Plugged In: the energy news podcast

Jaksot

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  Europe braces for winter gas crunch 10.09.2026 32min

  Send us your thoughts! Europe is heading into winter with gas storage well below comfortable levels, LNG supplies under pressure and the Strait of Hormuz crisis adding further uncertainty to an already tight market. Could a cold winter push European gas prices to EUR 150/MWh? And with Europe increasingly competing for LNG on the global market, how exposed is the continent to another energy price shock? This week, we discuss Europe's gas balance, the race for LNG, the impact of continued disru...
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  Summer price volatility: Batteries take the spoils? 03.09.2026 30min

  Send us your thoughts! Batteries are emerging as one of the big winners from Europe’s increasingly volatile power markets. In this episode, we look at how huge amounts of solar generation are driving down midday power prices before sharp evening peaks create opportunities for battery storage. The discussion explores who profits from these price swings, whether batteries could begin to displace gas-fired generation, the shift towards larger and longer-duration storage, and whether a rapidly ex...
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  Hormuz crisis: Outlook remains highly uncertain 27.08.2026 32min

  Send us your thoughts! The Strait of Hormuz crisis has reshaped the outlook for global energy markets, with uncertainty over LNG flows, European gas storage and geopolitical risk hanging over the months ahead. In this episode, we look at how the conflict has affected oil and gas markets, whether disruption through Hormuz has become a lasting feature of global energy trade, and why Europe could face a tight autumn and winter; particularly on price, even if outright gas shortages remained unlik...
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  Norway faces a dry, expensive winter 20.08.2026 26min

  Send us your thoughts! Reservoir levels in southern Norway are at their lowest for 30 years raising concerns about power prices in the months ahead and the Nordic region’s ability to balance domestic needs with exports to neighbouring markets. In this episode of Plugged In, we examine the state of Nordic hydropower, the outlook for reservoir refilling and what current weather patterns could mean for power markets in the months ahead. The discussion explores the role of interconnectors, changi...
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  Europe feels the heat: Extreme weather becomes the norm 13.08.2026 32min

  Send us your thoughts! Extreme heat and drought are putting Europe’s power system under pressure on close to an annual basis. Low river levels and high water temperatures are constraining nuclear and hydropower generation, just as demand for cooling rises. Meanwhile, solar has emerged as a bright spot — providing a quarter of the EU’s power mix in June and helping meet increased daytime demand. In this episode of Plugged In, we look at how extreme weather is reshaping Europe’s power mar...
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  Europe’s energy transition: Full speed ahead? 06.08.2026 28min

  Send us your thoughts! After a summer spent exploring the technologies, markets and policies shaping Europe's energy transition, the final episode of the Plugged In Summer Series asks one key final question: is the green shift slowing down, or speeding up? Richard is joined by two expert academics. David Reiner of the University of Cambridge and Michael Grubb of University College London to explore what's next for the energy transition. Together, they assess how geopolitical instability...
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  Keeping pace with power hungry data centres 30.07.2026 30min

  Send us your thoughts! Artificial intelligence is transforming the global economy at extraordinary speed, but it's also creating one of the biggest new sources of electricity demand Europe has faced in decades. As hyperscale data centres continue to expand, are Europe's power systems, grids and energy markets ready to keep pace? In this episode of the Plugged In Summer Series, we explore what the AI boom means for the energy transition. The discussion centres around power supply and how grid ...
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  Market design: Driving or derailing the transition? 23.07.2026 30min

  Send us your thoughts! Europe's electricity system is changing fast. As renewables continue to reshape the power mix, new challenges are emerging; from negative pricing and falling pofitability to the increased need for flexibility, storage, long-term investment signals and the growing demands of AI-driven data centres. In this episode of the Plugged In Summer Series, host Richard speaks with market experts Cillian O'Donoghue of Eurelectric and Fabian Huneke of Agora to explore whether ...
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  Grids: Easing bottlenecks 16.07.2026 33min

  Send us your thoughts! Europe has made remarkable progress in developing renewable energy, but grids – both at distribution and transmission level, are struggling to keep up. Congestion, long connection queues and ageing infrastructure are holding back the energy transition. So, is the answer simply building more grid infrastructure; or making better use of the network we already have? In this third episode of the Plugged In Summer Series, host Richard is joined by experts from across the ele...
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  Renewables Roll-Out: Saturation Reached? 09.07.2026 38min

  Send us your thoughts! Europe is developing green energy at lighting speed. But as solar and wind generation reaches record levels, new challenges are emerging across the electricity system. Negative prices, grid congestion, curtailment and falling capture prices are raising a fundamental question: has renewable deployment reached its limits, or is the rest of the energy system failing to keep pace? In this episode of the Plugged In Summer Series, we explore whether Europe's next challe...
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  State of Play: Where Are We Now? 02.07.2026 32min

