Green Giants – Episode 56

Richard Lu (01:47)

I’m trained as an occupational physician. There are many, many disciplines in medical science. So, I’m not a GP. I’m not a brain surgeon. I chose to be an occupational physician, which really is a specialty that involves working with organizations to take care of many, many work-related items. I have done cancer research with the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. I have done health surveillance in Nova Scotia, Canada. I helped Enbridge make sure that people are safely working in flammable areas. And of course, I worked with Toronto Hydro, where people are faced with electrical hazards all the time.

So, when you look at all of those ones, I look at my journey, saying I started by learning a trade that involves taking care of sick people. And by my choice, I start to look at healthy people, making sure they’re safe. But the more and more you do this one, you eventually know that the environment is where people get exposed and develop into either health or illness. So that’s where, as I progress from an occupational physician, gradually into management, increased responsibilities.

By the time I got to Toronto Hydro, I decided perhaps the larger environment should be my target for focus, and fighting climate change became one of the most important roles for me. So that’s where renewable energies, as we talk about, became my pursuit in the rest of my career.

Wes Ashworth (03:21)

Yeah, it really is incredible just watching the journey and seeing how you ended up where you are today. And as I mentioned, too, you’ve held leadership roles across Canada, Europe, and Asia. How did that global exposure help shape your perspective on energy as a whole and how it should be developed?

Richard Lu (03:38)

In my career, I got to travel a lot. In the States, I mean, Canada, for 35 years, I traveled to Europe running global operations over there. As you travel, you look at what is the biggest source of environmental impact. You know, I joke with people, I said, there are only three things worth doing in the world. One is power, one is transportation, and the third one is the other, right?

But truly, you think about how we produce energy by burning fossil fuels at large, right? So that’s the major environment, impact coming from. So, looking at this one, I’m thinking, you know, maybe we can find a way can produce electricity with less environmental impact, fewer emissions, and so on and so forth. So that’s how I thought about energy, probably as the best way to take care of the environment and, in turn, take care of humanity’s health issue.

Wes Ashworth (04:41)

Yeah, it’s incredible. And that why is so important, right? And we’ll spend some time on that today. thinking about where you are now. So, when you founded SolarBank, what was your vision for the company? How has that evolved now that you’re a publicly listed developer on the NASDAQ?

Richard Lu (04:56)

Wes, people pursue different things, I guess, for fame or for fortune, right? As we all say, right? you know, life is good. I’ve been working very fortunately with major corporations and the leadership of great people. So, when I started the company, I was thinking, what will make this company stand out? What will make this company last?

So, I look at this one, I will say power from the sun with no fuel cost, with no carbon cost. It was very low maintenance. Perhaps this is probably the most reliable thing we can do. So, my vision at the very beginning was that we supply the clean energy of the future as long as the sun shines. You know the joke is about Wes, if the sun were ever not coming out, you’re not worried about your money anymore, right? As long as the sun shines, we will deliver clean energy to you.

Wes Ashworth (05:52)

I love it. That’s so good. And as I mentioned a little bit too, so you’ve taken SolarBank from a private company to a publicly traded clean energy player, and you’ve done it with the mindset of a seasoned utility operator. So, I want to unpack what’s behind that kind of growth. What makes your approach distinct? So, talk to me about what principles have guided you. So, as you’ve scaled SolarBank from the early days to public markets, what are those tried-and-true principles that have really guided you along the way?

Richard Lu (06:25)

You know, Wes, in the energy business, you’re talking about scale. So, how do you scale up? So, we focus on simplicity, we focus on speed, we focus on repeatability so that we can use the same scale and repeat and repeat and continue just to scale. But at the end of the day, all talking aside, it comes down to execution.

So, we build an execution culture in this company based on three pillars. Number one is the people. Number two is finance. And the number three is the project. We can get into more details, but you can see that without people, there’s nothing we can do. But even with the people, if they are focused, if they have the same mindset, focus on speed and simplicity, right? Then you can create a value for the investors so that the finance will become easier because you tell them that every project we take on is absolutely making money, independently making money, and with low volatility.

