Today's Energy Pulse
Scania pilots vehicle‑to‑grid power for heavy‑duty electric trucks
Scania showcased one of the first V2G systems for heavy‑duty electric trucks using the Megawatt Charging System (MCS). The pilot demonstrated bi‑directional power flow, letting trucks feed stored electricity back to the grid while parked, with real‑time communication enabling dynamic charging and discharging. The company also opened orders for trucks equipped with an extra battery pack and MCS.
Also developing:
Brazil’s LRCAP Battery Auction Demand Estimated at Nearly 3 GW
Brazil’s second 2026 Long‑term Reserve Capacity Auction (LRCAP) secured 501.3 MW of thermoelectric capacity, primarily from diesel, fuel‑oil and biodiesel plants. The auction follows a March 18 tender that awarded 19 GW of capacity, underscoring a rapid build‑out of reserve resources. Analysts estimate roughly 3 GW of additional demand will be met in a forthcoming battery‑storage auction later this year. The dual auctions aim to bolster Brazil’s energy security ahead of growing renewable integration.
Iran's Hormuz Control Gives It Strategic Leverage
As long as Iran still controls the strait of Hormuz, we’re gonna have issues. That’s really the bottom line here. By realizing it can control the strait (at least so far) Iran has gained strategic leverage relative to the outset...
Oil Price Spikes Hit Hardest in Low-Margin Industries
Oil prices have surged as the Strait of Hormuz closure removes roughly 20% of global supply, double the impact of the 2022 Russia‑Ukraine war. In the week of March 9, U.S. diesel jumped $0.96 per gallon to $4.86, marking the largest...
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,...
WTI May Top Near $120 by 2026, Echoing 2008
WTI Peaks and Recessions: $120 (2026), $147 (2008), $130 (2022) - WTI crude oil was near unchanged for the week ending March 20 despite the Strait of Hormuz remaining mostly closed, suggesting a potential topping process reminiscent of 2008. Roughly...
India's Strategic Oil Reserves About Two-Thirds Full: Minister
India’s strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) are currently about two‑thirds full, holding roughly 3.37 million tonnes of crude – enough for 9.5 days of supply. The nation’s total SPR capacity stands at 5.33 million tonnes across three underground caverns in Visakhapatnam, Mangaluru and...
2026 Commodity Pump‑Then‑Dump May Hit WTI Crude
Crude vs. 2026 Commodity Pump-Then-Dump Pattern - Front-month US natural gas futures surged roughly 100% to the January peak, then reversed to about a 15% decline by March 20. Will WTI crude oil follow? Silver and copper have also shifted...
Companies Set to Win as States Vie to Host Nuclear Campuses
The U.S. Department of Energy is promoting regional Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses that co‑locate fuel fabrication, recycling, reactor testing and power generation. South Carolina is courting the Savannah River Site while Tennessee is leveraging Oak Ridge and Oklo’s $1.68 billion used‑fuel...
EU Focuses on Nuclear And Fusion Research: Euratom Work Programme 2026-2027 Launched with Focus on SMR Strategy
The European Commission has launched the Euratom Work Programme 2026‑2027, placing nuclear technologies at the heart of its research agenda. The plan allocates roughly $244 million to bridge fusion energy from labs to the grid and about $119 million for fission safety,...
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...
Global Economy Under ‘Major Threat’ From Strait of Hormuz Crisis: IEA Chief
International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol warned that the ongoing Strait of Hormuz crisis poses a "major threat" to the global economy. The US‑Iran confrontation has nearly halted traffic through the waterway, which carries about 20% of world oil and...
Stock Market Week 12/26: RENIXX Declines - Solaredge up Nearly 40% - Nordex: Additional Orders - Vestas Continues Share Buyback...
The RENIXX renewable‑energy index slipped 1.4% last week to 1,233.87 points, though it remains up 9.2% year‑to‑date despite soaring fossil‑fuel prices. Solaredge led gains with a 38% share surge after launching its Nexis solar‑plus‑storage system in Germany, while Nordex added...
Quinbrook to Build In-House Australian Construction Team
Quinbrook is moving into the execution phase of its Australian battery storage pipeline and will establish an in‑house construction team to build the projects. The decision responds to a tight labour market that has been hampering infrastructure delivery. By internalising...
