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:
Florida Tank Company Contesting OSHA Fines After Fatal Incident
U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued 19 citations against PCE Petroleum Contractors Enterprises, a Florida tank‑service firm, after a worker died from benzene and toluene exposure in a confined space. The agency proposed a $60,242 fine, which the company is contesting. OSHA alleges the company allowed entry without atmospheric testing or full‑face respirators. The fatal incident occurred in Lake Worth, underscoring serious safety lapses in petroleum tank servicing.

Sanmar Delivers Four Electric Tugs to BOTAŞ
Sanmar has delivered four fully electric ElectRA 2500SX tugboats to Turkey’s state‑owned energy company BOTAŞ. The tugs, named BOTAŞ HİLAL, BOTAŞ BAYRAK, BOTAŞ AY and BOTAŞ YILDIZ, will serve the Marmara Ereğlisi LNG Terminal and the Saros FSRU Terminal, providing 70 tons of bollard pull...

Lumcloon, Hanwha Cut Ribbon on Irish Storage Site
Ireland inaugurated its first hybrid grid‑stabilisation system at Shannonbridge, County Offaly. The Shannonbridge B project, developed by Lumcloon Energy with Hanwha Energy, combines a 4,000 MVA synchronous condenser and a 180 MWh battery, capable of exporting up to 20 MW for nine hours. Situated...

Pipeline Gaps and Refinery Shifts Expose California’s Energy Vulnerability
California functions as an “energy island” because it lacks crude‑oil pipelines linking it to major domestic sources such as the Permian Basin. The state now depends on marine imports of heavier Middle‑East crude, which are processed by refineries tuned to...

Global LNG Crisis: Top Stocks to Watch as Hormuz Remains Blocked & Qatar’s LNG Production Is Halted.
The Strait of Hormuz remains blocked, choking a key route for Middle‑East gas shipments, while Qatar has temporarily halted its LNG production, tightening global supply. Spot LNG prices have spiked above $30 per million British thermal units, prompting buyers to...

Minerals Council Suggests Tariff Methodology, Costs as Next Focus for Eskom
The Minerals Council South Africa praised Eskom for achieving a 68.5% energy availability factor, above the 68% target, but warned that the utility’s tariff methodology, legacy diesel contracts, and rising wage costs could push electricity prices beyond inflation. The council...

Congress Looks to Revive Critical Cyber Program for Rural Electric Utilities
The House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously passed a bipartisan package that reauthorizes the Rural and Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity program and adds $250 million in grants over five years. The legislation targets underfunded rural electric cooperatives, giving them federal assistance...

Medochemie's Green Energy Transition Signals New Era for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
Medochemie, Cyprus’s largest generic drug maker, has powered all nine of its GMP‑certified manufacturing sites with 100% renewable electricity as of 1 October 2025, covering roughly 18 million kWh annually and eliminating thousands of tonnes of CO₂. The transition aligns the firm with tightening...
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Longi Tops 800 MW Hexi Solar Module Tender
Longi’s subsidiary Longi Solar Technology secured the top spot in an 800 MW PV module tender for Gansu’s Hexi new energy base, offering a bid of CNY 0.754 ($0.104)/W and committing to delivery by June 2026. Canadian Solar announced that its 2 GW heterojunction...
Hormuz Delay Boosts VLCC Rates, Atlantic Shift Looms
They all said Hormuz closure would be brief. What if they were wrong? ▶️Baltic Exchange’s MEG-China VLCC index reaches new high of $485,959 per day; MEG-Singapore VLCC index is at $507,709 per day ▶️VLCCs are loading Saudi crude at Red Sea pipeline...
Micro‐Corrugated Hydrogel Electrodes for High‐Performance Biofuel Cells via Capillary Force and Ligand Exchange‐Induced Metal Nanoparticle Assembly (Small 14/2026)
Researchers Jongkuk Ko, Jinhan Cho, Cheong Hoon Kwon and colleagues report a micro‑corrugated hydrogel electrode that powers an enzymatic biofuel cell without external mediators. The electrode is formed by capillary‑force‑driven patterning and ligand‑exchange‑induced assembly of TOA‑Au nanoparticles, creating a conductive,...
Retail Trader Activity Soars as Middle East Conflict Unfolds: Capital.com
Capital.com reported a 49% jump in active retail traders and a 73% rise in total trading volume on 2 March as the Middle East conflict intensified. Oil surged to become the platform’s second‑most‑traded instrument, with new oil traders up 1,255% and...

