As the power mix across the country evolves, adding in more intermittent generation and battery storage, what impact will renewables and storage have on power prices (coupled with higher interest rates) and does that change the investment case for renewables?

• How are investor appetites for renewables evolving?
• How closely do renewables meet investor expectations?
• Increasing CAPEX and changing risk perceptions and their influence on cost of capital
• How are companies preparing for the road ahead?

This session will address the challenges and opportunities of meeting a 100% renewable energy target as an energy buyer. From electrons to molecules, solar and storage to green hydrogen, we will look at the pathways large energy buyers can take to cover their energy needs.

• Criteria for evaluating potential renewable energy projects and partners
• Developing in-house expertise in renewable energy procurement
• How are buyers prioritizing different technologies?
• Procurement across state lines and the rise of the vPPA – what challenges does this pose to a buyer?
• What impact has IRA had on energy buyers?
• Balancing supply with demand, especially during periods of low renewable generation

Credit and legal risks can hinder the signing of an offtake agreement. So how can these risks be mitigated and priced in a volatile market? This panel discusses how to approach this:

• What strategies are developers using to optimize revenue contracting?
• At what stage are developers approaching the market to secure offtake?
• How to use information on counterparties’ balance sheets, track record for fulfilling obligations and reputation for negotiating an offtake agreement
• Identifying the main legal risks when signing different types of offtake structures
• Best practice for calculating credit risk and implementing different credit enhancement strategies
• Methods to share and transfer risk between counterparties
• Which offtake structures mitigate price risk best?
• How to budget for price volatility?

Energy storage can create new revenue streams for asset owners and can time-shift the amount of power dispatched creating more dilemmas for counterparties in volatile markets. This panel unpacks this topic by covering: 

• The value of storage in PPA negotiations
• The potential of storage to optimize revenues for generators in price volatile markets.
• Using storage as a physical hedging tool to reduce uncertainty in renewable energy trading, procurement and offtake rather than using financial hedging tools.

• Using the right data: evaluating historical data and determining what datasets are appropriate to be used in forecasts
• Trends across different markets: PJM, New York ISO, New England ISO, IESCO, MISO, SPP, ERCOT, CAISO and Alberta Electric System Operator
• Understanding where the more lucrative opportunities are when it comes to storage

As we move further into the Energy Transition, the portfolio-level impacts of renewable energy procurement and electricity decarbonization are becoming increasingly apparent, prompting a shift from “project-by-project” decision-making to more holistic total portfolio planning and analysis. This panel will explore the risks embedded within today’s energy portfolios and offer strategies to help growing portfolios maximize resiliency against rapidly changing market environments. Attendees will learn:

• How do risks associated with renewable energy differ at the portfolio vs. the individual project/contract level?
• How can diversification be “baked-in” to growing portfolios to add resiliency?
• What considerations besides pure economic value/cost should be addressed when evaluating additions to an existing portfolio?
• What role should analytics and ML/AI play in managing today’s energy portfolios?
• What products/structures are emerging within the market to serve modern portfolio management goals?

• Why DG has lagged residential and utility-scale solar
• Benefits of onsite DG versus offsite energy contracts
• Opportunities and frameworks for scaling DG
• Real estate benefits/risks of DG
• Key offtake and contractual considerations for DG
• Development process and timing of DG portfolios
• EPC pricing disconnects in DG
• Solutions for commercial DG
• Underwriting/investment considerations unique to DG portfolios
• Non-solar BTM opportunities

This session will give the audience a chance to see how the IRA has potentially transformed the development and financing of solar and battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, particularly in the context of tax equity financing.

• What changed for energy buyers with IRA?
• How have companies been embedding new benefits into agreements?
• The implications for tax-exempt organizations

• Strategies and tools for assessing and mitigating risks.
• Aligning renewable energy strategies with sustainability goals.
• Dealing with pricing volatility in energy markets.
• Hedging strategies and cost optimization.
• Navigating evolving regulations and incentives.

This session delves into the transformative potential of quantum computing in the power sector. As the energy market becomes increasingly complex and data-driven, quantum computing emerges as a pivotal technology, offering new avenues for optimizing trade settlements between buyers and sellers. The integration of quantum computing promises to revolutionize market operations, enhance pricing models, and introduce more efficient and secure transaction processes.

• How quantum computing can contribute to more accurate and dynamic pricing in power trading, benefiting both buyers and sellers
• The role quantum computing could play in improving the forecasting accuracy for power demand and supply
• Real-time data processing in power markets – how quantum computing’s ability to process large volumes of data in real-time can lead to more informed and timely trading decisions
• How does the enhanced computational power of quantum computers aid in assessing and managing market and operational risks in power trading?
• SCan quantum computing streamline the trade settlement process in the power sector, reducing the time gap between trade execution and settlement?

Explore how risk management in renewable energy trading is advancing with cutting-edge technology. What are the latest tools and methods being used to minimize risks and optimize trading strategies? This session will delve into how modern Energy Trading and Risk Management (ETRM) solutions are transforming the way Independent Power Producers (IPPs) manage generation, production, and complex deals.

• How are companies negotiating the complexities in trades and certification (e.g. RECs, RINs, RGGIs)?
• Examining the full lifecycle of renewable trades across complex portfolios.
• How might standards evolve?
• Better data for better decisions.

• When is a project considered merchant?
• What’s the blend of route-to-market options a company can take?
• Floor structures, hedging, and other risk mitigation tools that can sit on top of PPA structures
• Who’s taking merchant risk now?
• What strategies are most effective in reducing risk?
• Do renewable energy generators have the scale to market power and de-risk energy sales?

Shape risks result from a disconnect between demand and renewable energy generation’s variable and intermittent nature. This can cause financial risk to counterparties. This panel discusses the impact of shape risk, how it can be mitigated and how that should be priced by covering:

• How to structure PPAs so they are flexible and resilient to shape risk.
• How data analytics can assess the scale of shape risk.
• The impact of creating a demand response program to reduce shape risks from PPAs.

Unpicking the true value of clean energy, which not only encompasses environmental benefits but also extends to socio-economic impact on communities, especially those with Low to Moderate Income (LMI). As renewable energy projects vary in their level of cleanliness and in the ways they are affected by market dynamics, we aim to unpack the intricacies of clean energy valuation in current volatile markets. The session will also highlight how renewable initiatives can drive not just ecological sustainability but also foster social equity and community development.

• Strategic offtake agreements: which are the most effective for securing economically viable clean power, while also delivering community benefits?
• What offtake agreements are most suited for acquiring clean power at a great price?
• How do you differentiate between specific solar or wind projects that provide clean power?
• Does the price paid for clean power truly reflect the price of carbon?