Transmission

The grid is swapping spinning turbines for grid forming inverters, and something is getting lost in the trade. A turbine could always throw 5 times its normal output to clear a fault, for free, using nothing but physics. Inverters can only manage around 1.5 times theirs. So if renewables are going to take over, where does that missing strength come from instead?
Ben Braun is Chief Engineer at Fluence, where he's spent his career working on power electronics - from batteries to the grid. In this episode, he breaks down grid forming vs grid following inverters for everyone without an electrical engineering degree.
They cover:
- Why "grid forming is slower" than grid following - and why that slower response is actually what makes it more stable in a fault.
- Why NESO in GB and AEMO in Australia are chasing completely different things from grid forming batteries.
- Why grid inertia disappears as spinning turbines retire, and how a sudden burst of power from a battery can fake it.
- Why volatile AI training loads are turning data centres into miniature grids of their own, and how batteries are used to stop that volatility ever reaching the wider network.
- Why Ben's biggest concern isn't too little fault current on the grid, but too much of it - and why that could force a wave of grid upgrades most people haven't priced in
Want to see which grids are paying for inertia and fault current today, or where the next stability tenders are opening? Ko, Modo Energy's AI analyst, is built for exactly these questions. Free sign up: https://modoenergy.com/product/ko?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=ben_braun&utm_content=ko_signup
📄 Related article: [companion article link]
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⏱ CHAPTERS
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00:00 – Why the Grid Needs More Than Power Flow
01:31 – Grid Forming Inverters: Common Misconceptions
04:51 – Grid Forming vs Grid Following Speed Explained
07:16 – Bathtub Analogy for Grid Forming Batteries
11:44 – NESO Stability Pathfinder and Global Grid Forming Numbers
14:11 – AEMO's System Strength Charge Explained
16:28 – Inertia and Short Circuit Level for Beginners
17:10 – Grid Inertia Explained With Lorries and Cyclists
21:44 – How Batteries Replicate Grid Inertia
23:03 – Fault Current Basics: Fuses and Circuit Breakers
26:16 – Fault Current Math and Retiring Turbines
28:52 – Voltage Stiffness and System Strength
39:07 – Reactive Power Explained With a Circus Tent
42:23 – Black Start and Grid Restoration Explained
46:57 – Grid Forming Inverters for Data Centres
53:30 – Contrarian View: Too Much Fault Current
61:18 – Grid Upgrades for High Fault Current Levels
You can watch or listen to new episodes every Tuesday. Transmission is a Modo Energy production. Your host is Ed Porter - Director EMEA & APAC at Modo Energy.
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Joe McDonald says close to 30% of a business power bill can go to trading desks, balancing costs and wholesale market fees most customers never see. Behind suppliers can sit five or six more intermediaries, each taking a cut before the energy ever arrives. Is that a market working as designed, or one taking more than it should?
Joe is Founder & CEO of Tem Energy, and has spent over a decade inside the middle of the energy market, watching where the money actually goes on its way to the meter. He's now building the AI infrastructure to strip those middlemen out of the chain, with Tem already transacting over £1 billion a year across thousands of UK businesses, backed by a fresh Series B to fund expansion into Texas and Australia.
They cover:
Why up to 30% of a business energy bill can go to trading desks, balancing costs and wholesale fees layered behind the supplier.
How forward market contracts fix energy prices for months or years and why "shape matching" between generators and buyers creates a shadow market worth billions.
The P442 grid charging exemption, and why a change this small took two years to push through.
Why Joe believes Tem's AI agents could remove around 90% of labor costs in energy transactions, and why he sees that trade-off as necessary.
Tem Energy's plan after its Series B - expanding into Texas and Australia before Europe and the case for energy AI becoming the UK's next trillion-dollar industry.
Want to dig deeper into where that 30% actually goes, or how forward contracts are priced? Ask Ko, Modo Energy's AI analyst, for free sign up also gets you trial access to Modo Energy's research.
You can watch or listen to new episodes every Tuesday. Transmission is a Modo Energy production. Your host is Ed Porter - Director EMEA & APAC at Modo Energy.
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:24 The Real Cost Layers Behind A Business Energy Bill
3:17 The Mechanics Of Forward Energy Contracts
5:25 Shape Matching Explained
6:35 The Shadow Market Behind The Grid
11:12 Pricing And Settling Energy Trades With AI
26:46 The P442 Grid Charging Exemption
36:29 The Slow Pace Of Energy Market Regulation
37:37 The Same Problem Across Global Energy Markets
38:36 Cutting Utility Operating Costs With AI
39:22 Comparing This Model To Octopus And Kraken
40:40 Joe McDonald's Contrarian View On Energy Markets
41:34 Cutting 90% Of Energy Labor Costs With AI