Viridien Launches Charrua 3D Seismic Survey Offshore Uruguay
Viridien has launched the Charrua 3D multi‑client seismic survey offshore Uruguay, deploying the BGP Prospector vessel. The project employs time‑lag full‑waveform inversion (TLFWI) to generate high‑resolution subsurface images. This effort expands Viridien’s data coverage across the southern Atlantic Margin, a region...
How Will the Iran War Affect the Global Economy?
The Iran‑Hamas war is unlikely to dent global GDP, as the Gulf accounts for only 2‑3% of world output. However, the Strait of Hormuz—through which roughly a quarter of seaborne oil and one‑fifth of LNG flow—poses a serious chokepoint for...
Direct Impact of 10% Increase in Oil Prices Estimated to Be Around Almost 1% on WPI: Bank of Baroda
Bank of Baroda estimates that a 10 percent rise in global oil prices will directly lift India’s Wholesale Price Index by roughly 0.7‑1 percent, potentially reaching a full 1 percent when indirect effects are counted. The surge would push oil imports up by...

Ofgem Chief Brearley to Step Down
Jonathan Brearley will step down as Ofgem chief executive at the end of March 2026 to become permanent secretary at the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Tim Jarvis, director general for markets, will serve as acting CEO during...

Iran War Update: Hormuz Shut Down; 200 Tankers Trapped; Trump Demands VETO on Next Iran Leader | Rapid Read 6...
U.S. and Israeli forces intensified airstrikes on Iranian missile sites, prompting a wave of Iranian missile and drone attacks on Gulf energy assets. The Strait of Hormuz is now effectively closed, with traffic down 90‑94% and more than 200 tankers...
Villagers Resist Police Probe Into Obstruction of Coal Mining Survey
Villagers in Latehar district, Jharkhand, seized a drone and survey materials used by a coal mining firm for the Tubed Coal Mining Project, prompting a police investigation. The community protested, arguing the survey violated the Panchayats Extension to the Scheduled...

Hercules Semi-Sub Rig Lines Up Canada Job Under $170M Deal
SFL Corporation has signed a roughly $170 million contract for its Hercules semi‑submersible rig with an unnamed multinational oil and gas company in Canada. The agreement covers a minimum 400‑day term starting in the first quarter of 2027, with the rig...
CISF to Get Power to Initiate Legal Action Against Illegal Coal Mining
The Indian government will grant the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) legal powers to initiate action against illegal coal mining, mirroring the authority enjoyed by the Railway Protection Force. Currently limited to guarding ten mines, CISF will gain the ability...

First Inch Cape Jackets Land in Scotland
The first three jacket foundations for the 1,100 MW Inch Cape offshore wind farm have arrived at Scotland’s Port of Leith, signalling a key construction milestone. The project will use a hybrid foundation strategy—jacket structures for depths over 55 metres and XXL monopiles...

Container Hotel Turns to Heat Pump Technology to Deliver Sustainable Hot Water
A European hotel chain is converting shipping containers into a 240‑room boutique hotel in San Francisco, pairing the modular design with a fully electrified heating strategy. To meet hot‑water demand, the project installed Lync’s air‑source heat‑pump water heaters, equipped with coastal‑grade...

NextStar Energy Opens Battery Cell Plant in Canada
NextStar Energy, a joint venture between Stellantis and LG Energy Solution, inaugurated Canada’s first large‑scale battery cell plant in Windsor. The facility began series production in November 2025, manufacturing over one million stationary‑storage cells to date. Stellantis has exited the partnership,...