So now with all of those, you have people, you have money, and now you can build projects. And my projects are always emphasized in the long term. Solar projects are 35 years long, each battery is 10 years, what we emphasize on every project has to be safe, reliable, and low cost so that it will last for decades.

Wes Ashworth (07:45)

Yeah, I love that so much. It is, it’s kind of, you hear it and it’s simple and you’re kind of like, everybody should do that. But it’s rare that you see it, and why you see a lot of startups not grow and not scale and not make it to the level you’ve been to. So, I want to just continue learning from that wisdom. So, one of the things you’ve said, too, is you think more like a utility than a typical startup. What does that really mean, and how does that show up and how do you run the company?

Richard Lu (08:21)

Wes, we all go to restaurants. You look at the menu, you say that’s expensive. I like it. We go to department stores. We buy things. You can see the prices are cheaper in Christmas time and maybe, sometimes, more expensive, right? So that’s the general economics, but the utility economics, we are operating in a price-taking environment.

So, in other words, at the end of the day, my solar project, my battery project, etc., we sell electricity to consumers. That price is regulated by the regulators. There is a price cap. So, because of this, when you are working in a price-taking environment, you’ve got to be very, very clear how to win this business. How to win this business? You cannot change the price because no one, you and me included, we don’t want to pay more electricity cost, right?

So, what we do is that we, in this company, at SolarBank, emphasize two things. Number one, managing the cost, right? So, we have a mechanism, we have a process, we have a production line that we’re managing the cost. Number two is to increase the productivity, right? Because of the throughput, with scale, enable you to deliver more with less, so that in a price cap environment, you can be more profitable.

Wes Ashworth (09:51)

Yeah. I love it. And probably easier said than done. I guess when you think about you set out to do that, is it more, is it having the right people in place? Is it the right process as you mentioned? Is it all of it? I guess what’s priority number one? So, if a startup is starting, go back in time to where you began, and they go, I hear that and I want to do that as well. You know, I want to repeat that success. Like, what’s the starting place?

Richard Lu (10:15)

I would say Wes, you start with the principle. You start with a clear vision. We share the vision. I think I will share the principle because when I talk about people, finance, and projects, that’s about execution. What are the principles? The first one is the cost of leadership. You want to make sure that in the operations, you keep it simple.

You emphasize speed, you focus on execution. And then from there, you’re looking at the productivity and efficiency. Efficiency is how many projects run through the production line. Productivity means that you design the energy systems for production, or than for size. There are more details we can talk about next time. If I’m just flipping projects, I will build a large project, probably will not make much electricity because of shading over panels, we’re not producing electricity, right? So that’s one of the things. So, we emphasize production, production, production. Obviously, with hundreds of millions of dollars behind us, we do have the economic scale, right? With quality-of-service improvement, people continue to improve.

Then, of course, we think about, we’re doing all right, we’re doing okay, we’re doing great. How do we work with our suppliers? How do we work with customers? So overall in this regulated market that would adapt to, you know, in this particular moment, things are new every day, and that keeps us going.

Wes Ashworth (11:45)

Yeah, absolutely. And thinking about just SolarBank is active in everything from solar, storage, EV charging, and data centers. I’m curious, how do you evaluate where and when to expand into new segments? That’s probably the entrepreneur’s question that keeps them up at night. But from your perspective, how can we learn in terms of getting into those new segments, when and why?

Richard Lu (12:09)

Yeah, you know, as I studied a lot, I’m a medical doctor, I am a safety professional, an industrial hygienist, I’m also an MBA, I still give lectures at Rotman School of Management, and so on and so forth. When you look at those, when you say when companies started, they always started with their core competence. Let’s say SolarBank.

