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:
Natural Gas Forwards Soften Again, But Basis Strength Signals Risk of Regional Volatility
U.S. natural‑gas forward prices slipped again this week as the market eases from the January cold snap. Prompt‑month contracts fell 26.7 cents, while regional basis spreads showed mixed movement. SoCal Citygate basis peaked near $1.90/MMBtu for 2028 deliveries, whereas Malin remained negative through 2026. The Rockies basis firmed, suggesting lingering supply constraints and potential regional volatility.
As U.S. Companies Return to Venezuela's Oilfields — One Canadian Driller Has a Head Start
Canadian oilfield services firm Ensign Energy Services is currently the sole operator of drilling rigs in Venezuela, maintaining two rigs in the Orinoco heavy‑oil region after two decades of continuous presence. A recent Trump administration general licence has opened the...
Electricity Prices Rising by Double the Rate of Inflation. Data Center Demand Means No Relief Ahead, Analysts Say
Electricity rates surged 6.9% in 2025, more than double the 2.9% inflation rate, driven largely by AI‑powered data centers. Goldman Sachs warns that data centers will account for 40% of electricity‑demand growth, keeping prices elevated through the decade. Households face...
Reuters Reports on Recent China, India Coal Projections
The episode reviews recent Reuters reports on coal outlooks for China and India, highlighting projections from the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association and a NITI Aayog study. In China, output is expected to edge up modestly in 2026 while...
IEA Lowers 2026 Oil Demand Forecast on Economic Uncertainty, Higher Prices
The International Energy Agency (IEA) lowered its 2026 global oil demand growth forecast to 850,000 barrels per day, down from a previous estimate amid heightened economic uncertainty and rising crude prices. Demand gains will come entirely from non‑OECD economies, with...
SOLS: Cheap US Uranium Conversion Monopoly Amid Global Shortage
Thread(1/2) 🧵 We put our SOLS long thesis above the paywall in our Atoms vs. Bits primer yesterday, so I’m also going to summarize for all you degenerates on X. The story is simple: the uranium trade has resulted in nearly every...
Paléo Festival Scores Green Energy First for Switzerland
Switzerland’s Paléo Festival Nyon has become the first outdoor music event in the country to operate its own solar farm. The 470‑square‑metre installation, featuring 261 photovoltaic panels, will generate roughly 100,000 kWh per year—covering at least half of the festival’s electricity...
Nuclear Power Group Alva Energy Launches with $33 Million in Funding
Alva Energy, a Massachusetts‑based nuclear startup, closed a $33 million Series A round led by Playground Global to fund retrofits of existing U.S. reactors. The company will replace steam generators and add a second turbine, boosting each plant’s output by 200‑300 MWe and...
Commerce Releases Final AD/CVD Amounts in Battery Anode Case
The U.S. Department of Commerce issued final antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) rates for Chinese active anode material (AAM). AD margins remain at 93.5% for major exporters and 102.72% for others, while CVD rates settle around 66.86% for most...
US Natural Gas Storage
The Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. natural gas inventories rose by 2.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in the week ending November 1, bringing total working‑day stocks to 3.22 trillion cubic feet (Tcf). This level sits about 5 percent above the five‑year average for...
Ohio’s Data Centers Tighten Natural Gas Balance
The data center driven surge in Ohio's electricity consumption has contributed to tighter natural gas balances. For the 12-months ending in October, 2025, Ohio's natural gas consumption was 3.7 bcf/d, near an all-time high, driven largely by demand in the...
China’s Urban Gas Network Reaches 484 Million Residents
China’s residential gas revolution China has connected more than 300 million people living in urban households to the natural gas network since 2010, according to data published late last year by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The number of urban...
Ukraine Strikes 2nd Lukoil Refinery in Russia This Week
Ukrainian drones struck Lukoil’s Ukhta refinery in the Komi region, igniting a blaze in the primary unit and a visbreaker. The attack follows a high‑precision strike on Lukoil’s larger Volgograd refinery earlier this week. Ukhta processes about 60,000 barrels of...
