Energinet Pauses Connections Amid Soaring Demand
Energinet, Denmark’s transmission system operator, has imposed a three‑month moratorium on new grid‑connection agreements as electricity demand surged to roughly 60 GW, far exceeding the nation’s 7 GW peak consumption. The surge is driven by data‑center expansions, battery storage projects, and Power‑to‑X facilities, pushing the transmission network toward capacity exhaustion. The pause allows Energinet to reassess allocations, accelerate an emergency package, and prioritize mature projects that can quickly free capacity. Existing signed agreements remain unaffected, but all other applicants will face longer processing times.
CHN Energy Switches on 2 GW Solar Plant at Coal-Mining Subsidence Area
China Energy Investment Corp. (CHN Energy) has commissioned the 2 GW Phase II of its Lingwu photovoltaic project, bringing the site’s total capacity to 4 GW and completing half of the planned 6 GW mining‑subsidence solar cluster in Ningxia. The base will deliver roughly...
How Data Centers Rewrite the Playbook for Building Protection
Data center construction is shifting toward vertical, multi‑story facilities, driving stricter fire‑protection, corrosion control, and flooring requirements. Builders are increasingly using modular, factory‑applied protective coatings to ensure consistent performance and accelerate schedules, especially in rural sites with harsh environmental exposure....
Stratasys Earns EcoVadis Gold Sustainability Rating
Stratasys Ltd. received an EcoVadis Gold Medal, ranking it in the top 5% of over 150,000 evaluated companies. The upgrade from last year’s Silver rating highlights stronger sustainability management and expanded ESG reporting. The company cited progress in Scope 3 emissions...
How Noisy Is Clean Power?
The University of Manchester has launched the (not)NOISY research programme to develop the first advanced tools for predicting underwater noise from tidal turbine arrays. The project will create high‑fidelity computer models and AI‑assisted simulations that estimate how turbine noise travels...
California Sets August 2026 Deadline for First Corporate Climate Reports
The California Air Resources Board approved the Greenhouse Gas Reporting and Climate Financial Risk Disclosure Initial Regulation, setting an August 10, 2026 deadline for the first‑year corporate emissions filing. SB 253 obliges companies with more than $1 billion in revenue to report Scope 1 and 2...
PM Modi Inaugurates POWERGRID Transmission Projects Worth ₹3,600 Crore in Rajasthan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated POWERGRID transmission projects in Rajasthan valued at over ₹3,600 crore. The rollout includes a 765 kV Bhadla‑III–Sikar‑II line and a new Bhadla‑III substation, expanding capacity for 20 GW of Renewable Energy Zones and 8.1 GW of solar zones. These...
PV-Assisted Heat Pump Prototype with Dual Condenser Reaches 7.59 Coefficient of Performance
Spanish researchers have built a dual‑condenser air‑to‑water heat pump that synchronises domestic hot‑water production with daylight, dramatically increasing photovoltaic self‑consumption. The prototype replaces the single condenser with an additional top‑mounted unit and uses a minute‑level control algorithm. Tests showed solar...
Maritime Vessel Uptake of Alt Fuels Proceeds ... Slowly
In February 2026 DNV’s Alternative Fuels Insight recorded 17 new orders for alternative‑fuel vessels, 14 of which were LNG‑powered container ships. The remaining three orders were for dual‑fuel ethane gas carriers. Overall, 37 alternative‑fuel vessels were ordered in the first...
Emerging Technologies Redefine Backup Power Systems
Commercial building backup power is shifting from idle diesel generators to hybrid systems that combine battery energy storage, renewable sources, and AI-driven controls. Facility owners are driven by sustainability mandates, grid instability, and the need for operational resilience against extreme...
RWE Investigates Turbine Blade Incident in Wales
RWE is investigating a turbine blade detachment at the 57.4 MW Brechfa Forest West on‑shore wind farm in south Wales. The incident involved a Senvion MM92 turbine and prompted a 50‑metre safety zone while the fallen blade was removed. RWE has...
Osaki Electric Signs EMS Development Pact with Kyocera, Taiwan Plastics
Osaki Electric has entered a development pact with Kyocera and two Taiwan Plastics Group affiliates to co‑create an AI‑driven energy management system called SmaRe:C. The platform integrates solar generation, lithium‑iron‑phosphate battery storage and an edge AI terminal to optimise electricity...
