Bluestar Energy Capital (BCE) is a global renewable energy investment company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 2022, the company is focused on developing large-scale clean energy projects through its regional platforms in the United States, Europe and Australia. 

IJGlobal editor Ila Patel talks to Declan Flanagan, CEO of Bluestar about how the company's investments are structured to address critical storage and transmission needs and its approach to institutional investment in renewables. He believes this model will not only accelerate clean energy deployment but also offers predictable returns, an increasingly attractive prospect for infrastructure investors navigating today’s volatile markets.

In a podcast that runs for 25 minutes, Declan talks about about his background in creating platforms in the renewable space and launching Bluestar with the simple conviction that there is always a lack of development activity in creating the next wave of projects. "You build projects or refinance existing assets but at all times you need people out in the field looking at the next wave of projects because the energy transition is still in its early stages. I think that logic will hold in 10 years time as much as it did in 2022," says Declan.

This latest episode can be accessed on Spotify (embedded above) as well as through Apple Podcasts and on the Amazon service. It is also hosted across a slew of other platforms and is open access on all of them.

"Despite the trials and tribulations with the new administration, the energy transition in the US is unstoppable," says Declan.

He says: " The good thing about renewables is that it has the shortest lead time to get online and that ultimately is the largest protection against any headwinds wherever they pop up. And it's not just in the US, there's a decent amount of renewables push back in many markets, but it still remains the most competitive because of lower lead times. We've got customers who need those MW hours."

"Yes, there will be some impact on momentum measured over the next 12 months and project schedules will change as things are are figured out. But its more of a blip than than anything else, the industry needs to step up and do a very good job of advocating for itself, telling its story, showing that these MW hours are needed where they're needed."

Declan says: Our geographies are pretty much fixed. We're very much in execution mode and advancing projects. We have either signed or about to sign interconnection agreements signed for over a GW in the US and we'll sign hundreds of megawatts between Australia and Germany in in the first half of this year."

Tune into this latest IJGlobal episode to learn more…