• CERAWeek
  • March 18 - 22, 2024

Francis O'Sullivan

Lincoln Clean Energy, LLC

Senior Vice President, Strategy

Dr. Francis O’Sullivan is Senior Vice President, Strategy at Lincoln Clean Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Orsted. In this role Frank is responsible for long-term market analysis and modelling to support Orstead’s onshore investment program in wind, solar and storage globally. Prior to joining Orsted, Frank was Director of Research and Analysis for the MIT Energy Initiative, and a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he was Co-Director of the MIT Electric Power System Center. Dr. O’Sullivan’s academic, public and private sector work has focused energy markets analysis and design, with a particular focus on the economic and technical issues associated with large-scale integration of intermittent renewables in marginal cost-based electricity markets.

Dr. O’Sullivan has written and spoken widely on these topics, and has made presentations to the U.S. President’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, the EIA, the EPA, the IEA, the Brookings Institute, the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the National Governors’ Association, the National Association of Regulated Utility Commissioners, at CERAWeek, the American Physical Society, the American Geophysical Union and to numerous other academic, policy and industry forums. He was a lead author of the 2011 MIT Future of Natural Gas study, the 2015 MIT Future of Solar Energy study, and is a member of the upcoming MIT Future of Storage study working group. Dr. O’Sullivan is a member of the U.S. National Academies’ Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability, he is a Senior Associate with the Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and he is a Distinguished Associate with the Energy Futures Initiative. He has also served as a member of the U.S. Secretary of Energy’s working group on methane emissions, and as a Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Energy for the 2016 Quadrennial Energy Review. Prior to Orsted and MIT, Dr. O’Sullivan was a senior consultant with McKinsey & Company. Frank received his Ph.D., E.E., and S.M. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his B.E. degree from the National University of Ireland, all in electrical engineering.

Sessions With Francis O'Sullivan

Thursday, 14 March

  • 11:30am - 12:30pm (CST) / -

    Global Solar: Shifting the focus from cost to value

    Panel Power Climate/Environment/Sustainability

    Solar has witnessed a very rapid deployment globally, becoming the most installed source of new power generation, with over 40% of total capacity additions in 2017. Dramatic cost reductions have been driving this rapid deployment and, in some geographies, PV is already the cheapest source of generation on an LCOE basis. However, future development is challenged by the gradual phase out of direct subsidies across the world, the increased exposure of solar assets to market risks, and price cannibalization in more mature markets. As the penetration and market exposure of solar continues to rapidly increase, the questions around the value of intermittent generation, the role of flexibility and batteries, technology, and emerging business models become more pressing.