  Send us your thoughts! Europe's energy transition has delivered record renewable deployment and significant emissions reductions, but a new wave of geopolitical instability is once again putting the resilience of the energy system to the test. This episode launches the Plugged In Summer Series, where we'll be asking one overarching question throughout: is the energy transition slowing down, or speeding up? Across six episodes, we'll explore the market, policy and technology trends shaping the...
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  Can Britain Still Deliver Net Zero? Chris Stark on “ungumming the system” and the UK's Energy Future 25.06.2026 33min

  Send us your thoughts! The UK has set one of the most ambitious energy targets in Europe: a fully clean power system by 2030. But achieving it will require a transformation of the country's electricity network, unprecedented levels of renewable investment, and difficult political and regulatory decisions. Recorded in Whitehall, Richard Sverrisson sits down with Chris Stark, Head of UK’s Mission for Clean Power, UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, to discuss whether the country is ...
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  Data Centre Boom: catalysts and constraints 18.06.2026 41min

  Send us your thoughts! Europe is experiencing a rush of investment into data centres as artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital services drive a new wave of electricity demand. From Finland to Spain, developers are searching for locations with abundant clean power, available grid connections and supportive policy frameworks. But as data centres grow larger and more power-hungry, questions are emerging about whether Europe's electricity infrastructure can keep pace. Grid operators...
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  Finland - a power success story? 11.06.2026 32min

  Send us your thoughts! As Europe grapples with energy security concerns, expectations of rising electricity demand, and the rapid growth of AI-driven data centres, Finland is emerging as one of the continent's most compelling energy success stories. In this episode of Plugged In, Richard Sverrisson is joined first by Elias Huuhtanen, Finland Correspondent at Montel News, who explains why Finland's long-term approach to energy planning, infrastructure investment and security preparedness has p...
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  Sweden’s energy spat with Brussels 05.06.2026 33min

  Send us your thoughts! Sweden's dispute with Brussels over electricity market rules is quickly becoming one of the biggest political energy stories in Europe. At the centre of the debate is a huge stockpile of congestion revenues; billions of euros generated from price differences across Sweden's own grid and its interconnectors with neighbouring countries. Stockholm argues the money should stay in Sweden to fix domestic bottlenecks and protect consumers, while the EU wants greater flexibilit...
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  Feeling the heat: Preparing Europe's grids for summer 04.06.2026 36min

  Send us your thoughts! Europe's power systems are facing a new reality. As heatwaves become more frequent and intense, electricity networks are coming under growing pressure. Rising cooling demand, aging infrastructure and the rapid expansion of renewable energy are all changing how grids operate during periods of extreme weather. The recent Iberian blackout also highlighted how important resilience, flexibility and interconnection have become in maintaining system security. So is Europe's el...
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  How many wake up calls does Europe need? 21.05.2026 48min

  Send us your thoughts! The US-Israeli led war in Iran and the prolonged disruption in the Strait of Hormuz is once again exposing Europe’s vulnerability to global energy shocks; raising urgent questions about gas storage, LNG dependency and whether governments have learned anything from previous crises. In this episode of PluggedIn, Montel’s Richard speaks with Henning Gloystein from Eurasia Group and Saul Kavonic from MST Marquee about the escalating conflict and growing risks facing energy ...
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  Celebrating curtailment: Are negative prices really that bad? 14.05.2026 37min

  Send us your thoughts! Negative power prices are becoming increasingly commonplace in Europe’s electricity markets. With solar generation soaring and renewable buildout accelerating, Europe’s power systems are increasingly producing more electricity than consumers need during certain hours of the day. The result? Wholesale electricity prices falling below zero, with generators effectively paying the market to take their power. But are negative prices actually a problem — or a sig...
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  Snorkelling for negative prices 07.05.2026 34min

  Send us your thoughts! Norway - and the Nordic power system more generally - have seen fewer instances of negative prices than their continental counterparts in recent weeks. Why has the region been “snorkelling” while others have been plumbing the depths of negative prices. Norway’s hydropower system is under pressure after one of the coldest winters in 16 years and a prolonged period of low precipitation. Reservoir levels in southern Norway remain well below normal, raising questions about...
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  Gas storage: Complacency or Crunch? 30.04.2026 31min

  Send us your thoughts! Europe may have emerged from winter without a full-scale gas crisis; but with storage levels unusually low, geopolitical tensions rising, and summer-winter price spreads offering little commercial incentive, the real challenge may only just be beginning. Germany, home to Europe's largest gas storage capacity, is facing mounting pressure to refill ahead of winter while the war in the Middle East, uncertainty around LNG transit through the Strait of Hormuz, and fragile in...