Better Grid Utilization Could Save Customers $170B: Brattle Report
A new Brattle Group analysis for GridLab and the Utilize Coalition finds that improving grid utilization by 10% could lower customer electricity rates by about 3.4% and generate $110 billion to $170 billion in savings for U.S. utility customers over the next decade. The study models a mid‑size investor‑owned utility and shows that leveraging existing infrastructure through demand‑shifting, distributed energy resources, and smarter load management can offset much of the need for new generation and transmission investments. However, current utility profit structures and regulatory frameworks often favor capital‑intensive expansion over utilization‑focused strategies. Aligning incentives could unlock substantial affordability gains while still supporting utility earnings.
HV-MELA-BAT Showcases Megawatt Charging System
The HV‑MELA‑BAT consortium, led by Fraunhofer ISE, unveiled a megawatt‑scale charging system that combines a high‑efficiency DC/DC converter with a novel contact system. The isolating converter reaches a record‑breaking 99.26% efficiency and a volumetric power density of 9 kW per liter....
PV Yield Uncertainty: What It Means for Engineers, Lenders and Investors
Utility‑scale solar projects hinge on the projected annual energy yield (PVOUT), but that figure carries inherent uncertainty from irradiance variability, modeling assumptions, and site‑specific losses. Engineers, investors, and lenders each interpret this uncertainty differently—design constraints, return probability distributions, and credit...
‘Urgent’ Reform of EU PV Recycling Needed to Tackle Growing Waste Volume
The EU’s photovoltaic recycling capacity of about 170,000 tonnes per year is set to be dwarfed by an estimated 2.2 million tonnes of PV waste annually by 2050. Germany alone could generate roughly 681,800 tonnes, far exceeding its 99,000‑tonne processing ability....
What to Know About Carbon Markets in 2026
The voluntary carbon market now retires over 150 million credits annually, creating a complex landscape for corporate buyers. Experts from registries, consultancies and major firms advise newcomers to leverage public resources, diversify portfolios, and act quickly as high‑quality credits become scarcer....
Vietnam: VinBus Deploys 169 Electric Buses in Ho Chi Minh City
VinBus, Vietnam’s public‑transport arm of Vingroup, has introduced 169 electric buses into Ho Chi Minh City, sourced from its sister firm VinFast. The new fleet operates across nine routes, replacing conventional diesel units with the compact EB 6 and larger EB 8 models. Both...
EKA Mobility Bags Order for 915 E-Buses in Hyderabad
EKA Mobility, a Pune‑based EV firm, received a Letter of Award to supply and deploy 915 electric buses in Hyderabad. The fleet will consist of 100 nine‑metre and 815 twelve‑metre non‑AC buses, delivered through a consortium with GreenCell Mobility. The...
Sam Altman-Backed Fusion Startup Helion in Talks to Sell Power to OpenAI
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stepped down as chair of Helion, the fusion startup he backs, as the two companies negotiate a power‑purchase agreement. The tentative deal would give OpenAI access to roughly 12.5% of Helion’s output—targeting five gigawatts by 2030...
NorthStandard Backs Crew Nudges to Cut Ship Emissions
NorthStandard has teamed with Signol to roll out a behavioural‑science‑driven nudging platform that encourages seafarers to adopt fuel‑saving actions. The insurer will subsidise Signol’s SaaS subscription for its members, while Signol covers onboarding costs. By delivering weekly, personalised prompts and...
European Residential Heat Pump Sales Increased in 2025
Residential heat pump sales across 16 European nations rose to 2.62 million units in 2025, a 10.3% year‑on‑year increase and the third‑largest annual total on record. The growth follows a reversal of a 23% decline seen earlier in the year, driven...
Taiwanese Wave Energy Project Secures Land Lease
Eco Wave Power’s 100 kW onshore wave‑energy pilot in Taiwan has secured a five‑year land lease at Suao Port, with an option to extend. The lease covers 6.75 hectares of the southern outer breakwater, specifically Zone C (2.25 ha) designated for testing. The agreement, signed by...
As Communities and Policymakers Push Back, Can Batteries Make Data Centers Better Neighbors?
Virginia’s legislature passed a bill that, starting in July, will block air‑quality permits for data centers unless their onsite generators meet federal Tier 4 emissions standards, reflecting growing community backlash over noise, pollution and water use. The measure, which originally required...