IEC-Based Technical Specifications Needed for Second-Life PV Module Market
The IEA‑PVPS Task 13 report warns that the second‑life photovoltaic module market remains fragmented due to missing IEC‑based qualification standards, costly manual repairs, and absent policy support. It recommends fast‑tracking IEC specifications, investing in automated testing hubs, and creating financial instruments...
International Business Briefs | Ailing Thames Water Seeks Further £823m
Britain’s Thames Water announced that its creditors are reviewing an additional £823 million of funding, adding to the £1.43 billion already drawn from its super‑senior liquidity facility. In Nigeria, Dangote Petroleum’s refinery completed 72‑hour performance tests, confirming full‑capacity operation at 650,000 barrels...
USA Crude Oil Stocks Rise More Than 8MM Barrels WoW
U.S. commercial crude inventories rose by 8.5 million barrels in the week ending Feb 6, reaching 428.8 million barrels—about three percent below the five‑year seasonal average. Total petroleum stocks slipped 1.7 million barrels week‑on‑week but remain up 81.9 million barrels year‑on‑year. Refinery runs edged lower...
Monitoring Made Inverters More Essential to Solar Project Performance
Solar inverter manufacturers have turned inverters into intelligent power‑management platforms with granular monitoring across loads, storage, EV chargers, and the grid. Companies such as Enphase and SMA now deliver module‑level data, temperature and irradiance metrics, and AI‑driven predictive maintenance. This...
319. The Power of Model-Based Battery Engineering
In this episode, Grayson Brulte talks with Gavin White, co‑founder and CEO of About:Energy, about how model‑based design and advanced simulation are transforming battery engineering, slashing development cycles by up to 70%. White explains the creation of The Voltt, a...
Plus Power Brings Online 350-MWh Cross Town BESS in Maine
Plus Power has commissioned the 175‑MW, 350‑MWh Cross Town Energy Storage facility in Gorham, Maine, marking the largest battery energy storage system on the ISO New England grid. The plant uses 156 Sungrow PowerTitan modules on a five‑acre site adjacent...
Spain Hits 50 GW Solar Milestone
Spain’s installed solar capacity hit the 50 GW milestone in early 2026, after adding roughly 8.7 GW in 2025. Solar now represents 33.9% of the country’s total installed power capacity and supplied 18.4% of electricity last year. The expansion was led by...
The New Rationale of the EU PV Market
Solar photovoltaic installations continued strong growth in 2025, with Europe reaching a record 70 GW and global cumulative installations surpassing 700 GW, led primarily by China’s over‑half share. The market is increasingly bifurcated: mature regions stagnate while emerging economies accelerate, and battery...
Price Controls Trigger Chaotic, Uneven Resource Allocation
I'm super excited for my new paper with @ATabarrok and Mark Whitmeyer: "Chaos and Misallocation under Price Controls" During the 1973-74 gasoline crisis, the U.S. had about a 9 percent national shortfall. But that was far from evenly spread out. Over...
Tesla Set to Launch Vehicle-to-Grid Programme in the US
Tesla will roll out its first vehicle‑to‑grid program in the United States, starting with Cybertruck owners in select Texas markets served by CenterPoint Energy and Oncor. The Powershare Grid Support Program lets participants earn energy‑bill credits by feeding power back...
USA Labor Market Report Underpins Energy Demand
Rystad Energy highlighted that January U.S. non‑farm payrolls increased by 130,000, pushing the unemployment rate down to 4.3% and surpassing consensus expectations. The stronger labor market is viewed as a modest tailwind for demand for transport fuels, petrochemicals and power...
Impact of AI on Transport | TG Explains AI
TeleGeography’s podcast with Luis Colasante examines the emerging bottlenecks in AI infrastructure. He explains that AI‑driven data centers consume two to three times more power than traditional cloud facilities, positioning energy availability as the chief constraint on digital growth. The discussion...
Cooling Construction Workers with Human-Centric Tech, with Tiffany Yeh, MD Co-Founder & CEO of Eztia Materials
In this episode, Dr. Tiffany Yeh, MD, co‑founder and CEO of climate‑tech startup Eztia Materials, discusses the urgent heat challenge facing construction workers and how human‑centric cooling technologies can protect them. She explains the science behind Eztia’s HydroVolt material, its...
