From Pilot to Planet Scale: *Bridging the Industrialisation Gap in Climate Infrastructure *| Ara Partners | The Bryden Wood podcast \\ Martin Wood, Dave Touhey
Martin Wood interviews Dave Touhey from Ara Partners about the shift from climate tech innovation to infrastructure industrialisation. The discussion explores the 'valley of death' as an execution and delivery challenge, not just a funding gap. Dave explains how combining patient capital with hands-on engineering capability bridges the missing middle, moving technologies from first-of-a-kind to repeatable infrastructure. Topics include productisation strategies, achieving cost parity with fossil alternatives, building developer muscle, and creating the critical mass needed to scale climate infrastructure at the pace required for meaningful decarbonisation.
As of September 2026, Ara Partners is now a majority investor in Bryden Wood, having worked together for several years on decarbonisation projects including Sedron, Divert, Utility Global, BioVeritas and GIDARA Energy. (Learn more about the partnership here).
Climate tech has reached a turning point: Innovation to industrialisation:
The challenge is no longer proving technologies at pilot scale – it's building first commercial plants and then replicating them at unprecedented speed. The 'valley of death' represents an industrialisation gap where proven technologies struggle to cross from venture-backed prototypes to infrastructure-scale deployment. This requires a fundamental shift in how we think about climate solutions.
Infrastructure framing changes everything: Patient capital, not quick exits
The shift from 'climate tech' to 'infrastructure' language matters because physical systems need different capital structures than software startups. These are long-term, asset-backed systems requiring patient investors who understand industrial execution, not venture capitalists seeking rapid returns. Infrastructure thinking means combining capital with hands-on engineering capability.
The Valley of Death is cultural, not technical: Bridging finance and engineering
Engineering skills to scale climate technologies exist. Financial backing exists. What's missing is integration between these worlds. Ara acts as translator, converting project delivery language into financial terms. The gap isn't about capability on either side – it's about the cultural divide preventing collaboration between finance and industrial execution.
From FOAK to NOAK requires building companies, not just plants
First-of-a-kind (FOAK) plants prove commercial viability. Nth-of-a-kind (NOAK) plants demonstrate repeatability and bankability. The key is building companies with developer muscle – organisations that can move from gate two to FID in three months instead of eighteen, commission in three months instead of six, because they've learned from previous builds. This requires treating each plant as both delivery and iteration.
Cost parity demonstrates climate infrastructure is economically viable
Climate technologies are achieving cost parity or better with fossil alternatives: waste-to-renewable natural gas, low-carbon cement additives with equal performance, molded fiber packaging matching polystyrene costs. These aren't premium green products requiring subsidies – they're economically competitive infrastructure solutions that happen to decarbonise. This proves the business case for scaling climate infrastructure exists today.
Martin Wood is co-founder and Director at Bryden Wood. Dave Touhey is Managing Director, Head of Apex at Ara Partners.