I know how to put a piece of glass on a stick, stick it in the ground, and they convert photons to electrons. That’s essential, that’s critical, but that’s not enough. How do you do it? You say, OK, do I do forward integration, get closer to my customers? Do I do backward integration, get closer to my suppliers? So that’s how we manage it. From my perspective, let’s say, get closer to my customers. We could sell electricity. We prefer to sell electricity directly. But sometimes that you know, we sell the project to Honeywell, to Q-cell, to many people. We don’t get to sell the electricity, right? So, in that case, we want to make sure that you know we balance how many projects we sell, how many projects we own. Because when you sell it, you take one time revenue. When you own a project, you have ongoing revenue for 10, 20, 30, 35 years.

So, we want the longitude so we can continue to sell. On the other side, now let’s say we either choose to sell electricity directly by owning them or indirectly by selling the project to our customers, operating for them, so on and so forth. But now, even at the setting of the projects, lots of people go after a huge utility project. That’s wonderful. Big scale. Great.

However, it takes many, many years, which costs an increase. And you sell electricity at a wholesale price; the margin is very thin. Yes, millions of dollars. However, think about the risk I take using my investors’ money. So, we chose to be at a commercial, industrial level, and at a community level. And we sell electricity retail price. Give people 10%. Instead of selling it for six or seven cents a kilowatt hour, we may be selling at 11, 12 cents a kilowatt hour. Yes, the scale may not be there, but through our vertical integration that this cycle of a very, very smooth run machine will give us the benefit to adjust this.

How do we sell at more preferred conditions? And on the other hand, in this company, we have a very good relationship with our suppliers. We usually have a handful. We’re making sure that those suppliers are bankable, reliable, available, and give us low cost. So those are the things when you have a principle, you gradually build around it, so you can expand.

Wes Ashworth (15:06)

Yeah, that’s so good. Such good lessons there. I’ll ask it even simpler, just a different variation of that question. So, as entrepreneurs are looking at our other business owners or leaders, in terms of evaluating, is this just a distraction, a shiny object?

Or is this something we really should venture out into or expand our business into this area? That’s usually the wrestle. And there can be a high risk there, right? If you go towards a shiny object, spend a bunch of time and energy, and invest, you can really end up in a bad place. So, how do you, I guess, your thought process as you’re evaluating those, what do you go through?

Richard Lu (15:43)

Wes, that’s a very good question. You know, we humans are always attracted by shiny objects so we chase them, enjoying them, right? So, so forth. But running a business, you’ve got to be able to control your needs for instant satisfaction. It sounds boring, but I guess a lasting business is a little boring, right? I’ll give you an example. We produce electricity, we sell electricity. This is very boring, right? But we know that our product keeps your lights on, keeps you connected, and you cannot do without it. So, it’s a lasting business. However, along the way, people say, let’s go after EV charging. It’s great. Great. I think the future is electric cars because we have fewer and fewer fossil fuels to burn, and the technology has advanced, now we don’t have range anxiety, so on and so forth, but the industry takes time.

You know how many times you drive around, you see a parking lot full of chargers, and how many cars are there? very few, right? So, my desire to cover the parking lots, every spot with a charger, may not get my investors what they want. So, what do we do that we adjust? I’ll give you another example. We announced going to the data centers. We are very, very fundamentally business-driven. So, we look at data centers and say, what is the advantage that we have that other people don’t have?

Everyone has this one: what makes us actually last? What do I know about a data center? I use computers for sure. Anything else? I know the high-performance computers, hyperscalers, we talk to them, we know they’re looking for hundreds of megawatts, and so forth. But at the end of it, they’ve resorted to hiring very, very powerful consultants, aligning ourselves with those data center experts so that we are there to become the partner to them, not so much of the racks, right, or the HPCs, but rather as a power supplier. So that’s how we adjust ourselves.

