How Flexible Energy Systems Can Cut Costs and Boost Renewables – With Wärtsilä’s Anders Lindberg

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In this week's episode of the Climate Confident podcast, I’m joined by Anders Lindberg, President of Wärtsilä Energy, to unpack the complexities of the global energy transition. Wärtsilä has a wealth of insight into how we can move towards a 100% renewable energy future—without breaking the bank.

Anders and I dive into the often-overlooked need for flexibility in energy systems. While solar and wind energy have become cheaper and more widespread, integrating them effectively into existing grids is far from straightforward. Anders explains how Wärtsilä’s grid-balancing engines and battery storage solutions can work together to stabilise energy supply, preventing curtailment and ensuring renewables deliver maximum impact.

We explore why relying solely on renewables and battery storage leads to significantly higher costs, using Chile as a case study where a more balanced system could save $17 billion in investment. Anders also tackles the future of green hydrogen, acknowledging its promise while stressing it won’t scale up meaningfully until 2035 or later. In the meantime, he makes the case for natural gas as a transitional fuel, with Wärtsilä’s engines already primed to run on sustainable fuels when they become viable.

Key takeaways from this episode:

Flexibility is critical: Balancing technologies like batteries and flexible engine power plants are essential for integrating renewables efficiently.
Curtailment hurts progress: Inflexible grids force renewables offline, undermining their financial viability and prolonging fossil fuel reliance.
Future-proof investments: Wärtsilä’s hydrogen-ready engines ensure today’s investments won’t become stranded assets tomorrow.
Policy matters: Anders highlights how regulatory environments, like Texas' nodal pricing and the Texas Energy Fund, can either accelerate or hinder the energy transition.

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Music credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper

Chapters

1. How Flexible Energy Systems Can Cut Costs and Boost Renewables – With Wärtsilä’s Anders Lindberg (00:00:00)

2. [Ad] Digital Disruption with Geoff Nielson (00:30:06)

3. (Cont.) How Flexible Energy Systems Can Cut Costs and Boost Renewables – With Wärtsilä’s Anders Lindberg (00:30:44)

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