Interchange Recharged
by Wood Mackenzie
Latest episode
Re-release: Flexibility as a service: Can Octopus's acquisition of…
Re-release: Flexibility as a service: Can Octopus's acquisition of…
About this podcast
Clean tech, green finance and energy innovation are the three lanes on the road to a successful global energy transition. At the intersection of these lanes is a place where ideas on finance, technology and policy are shared and debated. That intersection is Interchange Recharged.
Your host is Sylvia Leyva Martinez, principal analyst and research director at Wood Mackenzie. When Sylvia isn't tracking the technologies and markets driving the build-out of renewable power, she's speaking with visionaries, entrepreneurs, policy-makers and energy analysts to explore the newest developments in renewable technology, explain the ideas on global energy policy that could accelerate the energy transition, and identify new funding and financial models that could solve the biggest challenges we face on the way to net zero.
Sylvia and her guests bring you data and forecasts on clean technology, climate science, and offer predictions on the build out of utility-scale projects and the future of green finance.
What does the surge in data-centre demand mean for the grid, and who pays for it? What's happening in global EV adoption and development? What's the forecast for solar, one of the major success stories of renewable energy in the last ten years? What does the data tell us about the future of hydrogen, of nuclear, or of low-carbon power? These are examples of the insights and detailed analyses you can expect bi-weekly on Tuesdays at 7am ET.
If you like The Energy Transition Show, Catalyst with Shayle Kann, The Big Switch from Columbia University, Open Circuit with Jigar Shah or The Green Blueprint, you’ll enjoy Interchange Recharged.
Want to get involved with the show? Reach out to [email protected] to:
Bring Bridget and Interchange Recharged to your event
Be a guest on the show
Sponsor an episode
Ask a question to Bridget or one of our guests
Check out another leading clean tech global podcast by Wood Mackenzie, Energy Gang, at woodmac.com/podcasts/the-energy-gang
Wood Mackenzie is the leading global data and analytics solutions provider for renewables, energy and natural resources. Learn more about Wood Mackenzie on the official website: https://www.woodmac.com/
Episodes
The newest 50 of 358 episodes
- Re-release: Flexibility as a service: Can Octopus's acquisition of Uplight finally make US residential VPPs work? · 45 min · Episode 358Millions of enrolled devices, 60 utilities, and the participation rate gap that's been embarrassing the US market for a decade. US residential virtual power plants have been a…
- Re-release: Fuel cells are powering AI data center demand: they’ve moved from interesting clean tech to major player · 44 min · Episode 357We're looking back at some of our most popular episodes of the year. Here is one from January this year.US data centre announcements are averaging 435MW a month, and there’s…
- Re-release: Building the plane while it’s flying: data centers, utilities, and the new rules of power · 44 min · Episode 356After more than a decade of flat demand, the US power sector is now facing explosive growth, arriving faster than grids, generation, and transmission can be built. In this…
- When hydro is no longer enough: Colombia’s race to diversify before the next El Niño · 43 min · Episode 355Colombia’s power system was built around a powerful advantage: abundant hydropower backed by domestic gas, delivering electricity that was relatively cheap, relatively clean, and…
- The fastest path to more power: How advanced conductors could unlock grid capacity without new transmission · 47 min · Episode 354The pressure on the power system is no longer theoretical. AI, data centers, electrification, and new industrial load are arriving faster than utilities can build generation and…
- Speed to power: Why data-center load growth is creating a new opening for C&I solar, storage, and microgrids · 49 min · Episode 353After a decade of flat demand, power markets are being forced to absorb a very different problem: rapid load growth arriving faster than transmission, large-scale generation, and…
- Thorium’s nuclear pitch: Can molten salt reactors cut cost, use waste, and scale faster than conventional designs? · 39 min · Episode 352Electricity demand is rising, capital is tightening, and nuclear is back in the conversation as utilities, governments, and large power users look for firm low-carbon supply. But…