Even expanding into lots of people say, your renewables are so intermittent, and so on and so forth. Yeah, sure. But we have battery storage. We’re building large-scale battery storage already. And so on and so forth. So, we will say, well, maybe looking at some baseload power we have done, gas turbines, have done geothermal. We might be looking into some baseload technologies in the near future. Right. So that’s all that gets us to evaluate how we incrementally grow the business so that we don’t get blindsided by the shiny objects.

Wes Ashworth (18:34)

Yeah, so good. Such words of wisdom and advice. I wanted to get that out. I do want to switch over to probably my favorite topic, especially just knowing how inspiring a leader you are, and the focus on people. So, throughout your career, you champion people, not just for their skills, but you really look at their heart, their drive. I want to dig into how that people-first philosophy plays out. Just on hiring, culture, and leadership at SolarBank.

We talked through some stories. You’ve turned musicians into construction heads and grads into finance leads. How do you identify potential beyond the resume?

Richard Lu (19:07)

You know, Wes, I know you’re very focused on human capital, which is a very, very good topic. I think at the end of the day, it’s the talents that make this world wonderful, right? So, if you look at those ones, when we’re hiring resume is just the beginning.

We highlight the keywords there, but when we’re actually sitting down, we insist on an in-person interviewer, we insist on full-time office work to increase the teamwork, so on and so forth. The first thing we’re looking for is problem-solving. We have problems, we have challenges, right? Every day out there, right?

So, you don’t want to be a deer staring at the light and freeze; you want to be able to think on your feet and come up with solutions. So, problem solving is very important, right? And of course, another one, courtesy, curiosity, and learning. We don’t mind people nosing around. In fact, we don’t have high cubicles. It’s a very just pod in the stations. We encourage people, get interaction, you overhear something, you may be able to contribute. I know there are sometimes the workplace could be very tense, right? So, emotional things are important.

You know, the people not easily excited, should we say. I think resiliency is certainly a gift. You know how many times we go to public meetings; we don’t always get what we want to hear. We don’t always get permitted. know, because there’s a process that people do not see the benefit to them, to their communities, right? Why should they say yes? that’s why you’ve got to make sure that, when you hear a no, we say a no is one step closer to a yes. Instead of saying, God, you know, what a day, right?

So, communication skills are important. From our perspective, because they could sometimes be long. Yes, we are the voice, and we’re taking sunshine projects we’re proud of, but resiliency and passion are very important to us. So, when you look at all of those ones, I would always start to say. Do you have the ability to solve a problem? Can you provide a solution? We don’t want to hear a no. We want to hear what you are going to do about this, no. So that’s how we have people. To me, it’s always about thinking about whether you are not able to do it; you can certainly learn. We support learning.

But if you’re not willing to do it, there are probably few things we can do.

Wes Ashworth (21:44)

Yeah, I love all of that so much. And I try to say it all the time, like a resume is a piece of paper. It doesn’t show who the person is. And I think having a lot of those traits, curiosity being a big one, you mentioned that one, I think that’s a huge, undervalued trait. And just asking questions, the passion, the energy, all of those things, we see that. We see that every day, play out where companies have prioritized that. They build these really incredible teams. There are also companies that just look for every little specific skill and check every little box, and we joke around and say, they had to be born on a Tuesday, and do all these little things. And they miss out on some great talent because of that. So, I love your approach and philosophy there. And you alluded to it there. You talked about willingness versus just ability. What do you mean by that specifically, and how does that shape your team culture?

Richard Lu (22:32)

I find it’s a very honorable and heavy responsibility that, as a leader, people are all good. They’re all good people. But it is our responsibility to put them in a place that will provide them with a platform where they can shine.

I remember back to 1994, the industrialist in Canada, Robert Schad, his injection molding system at Husky, his machines made most of the Pepsi bottles or Coke bottles, and so forth. He sent me to the Darden Management School at the University of Virginia for the executive program. I actually learned a lot from there. And the idea is that you need to choose like-minded people to form a team, right? So that they can drive for excellence, right? And, with this team that you can move things forward, right? We say, okay. How do we do it?