Indian Railways Nears Full Electrification Amid Disruption to Gulf Oil Routes
Indian Railways has reached 99.4 % electrification of its broad‑gauge network as of January 2026, slashing diesel consumption by 62 % since 2016‑17. The shift comes amid disruptions to Gulf oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, reducing India’s exposure to volatile crude...

RDHx: A Simple, Affordable Path to Lower Data Center Energy Use
Rear‑door heat exchangers (RDHx) replace traditional rack doors with liquid‑cooled coils, capturing server exhaust at the source. By moving heat to a closed‑loop liquid circuit, RDHx reduces reliance on room‑level mechanical cooling and can enable higher supply‑air temperatures. The technology...

Sungrow and Delta Capacity Sign 1GWh European Framework BESS Supply Deal
Chinese inverter and battery storage specialist Sungrow has entered a 1 GWh framework agreement with European BESS owner‑operator Delta Capacity, announced at the Energy Storage Summit 2026 in London. The deal commits Sungrow’s PowerTitan 2.0 system to Delta’s pipeline of projects slated for...

Multiple Offshore Campaigns on TGS Seismic Vessel’s Agenda
TGS has scheduled multiple acquisition campaigns for its Ramform Vanguard seismic vessel, beginning in mid‑March and extending into the third quarter. The program starts with an oil‑and‑gas site survey before moving to two offshore‑wind contracts, leveraging the vessel’s Ultra High...

Deutsche Offshore Schifffahrt Begins Wind Ship Build
Deutsche Offshore Schifffahrt has begun steel cutting for the DO Joule, the first of a four‑ship series of Construction‑Commissioning‑Service‑Operation vessels ordered by Schoeller Holdings. The 96.25‑metre, 20‑metre‑wide vessel, designed by Norway’s Salt Ship Design, will feature a modular 800 m² deck, dynamic...
Solis Launches New Residential Storage System Portfolio
Chinese inverter maker Solis has introduced the SolisStorage residential battery portfolio, adding three product lines—IntelliHome, FlexHome and FlexAIO—to its lineup. All units use lithium‑iron‑phosphate chemistry, support a 90% depth of discharge, and are rated for up to 8,000 cycles with...
AI Compute Moves to Space for Unlimited Sun Power
We just launched GPUs into orbit. Not satellites. GPUs. For the first time, NVIDIA H100 chips are being sent into space to train AI models under constant sunlight. Not as an experiment. As infrastructure. On Earth, AI is already pushing against hard physical limits: →...

Global Warming Rate Has Nearly Doubled Since 2015
😬I'm sure this will be fine😬 "Pace of global warming has nearly doubled since 2015, reveals study" https://t.co/YE6o3HghNp https://t.co/iTuNoluzul

China Merchants Unit Orders LNG-Powered Yangtze Bulkers
China Merchants’ subsidiary Changhang Freight has placed an order for two 20,000 dwt LNG‑powered bulk carriers from Jiangxi New Jiangzhou Shipbuilding. The vessels are river‑sea direct bulkers designed for Grade A navigation on the Yangtze River, enabling seamless operation between inland waterways...
WTI Surge Pushes US Gas to $3
With WTI now at $87, the oil price spike is now definitely in the big-enough-to-matter-to-the-US-domestic-economy zone. National average gas price is headed to about $3.80; was just $2.90 at start of Feb. I expect this increase will prove extremely popular.
Advising EU on Global Energy Markets and Electricity Policy
Thank you, Madam President, for the invitation & your trust in the @IEA I was glad to share my views with you & all Commissioners on developments in global energy markets and to provide my advice & recommendations on European energy...
Delhi‑NCR Emerges as a Major Job Hub in India’s Clean Energy Industry
India’s clean‑energy sector has experienced a hiring surge of over 55 percent in the past two years, making it one of the fastest‑growing job markets. The National Capital Region of Delhi now accounts for roughly 44 percent of all clean‑energy openings, outpacing...
Iran Could Spark Global Oil Crisis via Hormuz
I’ve been on the bearish end of the spectrum on Iran. The Straits of Hormuz are a big chokepoint. Iran just has to blow up one oil tanker to cause a global crisis. Thanks to @SoumayaKeynes for having me on...