Plasma Tech Targets PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’
Researchers at the University of Minnesota are applying for $862,000 in state funds to scale a liquid‑phase plasma reactor that can destroy per‑ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water. The system is designed to treat up to 60 gallons per...
5-Year Waits and Rising Costs: How Demand Is Redefining the Gas Turbine Market
Global gas turbine lead times have stretched to five years for large units and up to three years for smaller models, while prices have surged nearly 50% to about $3,000 per kilowatt. Demand is exploding, with 2025 orders projected at...
UP Cabinet Clears Gorakhpur Solar City Plan, Approves 20 MW Floating Solar Plant
Uttar Pradesh’s cabinet approved Gorakhpur’s designation as a solar city and cleared a 20 MW floating solar project on an 80‑acre reservoir in Chiluatal. The plant, to be built by Coal India Ltd on land provided free by the tourism department,...
Statkraft Starts Operations at 206MW Solar PV Portfolio in Ireland
Statkraft has begun commercial operations at two Irish solar PV projects – the 174 MW Clonfad farm and the 32 MW Irishtown site – adding 206 MW of capacity. The move lifts Statkraft’s operational solar portfolio in the Republic of Ireland to 560 MW,...
Zelestra Brings Spanish 162MW Solar PV Portfolio Online
Spanish IPP Zelestra has placed three solar farms—Belinchón I, II and III—in commercial operation, delivering a combined 162 MW capacity in Cuenca, Castilla‑La Mancha. The projects, built in 14 months, feature 275,000 modules on single‑axis trackers and are projected to generate...
Microsoft Looks to Buy 57.8 Additional Acres in Gaines Township, Michigan
Microsoft plans to acquire an additional 57.8 acres north of its existing 356‑acre campus in Gaines Township, Michigan, to expand a planned hyperscale data center. The parcel, part of a former Steelcase wood‑plant, awaits rezoning approval, with the purchase to...
Cocoon Raises $15 Million to Scale Low-Carbon Building Materials
Cocoon Carbon, a London‑based startup, closed a $15 million Series A round to accelerate its low‑carbon cement alternative. The company transforms steel‑making electric arc furnace (EAF) slag into a supplementary cementitious material that can cut concrete’s embodied CO₂ by up to 40%...
New Orleans Day Shelter to Benefit From 44-kW Solar Array
The Harry Tompson Center day shelter in New Orleans will receive a 43.8‑kW rooftop solar array through a partnership with nonprofit Everybody Solar. The system, installed on the Rebuild Center campus, is projected to produce roughly 56,347 kWh annually, covering nearly half...
German Startup Offers Team of 22 Specialized AI Workers for PV Plant O&M Operations
German startup Invertix has introduced a suite of 22 specialized AI "workers" that autonomously handle key operation and maintenance (O&M) functions for photovoltaic (PV) plants. The agents process SCADA telemetry, classify alarms, and perform grid analysis, while escalating high‑risk decisions...
Electricity: 1.4-GW NeuConnect Power Line Between Germany and the UK Enters Critical Construction Phase
The NeuConnect HVDC interconnector, a 1.4 GW link between Germany and the United Kingdom, is entering a critical construction phase and remains on schedule for a 2028 commissioning. The project includes a 720‑kilometer subsea cable and converter stations at Wilhelmshaven, Germany,...
Etermar Starts BayFloat Prototype Construction
Etermar Energia has begun building a small‑scale BayFloat floating offshore wind prototype in Setúbal, Portugal, with completion slated for July 2026. The project is financed by Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan and developed together with BayWa r.e., which supplied a reduced‑scale semi‑submersible...
Commission Approves French State Aid Scheme for Production of Renewable and Low-Carbon Hydrogen
The European Commission has cleared a French state‑aid programme that will fund up to 1 GW of renewable and low‑carbon hydrogen electrolysers, starting with a €797 million, 200 MW tender. The scheme offers 15‑year fixed premiums to offset the higher electricity cost of...
Commission Approves €5 Billion Danish State Aid Scheme to Support Offshore Wind Energy
The European Commission has cleared a €5 billion Danish state‑aid scheme to back offshore wind development. The 20‑year program funds two projects—Hesselø (≥0.8 GW) and North Sea I Mid (≥1 GW)—which together could generate about 7.8 TWh annually, roughly a quarter of Denmark’s electricity output....