So, let’s be very basic. Wes, if you hired a person who is not able and not willing, you put them on your payroll, and you should be fired. What did you do? So, people are good when you bring them to the company. But for whatever reason, there are sometimes they may not be willing or maybe not able.

For the people not able, you’ve got to give them. We have this culture here. We walk around, we talk to people, we tell all the management people, your door has to be open all the time. Because either you get out there to guide people, to give them an opportunity, or they can come in anytime.

But for the people may not be willing, why are they not willing? Are they changing their mind? If that’s the case, be a good reference for them to get on better and the good things. If they have some blockage, help them move it. So that way, that eventually you have the people able and willing, you gradually promote them, so on and so forth. So, we use this two-by-two table a lot. And people say, oh, he’s no good, she’s this or that.

Can we be a little specific? Take Dennis, my construction manager, for example. He plays guitar. He’s a musician. What does he know about construction? What does he know about electronics? But this guy is willing to learn. He’s willing. So we put him under the chief operating officer, Andrew Van Dorn, T.E. Swain, and then we sent him to school. And over time, he has become such a good manager, we cannot do without him. Of course, there are people who are able, my way or the highway, and we tell them you can take it highway.

Wes Ashworth (25:32)

Right, absolutely. I love all of that. To put it another way, too, so what advice would you offer up to other founders and CEOs about building a purpose-driven, passionate team within renewables?

Richard Lu (25:50)

I always say a mission is very important. You know, everyone enjoys talking about sports. Everyone wants to talk about how they enjoy the participation. So why don’t we make a workplace a sports place? We come here to play, and let’s win at it, right?

I think a mission to win is very important, right? And then obviously, you need to be passionate. So, from our perspective, empowerment is important. We always tell people, no matter how strong, how great you yourself are, you’re only one individual. It takes the team to move a mountain. So, let’s empower them. Let’s talk about collaborative transparency. So yes, I know even myself has lots of places to improve and so on and so forth. But I’d like you to tell me what I’m good at and ask me to repeat what I’m good at rather than tell me, oh, you can be better, can be this and that. Thank you.

I’m a little rabbit, I just cannot swim, all right? So that’s where, whenever people have some success that we celebrate. In this company, the first Monday of the month is a company lunch. Everyone, the month, and the birthday in that month, we celebrate. We roast around the table. We say, OK, you ask us what you want to know. We ask you what you want to do. So that’s the kind of things that you can see by leaders leading by example that people can actually, as a sports team, winning this game.

Wes Ashworth (27:17)

Yeah, absolutely. I love all that so much. And I’ll shift a little bit just to try to get as much in as we can, just timing-wise. So, in an industry often focused on potential, you’ve delivered results and done it profitably. Let’s explore how those operational principles keep your projects grounded in both purpose and performance. So, you’ve said that every project must be safe, reliable, and low cost. How do you instill that discipline in your team, and tell us a bit about that?

Richard Lu (27:54)

Yeah, our company is vertically integrated, right? As a developer and the IPP (Independent Power Producer) that we emphasize safe, reliable, and low-cost. One of the ways to set up your operations, we have development, engineering, procurement construction, operation, maintenance, and asset management. You think about this, and we call it a production line, right?

We don’t just go out there because we love it. We actually say, okay, this is where we can put a solar farm. This is where we can build a battery farm, know, either an interconnection. Do the people like it? Is the policy supported? What are the permitting difficulties, and so forth? So, when we started initiating a study, those studies will gradually disqualify lots of sites. That way, you don’t have to continue hoping it may work tomorrow. So that will save you a lot of time, and time is money. And now we’re moving it forward to engineering. We ask our people to design a standard not unique systems so that when our contracts work faster, they say here’s the solar bank’s drawing yeah, we got it we know it we build it for them so increase the efficiency now in operations and maintenance if something is broken that you don’t have to looking for the unique parts we have to wait for four weeks for them to deliver.