Mint Explainer | The Hidden Climate Cost of Your AI Query
Artificial intelligence workloads are increasingly hosted in purpose‑built data centres that consume massive electricity and water, raising environmental concerns. The International Energy Agency says a typical AI‑focused data centre uses as much power as 100,000 households, and the largest under...
EVs Not Just for the Middle Classes
Electric‑vehicle ownership in England is expanding beyond affluent early adopters, with 2025 data showing purchases across almost every deprivation decile except the poorest ten percent. The shift is driven by a thriving second‑hand market that lowers upfront costs and by...
South Africa’s Move to Greener Energy Is Creating New Jobs, but Benefits Aren’t Evenly Spread
South Africa’s green transition is boosting employment, with green jobs rising from 12.4% of the labour force in 2022 to 14.8% in 2024. Growth is concentrated in utilities, mining, construction and finance, driven by government procurement and sustainable‑finance policies. However,...
Stargate Hydrogen Seals First UK Partnership
Stargate Hydrogen has signed its first UK partnership with Seacht Group, a UK energy and engineering firm, to develop green hydrogen projects. The deal combines Stargate’s ceramic‑based electrolysis technology with Seacht’s local market knowledge, positioning both firms to pursue multiple...
Indonesia’s Geothermal Quest: Where Massive Potential Meets Structural Reality
Indonesia holds roughly 24‑29 GW of technically recoverable geothermal resources but operates only about 2.71 GW, a fraction of its potential. A new partnership between Star Energy Geothermal and US firm SLB aims to de‑risk the Sekincau field and assets in North...
Digital Product Passports Are Coming, and 2026 Is When the Real Work Begins
Digital Product Passports (DPPs) are moving from concept to regulatory requirement, with the EU mandating them for textiles by 2029. The 2026 window is critical for brands to build the digital infrastructure needed to capture, validate, and share product‑level data....
Navitas Exhibiting Solutions for AI Data-Center, Grid and Energy Infrastructure, Performance Computing, and Industrial Electrification
Navitas Semiconductor showcased a suite of GaN and SiC power solutions at APEC 2026 in San Antonio, targeting AI data centers, high‑performance computing, grid infrastructure, and industrial electrification. The company unveiled a 10 kW 800 V‑to‑50 V GaN‑powered DC‑DC platform delivering 98.5% efficiency...
RENA Secures 1.2 GW TOPCon Equipment Order in India
RENA Technologies won a contract to deliver a 1.2 GW TOPCon wet‑chemical processing line for Celloraa Energy’s new solar‑cell factory in Gujarat, India. The equipment suite includes InEtchSide 4+, BatchPolyClean N600, BatchEtch N600 and BatchTex N600, and is designed to halve water consumption while eliminating...
MSEDCL Subsidised Rooftop Solar for BPL/EWS: ₹45,450/kW for Low-Consumption Homes
Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) announced a subsidised rooftop solar offering of ₹45,450 per kilowatt for BPL and EWS households consuming under 100 units monthly. Under the SMART scheme, beneficiaries receive a ₹30,000 subsidy via the PM Suryaghar...
South Korea Faces Renewable Energy Safety Concerns
South Korea’s National Assembly approved amendments that dramatically reduce setback distances for renewable‑energy installations, shifting authority from local governments to the central government. The change comes amid a spate of high‑profile accidents, including a wind turbine collapse, a turbine‑blade fire,...
Flow Power Goes Bigger on Firmed Solar, with Purchase of Shovel Ready PV and Battery Project
Flow Power has purchased the shovel‑ready Dunedoo Energy Project in regional New South Wales, adding a 55 MW solar farm and a 60 MW battery energy storage system to its portfolio. The assets come with State Significant Development status and all necessary...
Metal‐Free Submicron‐Hollow‐Fiber Conjugated Polymer Sponges for Efficient Pollutant Removal and Thermal Insulation
Researchers have introduced a metal‑free conjugated polymer sponge fabricated via a single‑step, one‑pot Chichibabin condensation. The process yields submicron hollow fibers that spontaneously entangle into a porous monolith without templates or metal catalysts. This sponge demonstrates strong light absorption, high...
