Pictet: Portfolio case study
Pictet’s private equity thematics team asked us to create a film that showcased a standout portfolio company contributing to the energy transition. Our goal was to turn their investment in Mainspring Energy into a compelling case study - highlighting the real-world innovation driving long-term environmental and financial value.
We produced a single hero video featuring the Pictet investment team in Geneva alongside the CEO of Mainspring Energy, filmed on location in California. The film brought together strategic insight with real-world footage of the company’s generator in action, turning a high-conviction investment into a clear and compelling story.
Speakers: Shannon Miller- CEO, Mainspring Energy; Nicolas Thomas - Principal Thematics, Private Equity, Pictet Alternative Advisors;
Lorenzo Fusco - Principal Thematics, Investment Manager Thematics, Private Equity, Pictet Alternative Advisors; Pierre Stadler - Head of Thematics, Private Equity, Pictet Alternative Advisors
Lorenzo Fusco:
The 21st century will be electric.
Although electricity demand was relatively flat
in the early 2000s, thanks to the gains in energy efficiency and de-industrialisation,
it is now surging again.
Pierre Stadler:
Why? Many factors are contributing. Not least demand from data centres, electric vehicles and in a hotter world, an increase in air cooling.
In total, the world is now adding more
than the equivalent of Japan's electricity consumption to existing demand each year.
An ever increasing share of this demand
will be met by renewable sources.
Nicolas Thomas:
Indeed, here in Pictet's new headquarters,
our campus will draw its energy
from 100% renewable sources.
But we know renewable sources have an intermittency challenge. The sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow.
Advances in battery storage are helping overcome much of this.
Lorenzo Fusco::
Another part of the solution though, is onsite generators. This is where our investment in Mainspring Energy is relevant.
Shannon Miller:
What we've built is a new type of generator called a linear generator which produces electricity for our customers quickly and reliably.
The system is literally the size of a shipping container.
We can deploy one unit or tens or hundreds of units at a customer’s site to meet their power requirements.
We took advantage of the advances in power electronics to redesign the generator from the ground up. There is no rotating equipment. We bring fuel and air into the centre reaction zone.
We have translators or oscillators moving back and forth. Those have magnets on them.
And that motion is what produces electricity.
What’s really innovative about the technology
is what we call the adaptive pressure cycle.
And that allows us to really control the position
of those translators very precisely each cycle.
And that's what gives us all of our capabilities around fuel flexibility, low emissions and dispatchability.
We have a number of units running in Southern California, which has some of the strictest
air permitting regions in the country.
We can run on different fuels. So things like natural gas but also bio gas, hydrogen, ammonia, propane.
We create more electricity for the same amount of fuel that's going in, which is a real economic advantage.
A lot of the commercial and industrial customers are building microgrids.
These are three to five megawatt facilities
that need power to grow their businesses.
Building automation, EV charging or just general building expansion.
Building hardware infrastructure companies
takes a lot of capital and a lot of time.
And so you really need very smart, very strategic, but also very patient capital
to support the growth of companies like ours.
Pierre Stadler:
This is why we are so excited about our investment in Mainspring.
Nicolas Thomas:
By reliably generating cleaner electricity at scale. We are confident in the ability to generate an immediate environmental contribution and performance for our clients.