Well, this whole process enables us to drive throughput through the construction, through the production. So that’s how we talk about how to win in this business.

Wes Ashworth (29:32)

Yeah. Another thing you’ve mentioned, which I absolutely love and I thought was incredibly insightful, is your financial philosophy of making money, even if it’s just one dollar, and don’t justify mistakes with hypotheticals. And I love that so much. But I’d love for you to just expand on that. How does that mindset shape your project pipeline and risk approach overall? And what does that look like in your business, just day in and day out?

Richard Lu (29:55)

We do lots of projects. We handle hundreds of millions of dollars. We own about $184 million of assets. We have recurring revenue. When you look at those ones as a public company, you have a responsibility to your stakeholders, to your employees, and to your communities, and so forth. But at the end of the day, you have to create value. I know I said my project is long-term.

35 years, 10 years. But Wes, if I tell you, give me your money, and you will make money in the long term after 35 years, would you invest? You probably wouldn’t, right? Probably not, right? So, we say, OK, what do we deliver to the investors? We run financial modeling very, very in detail. Everything has to be clearly stipulated so that when we execute, we execute from the sheet.

So, if this thing calculating at the very beginning is not giving us the hurdle rate, we’re not going to do it. People probably say, well, I know, maybe this could happen. No, not maybe, not maybe. And the people say, well, if we could spend a little more money this way and A plus B might be larger than C. No, A plus B is less than the sum of A and B. So that’s what absolutely makes money, independently making money. So that’s why our projects are very, very, I would say, reliable, touch wood. We haven’t lost investors’ money yet.

Wes Ashworth (31:24)

Yeah, it’s amazing. I love that. Switch it a little bit over, just to market misconceptions, policy realities. The energy space is full of opinions, headlines, and hype. But you’ve got a rare perspective, I think, just from every level of the value chain. And I’d love to get your take on what’s misunderstood and what the public and even the industry needs to hear. So, what’s one major misconception you hear about solar, and how do you typically respond to it?

Richard Lu (31:48)

You know Wes, I really want people to know that when we use solar panels to produce electricity, there’s no fuel cost. You have a thermal plan, have a nuclear plan, you have a gas plan, you’re gonna pay for those fuels, right? That’s about the 30-40 percent you don’t have to pay, right? And there’s no carbon cost, like it or not, it is a pollution that somehow, directly or indirectly, we’ll have to pay. We don’t have a carbon cost.

Maintenance. I grew up in an engineering company. Everyone is an engineer, including my mom and my dad. produce, they build thermal plants, and I follow them, go to the site. Oh my God, you see the boilers, steamers, turbines, the running parts, the noises, and so forth. Everyone’s working 24/7.

What do we do with the solar farm? What is it? It’s a piece of glass, on a stick, on the ground. I clean the glass as the maintenance, right? Maybe once every other year. I cut the grass. No, I don’t cut the grass, Wes. I’m maybe just going to send a few sheep to eat it. Right? I mean, with all those things, right? If the electricity is still not competitive with anything else, then people are doing something wrong. But by the way, the renewable energy solar already had a great parity several years ago, right? In the real-world development, you can see that all the new power plants built are all renewable energy alike. So, when people say it only works in direct sunlight, no, it actually works in diffused light. When people say, It’s very expensive, right? Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, 10, 20 years ago, it was $4 a watt; now it’s $1 a watt.

It’s so competitive that it’s better than the fossil fuel base. Lots of people say it’s not efficient enough. Well, when I started, it was 9%, 8%. Now it’s already 22%. The technology, the investment are leaping forward. I talk about maintenance. It’s much better than any other form of power. They say, but it cannot store it. Well, that’s why we have battery storage.

They say, but isn’t that you put on the roof, it will crash the building? Yeah, I know if people are not engineers, you not evaluate the building, and so also you might damage the roof, but that’s not the solar. That’s the workmanship, so you’ve got to work with professional people like the ones from SolarBank.