BP and ADNOC’s JV Ready to Kick Off Mediterranean Gas Hunt with Valaris Rig
BP and its UAE partner ADNOC, through the Arcius Energy joint venture, are launching a multi‑well drilling campaign off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast using Valaris’s DS‑12 drillship. The campaign will target two exploration wells, Atoll West and Nofret, as part of...
TGS Wraps up Three-Year GeoStreamer X Campaign Off Norway
TGS has completed a three‑year GeoStreamer X (GSX) acquisition and processing campaign in the Norwegian Sea, delivering the final Dual Azimuth seismic products to its multi‑client base. The effort adds more than 21,500 km² of high‑resolution, multi‑client data to TGS’s licensing portfolio,...
Oil Volatility Shifts: From Demand Collapse to Supply Risk
Both the COVID-19 oil shock and the current Middle East oil shock (has) caused big moves in oil prices (Volatility), but for opposite reasons though. In 2020, demand absolutely collapsed because nobody was using or wanted as much oil as...
Iberdrola Reaches Over 11 GW of Installed Capacity in US
Avangrid, Iberdrola’s U.S. arm, now operates over 11 GW of installed generation capacity across nearly 100 projects in 25 states. The company produced 25,058 GWh of electricity in 2025, making the United States its second‑largest market after Spain. On‑shore wind, solar and...
Hedge Funds Buy 120 BCF Gas, Still Below Historic Levels
HEDGE FUNDS and other money managers purchased the equivalent of 120 billion cubic feet (bcf) in the two major gas futures and options contracts based on prices at Henry Hub in Louisiana over the seven days ending on March 17....
European Gas Dips 9% After Trump Pauses Iran Strikes
European natural gas prices drop as much as 9% after Trump said he instructed US forces to postpone all strikes against Iranian infrastructure for 5 days 🇪🇺 ⚠️ Prices still well above pre-war levels And there’s been no direct/indirect contact...
Households Predicted to Face One of the Highest Energy Bill Hikes in Years as July Cap May Reach £2,000
UK households may see their annual energy bills jump to nearly £2,000 as Cornwall Insight forecasts the July‑September 2026 price cap at £1,973. This would be a £331 increase over the current £1,641 cap for April‑June, driven by rising wholesale...
Oil Prices Have Peaked, Shock Explained
People had lots of questions about the oil shock after this weekend's podcast with @paulkrugman, including on all the different types of oil and which one is most important. I've been pounding the table that oil prices have peaked, so...
Qatar Outage Boosts Russia's LNG Sales to Vietnam
The outage at the world’s biggest LNG export plant in Qatar is apparently benefiting Russia 🇷🇺 ⚠️ Russia’s largest LNG producer Novatek has signed a preliminary deal to supply Vietnam, Tass reported citing CEO Mikhelson (Vietnam is struggling to buy LNG...
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...
Markets Underestimate Full‑scale US‑Iran Energy Conflict
Trump just gave Iran 24 hours. Reopen Hormuz. Or face strikes on power facilities. Iran's response: We'll hit every US energy and desalination plant in the Gulf. $SPY is not pricing a full energy war. It should be. https://t.co/wOxm8bXbEC
Trump’s Flip‑flop on Iran Rattles Oil Prices
> Trump threatens to attack Iranian power plants, thrust region further down path of major facility attacks > Crude price flat out of weekend > Trump says now he isn’t going to attack Iranian power plants > Crude price falls $16/bbl https://t.co/e81KQnsv14
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....
Oil Prices Slide as Trump Delays Iran Strikes
Oil and energy commodities tumble after Trump postpones U.S. strikes against Iran energy infrastructure for five days: CNBC https://t.co/nO7poYHdmx
Russian Oil Facilities Spotted at Primorsk Port
Russian oil facilities by the port of Primorsk now. Yes, it's just me being Zelensky's politruk. https://t.co/hmcD7YMraa
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...
Trump’s Iran Comments Send Brent Down $16
An off ramp? A TACO? Another bait and switch? Brent cratered ~$16/bbl on Trump’s latest post talking about “very good and productive conversations” with Iran. https://t.co/6dfE8zEiRE
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...
