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Rory Clune

PartnerBoston

Brings broad experience in strategic and operational topics to companies across the energy value chain, along with deep expertise in decarbonizing energy systems

Rory is a partner in McKinsey’s Boston office and works with electric and gas utilities, investors, advanced technology companies, and other participants in the energy value chain. He leads our work on the energy transition in North America.

Rory’s recent client projects include the following:

  • developing the commercial strategy and new product design for a rapidly growing cleantech company
  • assessing the long-term strategic evolution of US power markets for a generation company, with an emphasis on the potential role of hydrogen
  • evaluating the 30-year grid decarbonization pathway for a US project developer, including evolution paths from power generation to transportation and heat electrification
  • advising a hydrogen fuel cell and electrolyzer company on its near-term commercial strategy, including a full range of global hydrogen applications
  • supporting a power-generation developer and operator in shaping its strategy in line with decarbonization trends in different US regions
  • helping a major US utility to develop a 15-year grid technology and customer strategy, including defining investments in equipment, systems, and people
  • assisting a leading wind-turbine producer to reduce costs on its latest models and elevate performance by 15 percent through improvements to product design and strategic sourcing and procurement

On top of his client work, Rory regularly publishes articles about the practicalities of decarbonizing energy systems.

He gained his PhD in engineering and computation and master’s in civil and environmental engineering from MIT, following his bachelor’s in engineering from University College Cork in Ireland.

PUBLISHED WORK

Navigating America’s net-zero frontier: A guide for business leaders,” McKinsey & Company, May 2022

Upgrade the grid: Speed is of the essence in the energy transition,” McKinsey & Company, February 2022

A 2040 vision for the US power industry: Evaluating two decarbonization scenarios,” McKinsey & Company, March 2020

The global relevance of New York State’s clean-power targets,” McKinsey & Company, July 2019

Net zero by 2035: A pathway to rapidly decarbonize the US power system,” McKinsey & Company, October 2021

A tale of two markets: How the US electric power sector is diverging,” McKinsey & Company, December 2020

PAST EXPERIENCE

EDUCATION

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
PhD, engineering and computation
MS, civil and environmental engineering

UCC
BEng, engineering