LPG Carrier Danuta I Completes Outbound Strait Transit
This is a significant development. The Liquidied Petroleum Gas careier Danuta I - 80k cubic meters - ran the Strait last night, outbound and laden. https://t.co/hNmPl3pDqE
Reliance Diesel, Jet Fuel Ships Turn to Asia Instead of Europe Amid Iran War
Reliance Industries rerouted two fuel tankers—about 100,000 metric tons of diesel and 75,000 tons of jet fuel—from Europe to Asia as the Iran‑Israel conflict chokes supply through the Strait of Hormuz. Asian jet‑fuel margins surged to a record $80 a...

Iran's Threat to Oil Tankers Could Trigger Market Crash
Iran is getting bombed to smithereens. If oil tanker traffic through the Straits of Hormuz resumes in any meaningful fashion, Iran has every incentive to blow up a ship. All it takes is one oil tanker and global markets will...

Global Changemakers Chart Collaborative Path for 2024
It was such a pleasure joining the @GlblCtzn London Impact Roadshow, hosted with @OctopusEnergy. Together with other global changemakers we explored the year ahead; its challenges, opportunities and where collaboration can make the greatest difference. https://t.co/IZaKnhKzEw

Libya Restarts Gasoline Production at Sarir
Libya’s National Oil Corp announced that the Sarir refinery has resumed gasoline production after a three‑year shutdown, restoring its 10,000 bpd gasoline capacity. The restart follows a major overhaul of the crude distillation unit completed in January and includes the activation...
Middle East Ceasefire Could Lower Oil, Ease Inflation Risks
A major Middle East shift could ease geopolitical risk and send oil prices lower after a ceasefire. The implications for inflation, consumers, and markets ahead. 🟢 Open https://t.co/7zkGP8J4td

EU Explores Decade-Long Strategies to Lower Energy Costs
EU to consider options to cut energy prices this decade https://t.co/AoLG32CeJ4 via @E_Krukowska @AlbertoNardelli https://t.co/Sm9cjZFedq

Go-Ahead for North Sea Drilling Ops with Odfjell Drilling-Managed Rig
Norway’s regulator Havtil has approved Wellesley Petroleum to drill an exploration well in block 35/10 of the North Sea. The 35/10 16 S well, part of the Carmen appraisal under licence 1148, will be drilled in 365 m water using the Deepsea Yantai...

Gasoline Futures Near $2.70, Pump Prices Set to Hit $3.65
RBOB gasoline futures near $2.70.. implying $3.65 at the pump soon... close to the highest level since mid-2022 $RB_F $UGA @teconomics https://t.co/vQA49bLeZr

Oil Climbs Past $84, Stocks Hold Pending Jobs
WTI crude oil yodeling higher.. > $84 But stocks are OK with that... for now... payrolls & Jan retail sales on tap... @teconomics https://t.co/jopqYDfXo3

IEA Chief Urges EU to Accelerate Clean Energy Transition
International Energy Agency executive-director Fatih Birol just spoke to journalists in Brussels after meeting with EU leaders. Here his main messages from the presser: https://t.co/uzZVrc46zi

Hormuz Strait Closure Halts Major Global Oil Flow
The Straight of Hormuz, which is a key shipping lane for the world's oil, fertilizer and other products, is effectively shut. Charts from @bloomberg: https://t.co/zunbN3eO7G
HSP Sells Land at Premium, Dividend Rises, Not a Hold
#HSP selling a 2nd tranche of its renewable energy land portfolio for £6.8m, at 6% uplift to independent valuation. ShareScope has fwd p/e 12.4 falling to 12.2 and fwd Divvy 5.1% rising to 5.2%; nice income. I don't hold.
Diversify Energy to Shield Bills From Middle East Turmoil
What will be impact of the conflict in the Middle East be on energy bills? What can we do to avoid being so exposed to international fossil fuel price volatility? I was asked these and other questions by LBC News....