Super Moisture‐Sorbent Zwitterionic Polyelectrolyte Hydrogel for Ultra‐Efficient Atmospheric Water Harvesting
Researchers have created a zwitterionic polyelectrolyte hydrogel and integrated it onto porous anodized aluminum foam, forming the LC‑PIL‑SO3Li‑CNT@AAF composite. The material achieves a moisture uptake of 16.33 g per gram of hydrogel at 90 % relative humidity, a 322 % improvement over prior...
How America’s Power Regions Chose Their Futures and How That Has Played Out
In 1996 FERC issued Order 888 and later Order 2000, prompting a split between regions that adopted organized wholesale markets and those that retained vertically integrated structures. Regions such as PJM, ISO‑NE, NYISO, MISO and CAISO built RTOs/ISOs, delivering billions in annual...
Advancements in Ammonia-to-Hydrogen Technology Support Decarbonization
Amogy has unveiled a next‑generation ammonia‑cracking system that converts ammonia to hydrogen at lower temperatures and higher efficiency, enabling carbon‑free power generation for fuel cells and hydrogen engines. The technology is being piloted in Pohang, South Korea with a 1‑MW unit,...
The Real Barriers to Power Sector Carbon Capture
Post‑combustion carbon capture for power is technically mature, yet projects stall due to integration complexity, financing structures, and risk allocation. While the Global CCS Institute reports 77 operating facilities and a pipeline targeting 337 Mtpa by 2030, only a dozen power‑generation...
Beyond Reactors: The Full Fuel Cycle Investment Needed for a Nuclear Future
Nuclear power’s resurgence in the United States hinges on more than reactor designs; a fully domestic fuel cycle is essential for sustainable growth. The nation currently depends heavily on imported uranium, especially from Russia, prompting the 2024 Prohibiting Russian Uranium...
Home Battery Installs Hit Quarter-Million Mark Under Federal Rebate. But Is the Party Over?
Australia has installed over 252,000 home battery systems since July 2023, delivering 6,280 MWh of storage under the Small Scale Renewable Energy Scheme. The original target of 450,000 installations by June 2026 now looks unlikely, with projections revised to about 425,000...
Wilmington Trust on What’s Powering the Future of the Energy Transition
Will Marder of Wilmington Trust examines how the past year reshaped capital flows toward the energy transition. He notes a marked acceleration in renewable and grid‑modernization investments, driven by policy support and heightened ESG focus. The firm anticipates continued diversification...
Concrete Milestone at Forrest Wind Farm, with More than Half of Turbine Foundations Complete
Squadron Energy, the renewables arm of Andrew Forrest’s Tattarang, has poured 35 of the 69 turbine foundations for the 414‑MW Uungala wind farm, moving the project past the halfway point. Once completed, Uungala will be the largest wind farm in...
Core Scientific Inc (CORZ) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Core Scientific reported 350 MW of energized capacity, with roughly 200 MW already billing, surpassing the halfway point of its 590 MW CoreWeave contract. The company announced expansions at Dalton, Georgia (450 MW gross) and a new 265‑acre Hunt County, Texas site slated for...
Single Atoms of Indium on Hafnia Enable Superior CO2-Based Methanol Synthesis
Researchers reported that single‑atom indium dispersed on hafnia (HfO₂) dramatically improves CO₂ hydrogenation to methanol. The In/HfO₂ catalyst achieves up to twice the methanol space‑time yield of comparable In₂O₃‑based systems while maintaining >90% selectivity at 300 °C. Combined experimental measurements, operando...
Construction Begins on Coal Country Renewable Energy Zone, State’s First to Upgrade Existing Network
Construction has begun on the Hunter‑Central Coast renewable energy zone (REZ), the first NSW project to upgrade existing network assets while adding new infrastructure. The upgrade will provide roughly 1 GW of hosting capacity and connect up to 1.8 GW of new...
California Wants Millions of Heat Pumps. High Power Bills Might Get in the Way
California aims to install six million heat pumps in homes by 2030 as part of its aggressive decarbonization agenda. While heat pumps offer higher efficiency and can replace gas furnaces, the state’s soaring residential electricity rates often erode expected bill...
AWS UAE Suffers AZ Outage After "Objects Strike Data Center" And Cause Fire, Amid Iran Attacks
Amazon Web Services’ ME‑CENTRAL‑1 region in the United Arab Emirates experienced an Availability Zone outage after unidentified objects struck the data center, igniting a fire and prompting emergency power shutdown. The incident coincided with a wave of Iranian missile and...
