website → https://www.paces.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pacesai/
Reach Stuart at [email protected]
0:00 Introduction: the hidden cost of delay in clean energy
3:18 How clients use Paces day-to-day
4:29 The data model: land, zoning, and interconnection layers
5:25 The old sequential development model
7:30 Cutting development time by 50%+
9:02 Does Paces replace environmental consultants?
11:05 Cost savings and pipeline conversion metrics
13:47 Assessing permitting risk and policy uncertainty
15:42 The Permitting Predictor tool
17:17 Predicting landowner behaviour
18:37 Hottest US regions for development activity
27:42 Community sentiment and opposition risk
31:22 Off-grid development and on-site generation
34:10 Cost, complexity, and time: the off-grid advantage
36:40 LMP data suite and revenue signals
37:40 Getting projects bankable: track record and case studies
39:31 What Paces are building next
41:23 Contrarian takes: off-grid and permitting
44:19 Closing

Tax insurance helps clean energy projects manage the risk of the IRS challenging their tax credits - like the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), Production Tax Credit (PTC), or bonus depreciation. Instead of carrying that uncertainty, developers and investors can transfer it to insurers, adding confidence to project financing.
In this episode, Alejandro speaks with James Chenoweth Managing Director at Alliant Insurance Services, about how the market works and who’s using it. They also touch on the key areas of risk today, such as whether projects properly qualify for credits, potential recapture issues, and structuring above the project level, along with ongoing uncertainty around foreign ownership rules (FEOC), which are still awaiting clearer IRS guidance.
You can watch or listen to new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.
Transmission is a Modo Energy production. Your host is Alejandro De Diego - US Market Analyst
Modo Energy helps the owners, operators, builders, and financiers of battery energy storage understand the market — and make the most out of their assets. Want all the latest power market news? Sign up for our free Weekly Dispatch newsletter: https://bit.ly/TheWeeklyDispatch
00:00:00 Introduction
00:03:48 What is tax insurance?
00:05:19 Who needs it and why?
00:06:18 Is a project insurable?
00:07:05 Insurable risk examples
00:07:51 Which technologies lead demand?
00:08:43 FEOC rules explained
00:09:56 How tax insurance is priced
00:10:57 Where it sits in the finance stack
00:13:49 Who benefits from risk transfer?
00:14:01 Impact on project returns
00:14:32 The next big insurable wedge
00:15:13 Why Texas leads the sector
00:15:57 Houston: oil & gas to renewables
00:17:14 War stories from the boom years
00:18:32 Advice for developers
00:19:07 Alliant's large-scale capabilities
00:21:00 Contrarian take: tax policy is stabilising
https://modoenergy.com/sign-up?utm_source=podcast_apps&utm_medium=podcast&utm_id=james_chenoweth

How does a major renewable operator decide what gets built, where, and with whose capital? Lolita Carry, Director of Portfolio Strategy at Engie North America, explains how Engie manages a 20GW BESS, wind, and solar pipeline across ERCOT, PJM, MISO, and CAISO.
In this episode Alejandro de Diego speaks with Lolita Carry about how one of the US's largest battery storage operators structures its investment decisions across multiple ISO markets.
They take a look at how Engie steers a 20GW development pipeline across ERCOT, PJM, MISO, and CAISO; the capital recycling model behind Engie's 2.7GW asset sale to SES; what the Broad Reach Power acquisition brought to Engie's battery portfolio; how ancillary service saturation and energy price cannibalisation are reshaping BESS investment cases; and why Engie remains bullish on batteries despite tightening revenues.
You can watch or listen to new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.
Transmission is a Modo Energy production. Your host is Alejandro De Diego - US Market Analyst
Modo Energy helps the owners, operators, builders, and financiers of battery energy storage understand the market — and make the most out of their assets. Want all the latest power market news? Sign up for our free Weekly Dispatch newsletter: https://bit.ly/TheWeeklyDispatch
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction — Engie's 20GW pipeline and the portfolio challenge
4:01 Capital allocation and key technologies in focus
5:17 Priority ISO markets: ERCOT, PJM, MISO, CAISO
6:04 What makes each market unique
9:27 BESS + solar development: from site to FID
11:00 Risk assessment and project showstoppers
12:32 Network upgrades and interconnection queue dynamics
14:49 Raising and lowering the investment bar across markets
18:01 Where Engie captures the most value: development vs. construction vs. operations
18:59 The capital recycling model — Engie's 2.7GW SES deal explained
20:20 How grid-scale batteries operate day to day
21:45 BESS revenue decline: ancillary services, cannibalisation, and energy arbitrage
22:34 Investment stance
23:27 In-house energy management vs. external optimisers
24:07 Advantages of scale vs. smaller developers
29:10 Career advice for those entering the energy investment sector
30:20 The Broad Reach Power acquisition — lessons and integration
32:05 Final plug and contrarian view on the energy industry

