Energy Transition in Focus

In a discussion on Germany’s decarbonisation opportunities & challenges moderated by Ralph Ibendahl, Head, EMEA Transition, RBC Capital Markets a panel of experts including Michael Pfennig, Co-Head Infrastructure, Allianz Capital Partners; Catrin Jung, Head of offshore Wind, Vattenfall; Pierre Alan Graf, CEO, GETEC; and Alexander Aksenov, EVP Strategy & Corporate Development, Uniper, agreed that the country’s potential is vast and much progress has been made in decarbonising power generation, but challenges abound to accelerate efforts, from lack of political unity to the high costs involved.

In a panel hosted by Ed Golder, Head of European Utilities & Renewables at RBC Capital Markets, experts including Hanns Koenig, Managing Director of Aurora Energy Research; Marcel Münch, SVP Finance, M&A and Investor Relations at EnBW; Dr. Frank Reiners, Chief Financial Officer at OGE (‘Open Grid’); and Marco Bartolini, Chief Financial Officer at Zhero, discussed Germany's energy transition towards Net Zero.

In a discussion on Germany’s energy’s transition related to investing in emerging energy transition technologies and moderated by Andrea Gerhaüsser, Director, Investment Banking, RBC Capital Markets, a panel of experts including Felix Colsman, CEO, DAH Gruppe; Daniel Saxena, CFO, SFC Energy AG; and Thomas Kalthoefer, Investment Director, DWS, discussed the potential of new technologies such as hydrogen to speed up decarbonisation.

In a keynote address during RBC Capital Markets' recent Energy Transition series focusing on Germany, Kunal Chandra, Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer at RWE, provided a critical assessment of Germany's energy transition. He discussed its feasibility, challenges, and the prospects of the country's ambitious journey towards decarbonization and energy sustainability.

In this, the twelve episode of the Energy Transition series, Tom Narayan, Autos Analyst at RBC Capital markets hosts a discussion with included Nakul Duggal, Sr. Vice President and General Manager, Automotive for Qualcomm Technologies; Richard Tame, VP of Finance at Aurora; and Tom Fennimore, CFO at Luminar Technologies. On the future of vehicle automation and the hugely transformational opportunities for user experience and safety.

How can electricity grids adapt to become more dynamic as we move to increased renewables penetration as part of the energy transition?

Digitalization has the potential to transform the oil & gas industry, from streamlining processes to enhancing operational performance and safety. As the industry contends with the challenges of the energy transition, businesses must become leaner, more efficient and less carbon intensive. Technology can help address all these aspects, whether it be real-time wellhead data, methane leak detection or even virtual platform design for new projects.

In order to delve deeper into the subject, we will discuss how Digital tools including AI and machine learning can help all areas of the business. We will also talk through how these tools have impacted the energy transition so far and what could happen in the coming years.

There are few industries that have seen its financial results as directly impacted by climate related losses as the insurance industry in recent years. The industry is a key stakeholder in the transition; Insurers are already contributing significantly to the transition to a low-carbon economy. On the liabilities side, more insurers are factoring climate risk into their underwriting decisions. On the asset side, many companies have investment strategies that support climate mitigation.

In this podcast, we will focus on the role of insurance, the impacts of climate change and how it can support the energy transition.

What are the opportunities and challenges for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG)? How important is legislation for adoption and will consumer demand accelerate? To discuss this key topic, RBC Capital Markets is joined by Brian Hlavinka, Director, Emerging Opportunities at Williams, Mark Nelson, EVP Downstream & Chemicals at Chevron and John Dannan, Principal at Generate Capital.

What are the key obstacles to the energy transition? How dependable is renewable energy compared to old school fossil fuel energy? And what is a realistic time frame over which the energy transition process might occur? To answer this part of the energy transition equation, RBC Capital Markets invited Ezgi Barcenas, Global Vice President, Sustainability at AB InBev; Deborah Byers, EY Americas Industry Leader, at Ernst & Young LLP; and Kevin Groh, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, at Loblaw Companies Limited.