Kiewit on Module Fabrication Duty for Lone Star State’s $5.7 Billion LNG Project
Texas LNG Brownsville, a $5.7 billion export project, has appointed Kiewit Offshore Services to fabricate its liquefaction, pretreatment and pipe‑rack modules at the company’s Ingleside, Texas yard. The decision keeps module production in‑state, sidestepping tariffs, heavy‑lift shipping and Panama Canal transit...
RTS Wind Appoints Richards as CCO
RTS Wind Group has named Alexandra Richards as its chief commercial officer, bringing over 14 years of commercial, legal and operational experience in the global energy sector. Richards previously held senior positions at BP, JERA Nex BP and Vattenfall, including...
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,...
Iranian Oil Routes to China via SWIFT Workarounds
Pfft. None of the desanctioned Iranian oil is going anywhere other than China, because only China can shield their payments from SWIFT. All of these masterful gambits assume the Iranians are idiots. They’re evil. Not idiots.
UAE Resumes Operations at Its Largest Gas Processing Facility After Shutdown Last Week
The United Arab Emirates has restarted its Habshan gas‑processing complex, the nation’s largest facility, after a week‑long shutdown triggered by Iranian attacks. The plant now supplies the domestic gas network, drawing fuel from Qatar via the Dolphin pipeline, but the...
Hey Canadians, Want to Build a Pipeline? Your Pension Might Just Help You Do It
Canada’s new government under Finance Minister Mark Carney is eyeing asset recycling – selling a slice of publicly‑owned infrastructure to private investors – to fund its ambitious $280 billion infrastructure budget. Economists estimate that selling just 5% of the $470 billion of...
The ‘Nail Test’: Why This $54 Billion Innovation Is Terrifying Western Auto Executives
BYD demonstrated its second‑generation Blade battery surviving a six‑inch nail puncture without entering thermal runaway, contrasting sharply with a conventional NCM cell that erupted into a 500 °C fire. The dramatic nail test, staged for European industrial executives, highlighted the Blade’s...
The Gulf Was Silicon Valley’s Bet on the Future. Trump Has Put It in the Crosshairs
Iran’s drones struck three Amazon Web Services data centers in the UAE and Bahrain, marking the first confirmed military attack on a hyperscale cloud provider. The incident shatters the assumption of stability that underpinned a multi‑billion‑dollar AI partnership between Silicon...
Maha to Acquire Stake in Venezuela's PetroUrdaneta
Swedish investment firm Maha Capital AB announced it will acquire an indirect 24% stake in Venezuela’s PetroUrdaneta, a joint venture operating Maracaibo basin fields. The acquisition follows the U.S. Treasury’s issuance of General License 52, which relaxes sanctions on certain...
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...
When Tiny Magnets Attack PV Systems
Cybersecurity researcher Mohammad Al Faruque demonstrated that low‑cost magnetic, electrical and acoustic perturbations can manipulate current and voltage sensors in photovoltaic inverters without physical access. Using a $45 kit of Arduino, MOSFETs, Zigbee and an ultrasonic sensor, his team generated controllable...
The Oil Prices You See Do Not Tell Market's Real Story
Three weeks into the Iran‑Israel war, Brent futures have jumped about 50 % to roughly $110 a barrel, yet physical oil prices are rising even faster as supplies tighten. Spot benchmarks such as Oman ($162) and Murban ($145) are soaring, and...
RERC Issues Draft Power Purchase Rules Ahead of 3,200 MW Plan Hearing
Rajasthan's electricity regulator, RERC, released draft resource‑adequacy rules to replace a 2004 framework and guide a pending 3,200 MW procurement hearing. The proposals arrive amid conflicting forecasts: the Central Electricity Authority sees no extra thermal capacity needed by 2035‑36, while the...
Protect Citizens and Build Resilience, Not Unemployment
When price rises come from climate disasters or overseas fuel shocks, the main job is to protect people from the worst impacts and to build an economy that is less exposed next time, not to manufacture more unemployment. https://t.co/r8pM3hZEYt @reneweconomy
Malaysia Eyes New Energy Sources as Oil Prices Rise Amid Middle East Conflict: DPM Fadillah
Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof said Petronas is preparing contingency plans to source oil and gas from Australia and other Asia‑Pacific nations as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed due to the Middle East conflict. The closure has pushed...
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,...