Wes Ashworth (34:34)

Yeah, absolutely. I love all of that. Not much to add there, but you debunked like five or more there, which is fantastic. It was really, really good. Obviously, today too, there’s a lot of talk around tariffs, reshoring, and energy dependence in the headlines every single day. So, what’s your take on how this affects clean energy development in North America? And I’d love just to hear your general perspective on those things as well.

Richard Lu (35:01)

You know, Wes, I always look at things from short-term and long-term. Renewable energy didn’t get here overnight. I remember when I did my first project in Toronto Hydro which was in 2003. That was 22 years ago. And so, we understand that there are short-term pains for long-term gains. Terra, for example, it does increases the cost.

However, with the cost increase and with the incentives to onshore with the energy independence and so forth, both Canada and the US we starting to invest domestically. So, from that perspective, yes, the cost increased. No, it brought work back, created opportunities, created jobs, investments, and so on and so forth. So, from our perspective, it’s a balance between short-term and long-term. I would say we buy from the international market, and with all those policy changes, now we have shifted to procure from domestic manufacturers, right?

So overall, would say it’s a balance between short-term gain and long-term gain. And I think it doesn’t matter. The industry is moving forward.

Wes Ashworth (36:15)

Yeah, good sentiments there. And thinking about just looking ahead and future what’s coming. So, we’re entering a pivotal time for global energy. And with your experience across continents and technologies, I’m curious how you see the road unfolding over the next decade. But how do you see global supply and demand for renewable energy shifting? Give us the next five to 10 years.

Richard Lu (36:32)

So, over the last decades, the demand for electricity has been fairly flat.

However, with artificial intelligence, with the proliferation of data centers, you can see that the digital economy is booming. We used to ask Google, and probably I would say one click is only costing me a kilo an hour. But now you ask DeepSeek, you ask all those AIs, and it costs tens of many, many fold of electricity. So, in the next five to 10 years, the demand is expected to increase hugely. So, you need to get supplies. So, where is the supply? Sure, we can build SMRs, small modular reactors. That’s about 10 years out. Sure, we can let our aging fleet of thermal plants run, but those plants have been there 40, 50 years. It’s beyond their design capacity, even the nuclear reactors.

We build some new gas plants. Well, gas engine delivery to me was told, if you place an order today, probably take you three or four years to get that engine. So, in the next, let’s say five to 10 years, what can deliver immediately is really the momentum of renewables, which is solar, wind, and so on and so forth. So, because of this, we will say, not only do we need to increase the supply to meet the demand, but also, we need to think about how to combat the intermittency. So that’s where the energy storage is really developing.

We have a capacity contract with ISO for 21 years. We continue to develop new technologies with partners so that we can enable commercial and industrial customers to manage their things on-site. So, all of those things will enable us to overcome the challenges between supply and demand and move things forward.

Wes Ashworth (38:34)

Yeah, it’s so good. And I agree. I talk to so many great leaders on the podcast, which is a privilege to talk to people like you, but you hear that so much and you think about it, you’re like, there’s nothing left. It has to succeed. It has to go forward. You know, there’s, because it’s the best solution, it really is from an economic standpoint, from availability, from speed. It’s all those things that you mentioned. This is an exciting time. And I think the next five to 10 years are going to be fantastic for the industry.

So, with that, what’s your take on the role of renewables in the energy dominance conversation? You mentioned that earlier, especially from a Canadian and North American lens.

Richard Lu (39:09)

So, in Canada, we’re very fortunate because we have a lot of hydro power, right? So we are, just because of abundant natural resources, we are a very clean country, and we have electricity, and we can actually, we’re already exporting to the United States. So that enables us to fully utilize a natural resource for societal development and also meet our climate change and economic opportunities, those obligations. So that’s very good for Canada.

