In this episode, Chad Hughes welcomes Kristina Hamernik, Energy Storage Development Manager at Innergex, to the show to talk about land access and stakeholder engagement from the developer perspective. Kristina talks about the personal experience she had living abroad that led her to study renewable energy. She shares her career journey since then, her philosophy, and how the technology being used to develop battery storage sites is changing.

It was the experience of living abroad in Krakow, Poland and developing allergic reactions to the smog while running that led Kristina to research clean air and into getting her Masters at Sciences Po in France. Her career has led her through Public Energy where shse was focused on diversifying energy mixes and fossil fuel dependant remote locations to her position with Innergex today. She tells Chad about her experiences working with land professionals and hearing landowner stories early on in her work.

Chad and Kristina dive into the very human element of land development projects, the company perspective of not just generating revenue but focusing on people and prosperity and ensuring a benefit to the planet, and what factors can cause land owners to back away from projects being discussed. Kristina also explains what battery energy storage looks like and her role in working to develop and expand the adoption and understanding of the advantages of energy storage. This episode highlights work in the renewable space and the vital importance of the human element of the land piece.

“... energy storage is moving fast, and it's exciting because it's moving quickly, which might be a cause for concern, but I have to say, this industry is so quick on adopting lessons learned. There are so many success cases. And then there are cases where there's definitely things to be taken for the future and adopting different measures. And I think principally everything is health and safety. That's the crux of it. But it's an industry where best practices are advancing so, so quickly because the lessons learned are being adopted and taken very seriously, which is really exciting. And then when you combine that with decreasing price trends because of increased demand, for example, these projects are commercially viable.” - Kristina Hamernik

About Kristina Hamernik:

While living abroad, a personal experience served as the catalyst for Kristina’s career change and dive into the energy industry. She is passionate about the opportunities for enhancing energy security while adopting clean energy solutions. Kristina has worked as a business and early-stage project developer for renewable energy solutions for remote regions and islanded diesel power grids and included work on projects for remote mining operations, Northern communities, post-natural disaster grid reconstruction and modular renewable solutions for military applications.

Kristina’s current role is Development Manager for Energy Storage at Innergex, where she is driven by the opportunities and benefits of wide-spread adoption of energy storage across Canada and internationally.

Based out of Montreal, Kristina is enjoys being active outdoors during all-seasons with a love for cross country and downhill skiing, hiking as well as regularly practicing kickboxing. She is currently training for her first triathlon.

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Chad Hughes | CEO, Entrepreneurial Leader, Author: website |linkedin

Kristina Hamernik |Energy Storage Development Manager, Innergex: website | linkedin