Nepal Plans to Boost Hydropower Exports to India Amid Rising Energy Demand
Nepal's state‑run Nepal Electricity Authority announced plans to nearly double its hydropower exports to India to about 1.1 GW this summer. The target could rise to roughly 2.5 GW within two years as new transmission lines come online. The move responds to...
Türkiye’s Solar Capacity Surpasses 25 GW
Turkey’s solar capacity hit 25.8 GW by the end of January 2026, marking a record start to the year. The nation added roughly 4.7 GW of solar in 2025, pushing the share of solar in total generation from 0.1% in 2014 to...
Gautam Solar Breaks Into Global Top 30, Earns Prestigious ‘Grade A’ Classification by Wood Mackenzie
Gautam Solar has entered Wood Mackenzie’s 2025 Global Top 30 solar module manufacturers and earned the elite Grade A classification, marking it as one of the world’s most reliable and bankable producers. The ranking places the Indian firm alongside dominant Chinese manufacturers,...
Executive Roundtable: The AI Infrastructure Credibility Test
The Data Center Frontier roundtable examined how AI‑driven data‑center expansion must earn a social license amid rising public scrutiny over energy, water, and land use. Panelists from construction, climate advocacy, transformer manufacturing, and networking highlighted transparency, sustainable resource management, and...
Through a Partnership with Ban Mao Green Coating, Swancor Launches Its CleaVER Solution in the Construction Sector
Swancor Regener has teamed with Ban Mao Green Coating to launch the Eco‑Stone Circular Economy Series, using CleaVER® technology to chemically degrade wind‑turbine thermoset waste into high‑purity oligomers. The recovered oligomers are blended at 11 % into Ban Mao’s construction coatings,...
Datagrid Signs Power Supply Deal with Mercury for Planned 280MW Data Center Campus in Invercargill, New Zealand
Datagrid New Zealand has secured a 15‑year, 140 MW power purchase agreement with Mercury to fuel the first phase of its 280 MW AI‑focused data‑center campus in Invercargill. The deal guarantees roughly 1.2 TWh of renewable electricity annually, providing price certainty and a low‑carbon...
Electricity Networks Set Path for Low-Carbon Century
UK electricity network operators will invest over £120bn by 2050 to modernise the grid and enable low‑carbon power for homes and businesses. The plan targets a 47% reduction in overall energy demand through smarter, more efficient networks. Existing reliability already...
EcoCeres Secures Landmark SAF Supply Agreement in China
EcoCeres Inc. has launched a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) pilot program in China, dubbed “Project Spark,” partnering with CASRI, CNAF, China Southern Airlines, Air China Cargo, Sichuan Airlines and Huarong Chemical. The pilot used SAF produced at EcoCeres’ Zhangjiagang plant,...
Securing the Last Mile: Distribution Visibility for a Stable Grid
The electric grid’s rapid electrification and surge of distributed energy resources are exposing blind spots in low‑voltage distribution networks. Utilities are deploying inexpensive, cellular‑ or LoRaWAN‑connected sensors on transformers to capture voltage, loading, harmonics and outage data in real time....
How Stadium Data Centers Power Fans, Operations, and Broadcast
Stadiums hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup are deploying dual data‑center architectures—one for everyday IT services and another for high‑bandwidth media production. Cisco’s IP Fabric for Media and HPE’s Mist AI platform enable ultra‑low‑latency 100 Gbps video streams and AI‑driven network...
Zero in on Cruising: Emissions-Free Ships on the Horizon
The cruise industry is moving beyond LNG toward truly zero‑emission vessels, with hydrogen fuel cells, biogas, solar sails and large batteries leading the charge. Viking Cruises will launch the world’s first hydrogen‑powered ship, Viking Libra, in late 2026, while Scandinavian...
Plug-and-Play Cooling: Carnotfleet’s Bid to Democratise the Cold Chain
Carnotfleet, a Singapore‑incorporated startup, offers plug‑and‑play modular refrigeration that retrofits existing dry trucks and containers in minutes, using solid‑state thermoelectric heat pumps and integrated IoT. The company claims up to 80% lower total cost of ownership and 82% fewer carbon...
First Turbine Installed at Hai Long 3 Wind Farm in Taiwan
Taiwan's Hai Long offshore wind project installed its first turbine at the Hai Long 3 site, marking a critical construction milestone. The development, located 45‑70 km off the Changhua coast, is a joint venture between Mitsui & Co., Northland Power and Gentari International Renewables and targets...