The money for German battery storage exists. What's scarce is bankability - the clarity that lets a lender actually commit. What are banks really evaluating when they look at BESS projects in Germany and why regulatory uncertainty, grid connection risk, and the structure of offtake agreements can make or break the chances of getting debt across the line.
In this conversation, Ed is joined by Florian Hock, Senior Director, Origination Energy Europe at NORD/LB to explore what separates a financeable BESS project from one that stalls.
If you're developing, financing, or investing in battery storage in Germany or watching the market, this is the episode to understand what the financing layer actually looks like from the inside.
0:00 Introduction
0:57 Banks as advisors, not ATMs
2:50 Financial & regulatory hurdles
7:46 Defining bankability
9:01 Regulatory risks to revenues
10:25 Tolling contracts & capacity markets
16:37 The grid fees debate
19:03 Offtake 1.0 to 4.0
22:49 Germany vs UK valuations
25:10 Navigating ancillary saturation
27:49 The bankability framework
33:33 Beyond capital: NIBC's role
36:53 Grid connection delays
38:14 Flexible connection agreements
39:56 Lessons from the UK
43:31 One change for Europe
#BatteryStorage #EnergyFinance #GermanEnergyMarket #BESS #EnergyTransition

The AI boom has created an energy problem no one quite planned for. Every new data center needs power now - not in three years when the grid connection finally arrives. Developers are skipping the queue, installing on-site generation at a scale that would have seemed extraordinary five years ago.
But speed to power isn't the only pressure. Data center operators are also staring down net zero commitments, sustainability departments that want decarbonisation, and an energy trilemma of cost, carbon, and resilience.
In this episode Alejandro is joined by Alex Marshall, Group Business Development and Marketing Director at Clarke Energy. Alex explains why gas engines have become the bridging technology of choice for hyperscale data centers, what a 450 MW peaking station outside London actually looks like, and whether the engineering department and the sustainability team will ever agree.
You can watch or listen to new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.
Transmission is a Modo Energy production. Your host is Alejandro De Diego - US Market Analyst
Modo Energy helps the owners, operators, builders, and financiers of battery energy storage understand the market — and make the most out of their assets. Want all the latest power market news? Sign up for our free Weekly Dispatch newsletter: https://bit.ly/TheWeeklyDispatch
Chapters
- 0:00 — Introduction
- 1:44 — Guest intro: Alex Marshall & Clarke Energy
- 3:30 — Data centers and the shift to self-generation
- 5:00 — The inflection point: Ireland to the US
- 7:00 — Biggest project: 450 MW peaking station, London
- 7:45 — Gas engines vs batteries: what fills the dunkelflaute gap
- 9:00 — What US data centers actually buy
- 10:20 — The net zero pathway for gas engines
- 14:00 — Speed to power vs cost savings
- 17:00 — Europe vs US: sustainability and energy culture
- 18:00 — 45Y production tax credit: what's at stake
- 22:10 — Clarke Energy's business model
- 22:40 — Project highlights: Ireland, Indiana, Nigeria, Romania
- 25:00 — The contrarian view: biogas & organic waste