Energy Unplugged by Aurora

This week on Energy Unplugged, Lara Panjkov, Aurora Energy Research's Head of Research for APAC, and Zelin Chen, Aurora's Market and Research Lead for China, are joined by Anders Hove, Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. 

For years, the story of China's energy transition was one of scale: more solar, more wind, more batteries, more transmission. 

Now the challenge is changing. 

As renewable generation surges and power demand continues to grow, China's focus is shifting from building clean energy capacity to integrating it. That transition is exposing new questions around market design, system flexibility, provincial decision-making and the role of coal, gas and storage in an increasingly renewable power system. 

Drawing on more than a decade of experience studying China's energy sector, Anders reflects on China's rise from low-cost manufacturer to global clean energy leader and explains why the country's power sector has entered what he describes as its "messy midgame". 

The conversation explores the latest Five-Year Plan, the evolution of renewable support mechanisms, the growing importance of flexibility, and whether China's biggest challenge is no longer building infrastructure, but using it more effectively. 

Main topics include: 

China's rise from clean energy follower to clean energy leader 

Why integrating renewables is becoming harder than building them 

The push and pull between central planning, provincial governments and market reform 

Whether flexibility, not infrastructure, will determine the success of China's energy transition

This week on Energy Unplugged, Oliver Kerr, Aurora Energy Research's Managing Director for North America, is joined by Declan Flanagan, CEO of Blue Star Energy Capital. 

For much of the past decade, renewable energy development was shaped by abundant capital, falling technology costs, and ever-growing pipelines. Today, the industry is operating in a very different environment. 

Demand growth is back, driven in part by AI and data centres. Project costs are rising. Capital is more expensive. And developers are being forced to rethink some of the assumptions that defined the industry's last growth cycle. 

Drawing on more than two decades of experience building renewable energy businesses, Declan shares his perspective on where capital is flowing, why the US remains the standout market for renewables, and how project development is evolving as the sector matures. 

The conversation also explores the realities of greenfield development, the growing importance of execution and transmission infrastructure, and why Declan believes higher interest rates and a gradual move away from tax credits could ultimately be healthy for the energy transition. 

Main topics include: 

How renewable energy development has evolved over the past 20 years 

AI, data centres and the return of electricity demand growth 

Capital discipline, rising project costs and changing market dynamics 

Why execution may become the industry's greatest competitive advantage

This week on Energy Unplugged, Marc Hedin, Head of Research for Western Europe & Africa at Aurora Energy Research, is joined by Rachel Fletcher, Director of Regulation & Economics at Octopus Energy, to tackle a question at the heart of Britain’s energy debate: why are electricity bills so high, and what would it take to bring them down? 

As the UK pushes ahead with electrification, Rachel argues that the challenge is no longer just about building more renewable generation. Instead, the conversation explores whether the current market design, network investment strategy, and approach to flexibility are fit for a rapidly changing power system. 

The discussion examines the drivers behind rising bills, the role of flexibility and electric vehicles in lowering system costs, and the policy choices that could shape the next phase of the energy transition. Rachel also shares her views on locational pricing, the future role of gas, and the reforms she believes would make the biggest difference for consumers. 

Main topics include: 

What is really driving high electricity bills in Great Britain 

How flexibility, batteries and EVs could reshape the power system 

The debate over grid expansion, market design and locational pricing 

The reforms needed to support electrification and lower costs

As we celebrate a milestone 300 episodes of Energy Unplugged, Richard Howard, Aurora Energy Research's Global Research Director, is joined by Aurora's regional Managing Directors from around the world to explore a defining question for the energy transition: what happens after the first phase of success?
 
 

For much of the past decade, the challenge was clear: deploy clean technologies at scale. Wind and solar needed to become cheaper. Investment needed to accelerate. Policymakers needed to create the right incentives. While significant work remains, that first phase has delivered enormous progress. 