Power Grid Raises FY26 Capex Target to ₹35,000 Crore, Capitalisation Target at ₹25,000 Crore
Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) lifted its FY26 capital expenditure target to ₹35,000 crore, roughly $4.2 billion, and raised its capitalisation goal to ₹25,000 crore (about $3.0 billion). The utility reported that capex to date stands at ₹35,540 crore, 102% of the guidance, while...
The First BMW With A NACS Charge Port Is Already Here, And It’s Not The iX3 Or I3
BMW has introduced the 2026 i5 M60 xDrive as the first U.S.‑market BMW EV equipped with a native NACS (Tesla‑style) charging port, while the i5 eDrive40 and xDrive40 retain CCS connectors. The M60 can plug directly into Tesla Superchargers and...
MPIC Increases 2026 Capex to over ₱200 Billion Due to Investments in Renewables
Metro Pacific Investments Corp (MPIC) raised its 2026 capital expenditure budget to over ₱200 billion, up from roughly ₱190 billion in 2025, driven primarily by large‑scale renewable‑energy projects such as Meralco’s SP New Energy Corp and the Terra Solar farm, slated to...
Bucks Landfill Datacentre First to Get Nationally Significant Status
A 300 MW datacentre planned on the Veolia‑run Wapseys Wood landfill in Buckinghamshire has been granted Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project status, allowing it to bypass local planning controls and move toward a Development Consent Order. The scheme includes three data‑hall buildings...
Infineon Partners with Zenergize on India Power Tech
Infineon Technologies has formed a strategic technology partnership with Indian power‑electronics firm Zenergize, announced at the Bharat Electricity Summit 2026. Infineon will supply its wide‑bandgap silicon‑carbide (SiC) semiconductors and engineering support to integrate them into solar inverters, EV chargers and...
Strain‐Modulated Engineering of High‐Entropy Vanadium‐Based Chalcogenide for Sustainable Water Oxidation
Researchers have engineered a strain‑modulated high‑entropy vanadium‑based chalcogenide (VMoFeCoNi)Sx using an optimized solvothermal route, achieving a single‑phase pyrite structure with 0.67% compressive micro‑strain. The nanoflower/nanoflake catalyst exhibits exceptional oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity in alkaline media, delivering overpotentials of 210 mV...
Emerging P‐Block Metal‐Based Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
The review highlights p‑block metal‑based electrocatalysts as sustainable alternatives to precious‑metal catalysts for energy‑conversion reactions such as CO₂ reduction, nitrogen reduction, and oxygen reduction. It details diverse architectures—single atoms, alloys, compounds, and doped systems—and explains how electronic tuning, oxophilicity, and...
European Car Makers Facing Black Hole in Electrifying Family SUVs
European manufacturers are grappling with the electrification of the C‑segment SUV, a segment that now accounts for roughly one‑fifth of all vehicle sales across Europe. These family‑oriented SUVs require long‑range batteries, typically nickel‑manganese‑cobalt chemistries, which are far more expensive than...
Why IT Leaders Need to Consider AI’s Energy Footprint
Gartner forecasts datacentre electricity consumption reaching about 1,200 TWh by 2030, a 20% rise from the previous year. AI‑optimized GPU servers are projected to draw roughly 156 GW, underscoring the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella pledged that Azure now...
Rio Tinto “Farms Out” Smelter Repowering as Decarbonisation Division Gets the Axe
Rio Tinto has dismantled its dedicated decarbonisation division, moving responsibility for the $1 billion repowering of the Tomago aluminium smelter to its aluminium and lithium team. The shift follows a budget cut that reduced the company’s 2021‑2030 decarbonisation spend to US$1‑2 billion,...
Pioneering Community Solar and Battery Project Launches After “12 Years of Hard Work”
A community‑owned 1.4 MW solar farm with a 4 MWh battery has been completed in Goulburn, NSW. The project, driven by the Goulburn Community Energy Co‑operative, raised $2.6 million from 288 local investors and secured a $2.1 million state grant. It is the world’s...
Quinbrook Bags EPBC Act Approval for 780MW Supernode North BESS in Australia
Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners secured environmental clearance for its 780 MW Supernode North battery energy storage system (BESS) in Queensland, confirming the project as a “not controlled action” under Australia’s EPBC Act. The facility will sit on a 41‑hectare former CSIRO research...