I think in the US, we also have a lot of oil and gas. I think we’re net exporters of oil and gas. But don’t forget, we also have a lot of natural resources. In fact, I will say the southwest region of the United States has the best sun resources. And that you can see California, is already solar dominant, Texas is already solar dominant, and they are developing Arizona, developing in other states. So that’s where I will say that will enable the country to achieve energy security, and with this, bring manufacturing back to the country can create a global leadership in this area. We’re so fortunate, actually, with folks in North America moving things forward.

So, of course, there are challenges because of the aging infrastructure, some of the regulatory requirements, and so forth. But we are energy dominant in the country, and so on and so forth. Those are all driving the country in the right direction so that we can not only responsibly use the existing fossil fuel as an energy source, but also gradually build a dominant position in using the light from the sun, and convert it into electricity.

Wes Ashworth (41:06)

Yeah, absolutely. Some just look into what’s ahead and your perspective on things, which I love. I’ll kind of get us towards wrapping up, bringing it back to the people side. So, you’ve built more than projects. You’ve built careers, culture, and long-term impact. And one of the things you’ve said to me is nothing makes you happier than helping people find a home in the industry, which I again love wholeheartedly. What’s been your proudest moment so far as the leader?

Richard Lu (41:30)

I think there are three things that, being the energy guy who worked for Husky Injection Molding Systems, work for Enbridge Oil Gas, working for Toronto Hydro, looking at the different energy aspects, demand response, energy efficiency, and looking forward. I would say, Wes, there are three things. And number one, I feel very, very fortunate that I’m part of this sustainable practice.

Where we can power civilization forward with less and less fossil emissions. Remember, at the very beginning, I could be a doctor at the bedside, but I chose to come into renewables is basically fighting climate change. So, this sustainable practice is one of the things I’m very proud to be part of. Secondly is about the equity and accessibility. In the past, electricity, well, not in the past, let’s say 100, 120 years ago, electricity was a luxury thing, right? Today, everyone uses electricity without thinking of it, right? The fact of industry development is a factor that renewable energy can simply put a few panels over the roof of a cottage. Now you have light. Now you have a connection.

And you’re not only providing safety because of a connection, but you also provide enjoyment. So, this equity and accessibility are very important to me. Of course, economic transformation that enables such a, I will say, great economic development with the AI, with the data center, with other forms of energy dominant initiatives. So those are the three things that I’m most proud of that could be part of it.

Wes Ashworth (43:12)

Yeah, I love that so much. And this will probably go into the next question, the final question here is just what do hope your legacy will be, not just for SolarBank, but for the renewable energy space as a whole. And if you want to throw on any last parting words of advice or wisdom, feel free to do so as well.

Richard Lu (43:27)

I think impact is very important. I sometimes joke with people to say that I’m an occupational physician and I have an occupational disease.

They said, what is your occupational disease? I said, when I’m driving around in the city, while safely driving, I will always say, oh, look at that roof. That’s my solar panels. When I’m driving in the countryside and say, oh, we have a solar farm there. We have a battery farm there. I couldn’t be prouder. Because my team and you know very solid performing team that together we leave a lasting impact, powering the world, keeping the lights on, keeping people connected, so very fortunate to be part of it.

Wes Ashworth (44:18)

Absolutely. It doesn’t get much better than that. Largely fulfilling and great just mission for you personally and the company. can’t think of much of a better target than that, what we’re trying to accomplish, and those kinds of things. So that’s fantastic. So, with that, we will wrap up our conversation with Dr. Richard Lu, President and CEO of SolarBank, from scaling a publicly traded renewable energy company to cultivating a purpose-driven culture.

Built on passion and perseverance, Dr. Lu’s story is a powerful reminder that great companies are built with great people and long-term vision. If you enjoyed this episode, always be sure to subscribe to Green Giants, titans of renewable energy, share it with your network, and join us next time for more insights from the leader shaping the clean energy future. We’ll see you soon.