Battery storage went from an unproven bet to one of Europe's fastest-growing energy assets in a but the exceptional returns early investors saw have already faded as more batteries crowd the market. The real question today isn't whether a battery can make money, it's whether an optimiser can keep making money from it, market after market, year after year.
In this conversation, Brecht Dierckx, Director of Physical Asset Trading & Optimisation at Centrica, joins Ed to unpack what actually separates a good battery optimiser from an average one, and why pricing, contracts and risk are becoming as important as trading itself.
They cover:
- Why the exceptional early returns 2017–2018 battery investors saw are gone for good, and what actually lets some optimisers keep repeating strong performance while others can't
- How battery revenue has shifted over time — from grid-support services, to adjusting trades as markets move, to buying and selling across multiple markets at once — and why each edge shrinks as more batteries chase it
- Why pricing a battery deal is nothing like pricing a financial instrument, and how modelling different future scenarios (rather than simple averages) reveals the real value of holding a diversified portfolio
- What project developers are actually asking optimisers for now — performance guarantees, profit shares, protection from regulatory changes — and why some of those guarantees aren't realistically workable
- Which European markets look most promising for battery growth next, and how emerging grid restrictions could shape how much value new assets are able to capture
Want to know how flexible connection agreements or grid restrictions are changing your battery's revenue forecast? Ask Ko, Modo Energy's AI analyst
Chapters:
0:00 – Battery Storage Returns Are Saturating
1:04 – Battery Optimisation Operational Excellence
2:22 – Repeatable Battery Storage Returns
5:43 – Ancillary Services Revenue Saturation
8:14 – Battery Optimiser Performance Benchmarks
10:08 – Small Vs Large Battery Trading Teams
14:25 – AI In Energy Trading
16:29 – Autonomous AI Battery Trading Risks
18:40 – Extreme Weather Impact On Energy Trading
21:49 – Best European Battery Storage Markets
24:13 – Battery Storage Toll Pricing
28:59 – Battery Portfolio Diversification Strategy
31:36 – Flexible Connection Agreements Explained
35:51 – Battery Storage Investment Guarantees
38:30 – Battery Storage And Grid Transmission

This summer, Britain recorded its first ever four consecutive months of 35°C+ heat and according to the Climate Change Committee, the UK isn't ready for it, physically or emotionally. As political pressure mounts in the net zero debate over whether Britain should slow its climate transition, the CCC's chief executive makes the case that affordability and climate action are the same fight, not competing priorities.
Ed sits down with Emma Pinchbeck, Chief Executive of the Climate Change Committee (CCC), to find out what preparing for a hotter Britain actually looks like, and why extreme heat has quietly overtaken flooding as the institution's top adaptation concern.
They cover:
Why extreme heat is now one of the CCC's top adaptation recommendations, with up to 92% of UK homes at risk of overheating by 2050.
How solar and battery storage naturally track cooling demand, and why that strengthens the case for air conditioning becoming standard in UK homes.
Emma’s case for accelerating rather than easing off decarbonisation, including data showing EV- and solar-equipped homes can save up to £1,900 a year on energy costs.
Why UK electricity is priced roughly 4x higher than gas, well above the 2:1 ratio in countries that have successfully rolled out heat pumps.
Why Emma argues cost-of-living and climate policy are "the same question," not competing priorities.
Want to know why UK electricity prices are 4x higher than gas, and how that compares to countries where heat pumps have taken off? Ask Ko, Modo Energy's AI Analyst, for the market-by-market breakdown. Try Ko for free
Transcript available here:
Chapters:
0:00 Britain's Record-Breaking Heat
1:16 The CCC's Real Role vs. Government Policy
2:55 The Net Zero Speed Debate: Science and Political Pressure
4:38 Electrification and Household Energy Savings
9:55 Why UK Electricity Costs Four Times More Than Gas
12:57 Extreme Heat and the Case for Home Cooling
15:47 Solar, Batteries, and the Summer Cooling Demand Curve
17:34 Gas as a Strategic Reserve for Grid Security
22:43 The True Cost of Net Zero: £6.9 Trillion in Investment
25:20 Financing the Transition: Levies and Smoothing Costs
29:05 Why Demand Matters More Than Supply
31:03 Industrial Policy: Grangemouth, Port Talbot, and Manufacturing
35:27 Emma's Contrarian View: Cost and Climate as One Question
38:28 Closing Thoughts and Sign-Off
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Poland has cut coal's share of power generation from 95% to roughly 55% in a decade, with renewables generating over 30% of the country's power last year. That mismatch is already producing negative prices and turning battery storage into one of the country's biggest investment opportunities.
Ed is joined by Tomasz Sęk, Founder and COO of R.Power Renewables, which holds a 1.7GW / 6.3GWh capacity-market-secured storage portfolio, one of the largest in Poland, to unpack how the country's power market is transforming.
They cover:
- Why coal's inflexibility, not its shrinking market share, is now Poland's biggest driver of negative prices and battery arbitrage.
- How Poland's capacity market is evolving as de-rating factors and CapEx fall together, and what that means for the next wave of battery investment.
- Why R.Power blends floor-plus-profit-share deals — including its new Axpo agreement — with full-toll contracts to balance risk and upside
- How solar PPAs are evolving into Hybrid PPAs, as corporates like Amazon and Cisco look for more flexible, peak-shifted power
- How R.Power plans to bring its 1.7GW / 6.3GWh capacity-market-secured portfolio online within 18–24 months, and what's setting the pace
Want to go deeper on the Polish power market? Ask Ko, Modo Energy's AI analyst, for the latest on Polish battery revenues, capacity market results, and grid dynamics.
Transcript available here
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:08 Poland's Coal-to-Renewables Shift
1:57 Perception vs Reality of Poland's Energy Mix
4:52 Negative Prices and Coal's Inflexibility
5:58 Gas Peakers vs Battery Storage
7:45 Poland's Vertically Integrated Power Market
8:46 Day-Ahead vs Intraday Trading in Poland
9:54 Choosing a Route-to-Market Partner
12:06 Capacity Market Explained
13:21 R.Power's 1.7GW / 6.3GWh Portfolio
13:57 De-Rating Factors and Falling CapEx
17:00 Dunkelflaute and the Case for Gas
17:21 The Axpo Deal: Floor Plus Profit Share
19:51 Solar PPAs and the Rise of Hybrid PPAs
20:26 Multi-Technology PPAs and Peak Shifting
22:00 What's Slowing Poland's BESS Rollout
23:46 Poland's Grid Queue vs Texas and China
24:51 One Regulatory Fix: Faster Auctions
26:50 Poland's Cost Advantage