- The inverter security turn: How Europe and the US are redrawing solar procurement around Chinese hardware · 39 min · Episode 351Solar demand remains strong, storage is scaling fast, and inverter technology is becoming more central to how modern power systems actually function. But the conversation around…
- Why biomining might finally work: How Endolith is using microbes and data to unlock more copper from low-grade ore · 36 min · Episode 350Copper is moving from background commodity to frontline constraint. Demand is rising fast, high-grade deposits are getting harder to find, and the lead times for bringing new…
- Bigger turbines, bigger consequences: how wind is rethinking risk, insurance, and predictive maintenance · 46 min · Episode 349Wind remains fundamentally healthy: electricity demand is rising, decarbonised power is still needed, and both Europe and the US continue to pull new projects forward, albeit for…
- As racks scale, power must change: The AC-to-DC rethink inside AI factories · 33 min · Episode 348As AI systems scale, the infrastructure challenge is no longer just about chips, models, and software performance. It is increasingly about the physical systems that allow…
- Handing back the mic: Six months of data center reality, from Bragawatts to behind-the-meter, and the questions still open · 44 min · Episode 347A year ago the data centre conversation was about scale. Increasingly it is about what happens when the announcements meet the physical grid. New capacity is being announced at…
- The grid's missing operating system: Why a $100,000 AI controller could defer trillions in hardware and why utilities won't buy it · 44 min · Episode 346The energy transition conversation focuses on what connects to the grid. Far less attention goes to whether anyone is coordinating what those assets do once connected. AI…
- The grid's immune system is retiring: Synchronous condensers, AI data centers and the physics gap that software alone can't close · 1 h 2 min · Episode 345As coal and gas plants retire, the energy transition conversation focuses on replacing their generation capacity. What gets far less attention is the loss of the physical…
- Beyond combustion: Long Island's first hydrogen-powered linear generator and the fuel-flexible answer to the dispatchable emissions-free resource problem · 40 min · Episode 344Utilities are under pressure to deliver generation that is dispatchable, affordable, and clean enough to satisfy increasingly stringent environmental rules, notoriously hard to…
- The electrolyzer reckoning: Can disciplined product development deliver on green hydrogen's promise before the survivors run out of runway? · 1 h 0 min · Episode 343Empty gigawatt factories, product recalls, participation rates that never materialised, and a policy environment that has now stripped the green premium entirely. The…
- Flexibility as a service: Can Octopus's acquisition of Uplight finally make US residential VPPs work? · 45 min · Episode 342Millions of enrolled devices, 60 utilities, and the participation rate gap that's been embarrassing the US market for a decade. US residential virtual power plants have been a…
- The muscle we forgot: SMRs, hyperscalers, and why this nuclear renaissance might actually be different · 56 min · Episode 341Why nuclear has never been project financed and how that might finally be about to change.Every nuclear plant ever built has ultimately been backstopped by taxpayers or…
- The grid nobody planned for: public power, hyperscalers and the race to rewire America for the AI age · 1 h 4 min · Episode 340What two decades of flat demand means for a grid now expected to double in sizeThe US went from essentially zero load growth for twenty years to 3% national growth almost…
- Is hyperscaler demand finally giving CCS its moment? · 47 min · Episode 339Carbon capture and storage has long been framed as a clean technology that’s forever five years away. Bridget van Dorsten speaks with Tim Vail, CEO of ION Clean Energy, to…
- Building the plane while it’s flying: data centers, utilities, and the new rules of power · 44 min · Episode 338After more than a decade of flat demand, the US power sector is now facing explosive growth, arriving faster than grids, generation, and transmission can be built. In this…
- Fuel cells are powering AI data center demand: they’ve moved from interesting clean tech to major player. How are utilities using them? · 44 min · Episode 337US data centre announcements are averaging 435MW a month, and there’s around 175GW of large-load capacity already committed or under construction. AI hyperscalers are looking for…