Middle Eastern Oil Giants Accelerate Multibillion-Dollar Clean Energy Push
Middle Eastern oil powerhouses, led by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, are accelerating multibillion‑dollar clean‑energy programs that span solar, wind, nuclear, and green‑hydrogen. The region’s renewable capacity is set to surge, with solar projected to grow ten‑fold and nuclear output...
States Push Data Center Pauses to Buy Time to Gauge Impacts
Several U.S. states are introducing legislation to pause data‑center expansions that support artificial‑intelligence workloads. The measures aim to give regulators time to assess water and power consumption, grid impacts, and potential electricity cost increases for local communities. These pauses follow...
Grid Connections 2026: Who’s Going Where and Doing What in Australia’s Green Energy Transition
Australia’s energy sector saw a wave of senior appointments in early 2026, with CEOs installed at FRV Australia, Pilot Energy, Boundless Earth, Janus Electric, Endeavour Energy and several others. The Australian Energy Market Operator added two non‑executive directors and nominated...
Andhra Pradesh Okays Adani Solar Power Deal, with Rider
Andhra Pradesh’s government has approved the off‑take of 300 MW of solar power from Adani Green Energy under the 2021 power supply agreement, after a 15‑month pause caused by U.S. bribery allegations. The approval comes with a rider that the state...
Real-World Test: Electric Semi Trucks Can Save Fleets Nearly $160,000 per Truck
A year‑long trial in Montreal examined 200,000 km of diesel Freightliner Cascadia and its battery‑electric counterpart, the eCascadia, across two Canadian fleets. The analysis found that electric Class 8 trucks can generate roughly $157,000 in savings per unit over a six‑year...
VIEWPOINT: New York State’s Newly Required Registration of Large Cooling Equipment
New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation has amended Part 494 to require commercial property owners to register and report leakage of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Large equipment (≥1,500 lb) must report annual leakage starting March 2026, medium‑size units (200‑1,499 lb) register by June 2026 with reporting...
Stale Bread and Bacteria Could Power a New Era in Green Chemicals
Scientists at the University of Edinburgh's Wallace Lab engineered E. coli to generate hydrogen from simple sugars, including stale bread, and paired it with a palladium surface catalyst to hydrogenate organic molecules. The biocatalytic system achieved up to 99% conversion efficiency,...
This Plastic Is Made From Milk and It Vanishes in 13 Weeks
Scientists at Flinders University have created a thin, flexible film from calcium caseinate – the main protein in milk – blended with modified starch, bentonite nanoclay, glycerol and polyvinyl alcohol. Laboratory tests show the material breaks down completely in ordinary...
Armstrong Fluid Technology’s Compact Fluid Management Station Can Reduce HVAC Energy and Install Costs by up to 30%
Armstrong Fluid Technology launched the Systems Envelope – Fluid Management Station (SE‑FMS), a modular HVAC fluid‑management solution that integrates its Envelope Core platform. The compact unit reduces floor space by up to 40% and cuts energy use by as much as 30%...
Chile Approves Use of Copper Slag as Artificial Aggregate
Chile’s Ministry of Health has authorized copper slag as an artificial aggregate for road and infrastructure projects under Supreme Decree 46, effective 12 February 2026. The decree permits use only after sanitary approval and confines applications to specified construction uses....
Can Recycled Lab Gloves Capture Carbon Dioxide?
Chemists at Aarhus University have up‑cycled discarded nitrile gloves into polyamine membranes that capture carbon dioxide. By hydrogenating the rubber with a ruthenium pincer catalyst, the team converts nitrile groups into amines, creating a non‑porous sorbent. The resulting material achieves...
From Bottleneck to Breakthrough: Why Procurement Is the Utility Industry’s Critical Capacity Builder
Utilities face a 25% rise in electricity demand by 2030 and 78% by 2050, straining aging grids and climate‑driven disruptions. Capital spending is soaring, with $178 billion allocated in 2024 and projected to hit $220.7 billion by 2026, yet tariffs, shortages, and...
Podcast: Cybercab Dead on Arrival, Donut Lab’s Miracle Battery, Waymo Expands, and More
The latest Electrek Podcast recaps a turbulent week for Tesla, highlighting the departure of the Cybercab program manager and Elon Musk’s threat to halt the Giga Berlin expansion over a union vote. It also spotlights Donut Lab’s solid‑state battery that...