 

The next phase may prove more difficult. The challenge is no longer simply building clean generation but adapting the systems around it. As renewable capacity continues to grow, grids are becoming congested, curtailment is rising, market designs are being tested, and new sources of demand are emerging. The energy transition's greatest challenge today may be managing the consequences of its own success. 

 

Drawing on perspectives from Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Africa, this special episode examines whether power systems, markets and policymakers can keep pace with the technologies driving the transition forward. 

 

Taken together, these conversations suggest that the energy transition is entering a more complex and consequential phase. The first challenge was deploying clean technologies at scale. The next is integrating them into power systems that were never designed for a high-renewable world. From grid expansion and market reform to flexibility, storage and AI-driven demand, the coming decade will be defined not by whether the transition can grow, but by whether the system around it can keep up. 

 

You will learn about: 

How the energy transition is progressing across different regions of the world. 

Why renewable success is increasingly creating challenges around grids, markets, and investment. 

How batteries, flexibility, and electrification are reshaping power systems. 

What different regions can learn from one another's experiences. 

What needs to happen between now and 2035 to keep the transition on track.

This week on Energy Unplugged, Oliver Kerr, Aurora Energy Research’s Managing Director for North America, is joined by Arushi Sharma Frank, Founder of Luminary Strategies and one of the leading thinkers shaping the future of power markets in the age of AI. 

As data centre demand surges across the United States, electricity has become a critical constraint on growth. The challenge is no longer simply building more infrastructure - but finding new ways to use the grid more efficiently and connect large loads faster. 

Drawing on her work at the centre of recent market reforms in Texas, Arushi argues that flexibility, not just new transmission and generation, will be essential to unlocking the next phase of AI-led growth. The conversation examines how large electricity users could become active participants in the power system, helping to relieve constraints, improve reliability, and accelerate access to power. 

From regulatory innovation and grid planning to distributed energy resources and flexible computing, Oliver and Arushi discuss how power markets may need to evolve as electricity demand rises to levels not seen in decades. 

 

You will learn about: 

Why AI is transforming the way power systems think about large-load interconnection. 

How flexible demand could help unlock grid capacity and accelerate access to power. 

Why Texas is emerging as a testing ground for new approaches to grid flexibility. 

How batteries, distributed energy resources, and workload shifting could reshape power system planning. 

What utilities, policymakers, and large customers need to do to support the next phase of electricity demand growth. 

Interested in continuing the conversation? Join us at the Aurora Energy Transition Forum New York 2026, where 250 senior leaders from across the energy sector will debate the future of power markets, grid reliability, AI-driven demand growth, and infrastructure investment. Use code PODCAST20 for 20% off your ticket.
 
 

For more information on what has been discussed in today's episode, please see the below resources:

• Dispatchability, Not Vibes: What PJM Market Monitor Gets Right—and Misses—on Data Centers Flex

https://luminarystrategies.substack.com/p/dispatchability-not-vibes-what-pjm

• The Grid Provides the Floor. The Private Sector Must Firm the Rest.

Data Center "Flex" Needs New Language Fit For Purpose - Dynamic Firming is Speed to Power.

https://luminarystrategies.substack.com/p/the-grid-provides-the-floor-the-private

• PCLR Origin Story Part 1: Speed to Power for Large Loads in ERCOT

EPRI Summer Seminar, the Pacific Ocean, and the Public Good Nature of Championing Market Design Reform.

https://luminarystrategies.substack.com/p/origin-story-speed-to-power-for-ai

• PCLR Origin Story Part 2: Speed to Power for AI Loads in ERCOT

How to get ERCOT comfortable with "managing" controllable load in exchange for earlier "connection" - NPRR1188 as PGRR134 Foundation  https://arushisharmafrank.substack.com/cp/192362539

• PCLR Origin Story Part 3: 60% of Data Center Load should be Dispatch-Ready  https://luminarystrategies.substack.com/p/pclr-origin-story-part-3-60-of-data

• Global Capacity Alliance: https://globalcapacityalliance.org/

• Book recommendation: https://jeffreypfeffer.com/books/7-rules-of-power/