- AI, and the battle for energy in 2026. What clean energy sources are going to meet demand? · 30 min · Episode 336AI is changing the energy system faster than almost anything we’ve seen in decades. Interim host, engineer and energy analyst Bridget Van Dorsten is joined by Ed Crooks, host of…
- How are key renewable energies faring at the end of 2025? Guest host and energy analyst Bridget van Dorsten talks through developments in geothermal, hydrogen and wind. · 37 min · Episode 335At the start of the year things were looking uncertain for nascent renewables like hydrogen and geothermal. With policy support from the previous US administration they had…
- Energy policy, technology, and utility challenges: How industry leaders are overcoming barriers · 38 min · Episode 334Utility-scale clean energy projects in development are still facing connection queues and regulatory barriers. RE+ may be done for 2025, but the debate is still going. Host…
- Will energy storage save the grid? How batteries and the software behind them are reshaping reliability in the age of AI demand · 48 min · Episode 333Electrification is surging, AI data centres are multiplying, and volatility is rising on both sides of the meter. Can storage step in as the flexible backbone the US grid now…
- From capture to storage: inside the full CCUS value chain | Recorded live at CCUS in Houston · 47 min · Episode 332This special wrap-up episode of Interchange Recharged takes listeners on a fast tour of the entire carbon capture value chain, from industrial emitters and LNG developers to UK…
- From policy to possibility: How CCUS is moving from talk to action · 58 min · Episode 331Recorded live on day two of Wood Mackenzie’s CCUS Conference in Houston, this episode of Interchange Recharged explores how carbon capture is advancing from state-level…
- Can finance and policy unlock the carbon capture boom? | Recorded live at CCUS in Houston · 53 min · Episode 330This special episode of Interchange Recharged brings together finance, law, and technology leaders shaping the path to commercial carbon capture. Host Sylvia Leyva Martinez…
- What to do now clean energy subsidies are going? Analysis and insights from clean energy’s biggest North American event · 29 min · Episode 329As RE+ 2025 wrapped up in Las Vegas, the mood across the show floor was one of contradiction: anxiety, anger, optimism, and opportunity all rolled into one. In this episode…
- Navigating the world after OB3: implications for innovation and local manufacturing | Sponsored content from Hithium - Recorded Live at the PowerUp Stage at RE+ · 24 min · Episode 328Recorded live at RE+, Sylvia Leyva Martinez, Research Director at Wood Mackenzie, hosts Ryan Chen and Neil Bradshaw from Hithium to unpack the true costs of OB3, the constraints…
- Gas prices are rising and the demand for renewable energy is growing. How are big players in the green tech industry preparing for the evolving policy around solar energy credits? (Recorded live at RE+ in Las Vegas) · 40 min · Episode 327Despite the US adding 4.3 gigawatts of solar manufacturing capacity in Q2, there were no additions to the upstream components of polysilicon wafer and cell manufacturing. As gas…
- OB3 and market uncertainty has put more pressure than ever on clean energy assets. How are owners and operators getting the most out of their wind, solar and storage? (Recorded Live at RE+ in Las Vegas) · 57 min · Episode 326In a year defined by uncertainty, this RE+ special episode of Interchange Recharged flips the script from “build more” to “get more from what you’ve got.” Sylvia Leyva Martinez…
- Forget Net Zero. Everyone’s talking about energy dominance, but is a rebrand really the best thing for climate action? Recorded at RE+ in Las Vegas as the energy industry’s biggest event gets underway, storytelling becomes part of the strategy. · 16 min · Episode 325The policy environment in the US at the moment is challenging, but developers, utilities, and investors are still moving forward with decarbonisation goals and climate action…
- Could your EV power your home? A look at how electric vehicles could be used as two-way charging systems, easing strain on the grid. · 42 min · Episode 324EV growth is moving, but is it moving quickly enough? Wood Mackenzie research projects battery electric vehicles to account for 58% of light vehicle sales globally by 2050. It…
- Transferable tax credits for renewable projects has created a $52 billion market | How are clean energy developers making the most of it? · 47 min · Episode 323Way back in 2016, US energy storage capacity had just hit 336MWh, a 100% year-on-year increase. The growth forecast for storage was for 7.3GWh by 2022 – a US$3.3 billion market…
- What’s the forecast for energy projects as the Big Beautiful Bill looms over the industry? Developers and suppliers are adapting to the chaos – but how? · 39 min · Episode 322The uncertainty rippling through the energy industry in the first half of 2025 hasn’t gone away. Utilities, developers, and manufacturers are still grappling with the fallout…
- How is geothermal faring in 2025? Investment is booming but is the technology and policy support there? · 37 min · Episode 321Despite uncertainty for US clean energy investors, things are looking good for the geothermal sector. US$1.7 billion in public funding was pumped into geothermal projects in Q1…
- The oil and gas majors are phasing down their renewable strategies. What does it mean for climate goals? · 42 min · Episode 320In February this year BP announced it was cutting its investment in green energy ventures from $5B to $2B while reallocating $10B to fossil fuels, and abandoning its 2030 oil…
- The world’s most-used carbon accounting rule is about to get a major overhaul. What does it mean for clean energy buyers? · 35 min · Episode 319The Greenhouse Gas Protocol – the global gold standard for measuring corporate emissions – is under review, and the proposed changes could dramatically reshape how clean energy…
- It’s turbulent times for the wind sector in the US, but the outlook is better across the pond. What can the US learn from Europe? · 42 min · Episode 318Nearly 150 days into President Trump’s second term, the outlook for wind energy in the United States - particularly offshore wind - is increasingly bleak. Trump had pledged to…
- $8 billion in clean energy projects were cancelled this year. Can the US clean energy market survive tariff uncertainty? · 44 min · Episode 317The US is risking ceding global market share of clean energy to China, permanently.New tariffs, put in place one day then removed the next. Rising costs for everything along the…
- What’s the biggest mistake clean energy developers make when chasing tax equity? | Sponsored content from Foss and Company · 31 min · Episode 316Tax equity plays a significant role in clean energy finance, but are developers using it effectively, or are they stumbling over complexities and recent changes? Sylvia Leyva…
- An energy podcast crossover: Energy Gang and Interchange Recharged join forces to discuss flexibility on the power grid: why it is so important, and how to create it · 39 min · Episode 315They called the film Avengers: Infinity War the most ambitious crossover event in history. We can’t quite make the same claim, but at Wood Mackenzie’s 2025 Solar and Energy…
- In uncertain times, is a greater reliance on battery storage what’s needed? And how can developers better prepare for it? | Recorded live at Wood Mackenzie’s Solar & Energy Storage Summit · 37 min · Episode 314Wood Mackenzie’s 18th Solar and Energy Storage summit is back, in Denver this week. If you can’t make it, don’t worry – we have all the debate and key insight you need to know…
- Solar and energy storage experts debate the current market: what have we seen in the first quarter of 2025? · 50 min · Episode 313Wood Mackenzie’s 18th Solar and Energy Storage summit is back, in Denver this week. If you can’t make it, don’t worry – we have all the debate and key insight you need to know…
- It’s uncertain times in solar and storage. How can we use smarter grid optimisation to give developers some assurance? | Recorded live at SESS 2025 · 28 min · Episode 312Over the past couple of years unprecedented low prices for solar panels have spurred incredible growth. But there’s a big shift underway. In this special episode of the show…
- Are current legal frameworks too restrictive for CCUS projects? What permitting and tax credit reform needs to happen to make things easier? · 47 min · Episode 311“If you don't think in 15 years that we're going to value decarbonisation, or if you're worried about the 45Q, it's pretty tough to write that multi-billion dollar cheque,” says…
- Uncertainty isn’t good for domestic solar manufacturing. How are suppliers and utilities managing it? · 22 min · Episode 310The US is projected to add an additional 26 GW of solar capacity in 2025. Solar has been one of the energy transition’s biggest success stories, but there are dark clouds…
- Is the world giving up on green hydrogen? | Hydrogen energy is having an identity crisis but who’s to blame? · 32 min · Episode 310In 2025, the US will consolidate its position as a blue-focused hydrogen market, driven by policy developments under a second Trump administration. A surge in blue hydrogen…