Investors Dump TTF Gas Futures as Prices Slip
INVESTMENT MANAGERS sold futures and options on the Dutch TTF European gas benchmark for the first time in eight weeks as prices retreated despite inventories well below average for the time of year. Funds sold the equivalent of 15 terawatt-hours...
Anthropic To Help Pay For Data Centre Grid Costs
Anthropic announced it will cover the grid costs associated with its AI data centres, partnering with utilities to estimate and offset residential electricity price hikes. The company will also finance infrastructure upgrades, invest in new power generation, and implement demand‑response...
IIAs 2026 | SK’s Expansion in Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland
South Korean conglomerate SK Group’s battery separator plant in Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland, was named the second‑most impactful operational mega project in Europe for 2026. The €4.4 bn investment has created more than 1,200 jobs and strengthens Europe’s battery supply chain amid rising...
IIAs 2026 | CATL’s Gigafactory in Debrecen, Hungary
Chinese battery giant CATL is investing €7.34 bn to build a gigafactory in Debrecen, Hungary, the country’s largest greenfield project. The company has already assembled over 120,000 battery modules in a rented facility and aims to start lithium‑ion cell production in...
IIAs 2026 | Smart Solar Technologies’ Solar Module Factory in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
Smart Solar Technologies, a Turkish cleantech firm, announced a €122 million investment to build a solar cell and module factory in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. The plant will target 1,500 MW of wafer, cell and module output and is expected to generate more than...
Australia’s Clean Energy Transition Has Been Powered by People. Solar for Renters Is the Next Chapter
Australia’s clean‑energy push, highlighted by the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, has driven rapid rooftop solar adoption, yet renters—over one‑third of households—remain excluded. Solar Citizens and a coalition of 72 groups have campaigned for a solar‑for‑renters framework, testing public consensus through...
German E-Mobility on the Rise: Mercedes-Benz Trucks Expands with eActros to South America
Mercedes‑Benz Trucks handed over its first eActros 600 to Chilean carrier Empresas Cavalieri, marking the model’s debut outside Europe and the first series‑production electric long‑haul truck in South America. The vehicle will serve the Santiago‑Viña del Mar beverage route for Compañía...
A Firm Capturing Carbon at NYC High-Rises Tackles Canadian Gas Pipelines
CarbonQuest, a Spokane‑based startup, is expanding its carbon‑capture technology from New York high‑rise boilers to gas‑fired engines that power compressors on Canadian pipelines. The company secured a $4.1 million grant‑backed contract with Tourmaline to install a containerized vacuum pressure swing absorption...
Baltic BESS and TES: Estonia’s 1.1GWh District Heating Accumulator, Nidec PCS-Transformer Deal in Lithuania
Estonia’s utility Utilitas has commissioned an 80 MW/1,100 MWh thermal energy storage (TES) plant in Tallinn, while Lithuania’s state‑owned Ignitis Group has confirmed a €130 million, 291 MW/582 MWh battery storage portfolio that will use Rolls‑Royce BESS modules and Nidec Conversion power‑conversion equipment. Both projects...
A Geopolitical State of Emergency?
The episode examines escalating geopolitical risks to Europe’s energy security, focusing on rising US‑Iran tensions, Russia’s renewed attacks on Ukrainian energy assets, and shifting US interest in Greenland. Experts from Eurasia Group, Aurora Energy Research, and Montel analyze how these...
Europe’s LNG Hunger Redirects Chinese Shipments to Europe
LNG demand in Europe is so strong that it's taking a shipment *FROM CHINA* ⚠️ An LNG tanker reloaded a shipment at a Chinese terminal and is heading to Europe (China is the world’s largest LNG Buyer) Europe's LNG imports have surged...
Venezuela's Oil Output Projected Near 1M B/D by 2026
How much oil would Venezuela produce by Dec 2026? (Current output has rebounded to just under 1m b/d)
Ascott Prioritises Operational Efficiency in Decarbonisation Drive
Ascott is shifting its sustainability focus from guest‑facing gestures to system‑level operational improvements, targeting cooling efficiency, refrigerant discipline, and maintenance quality. The 2024 CarbonClear Initiative standardises energy audits and sets property‑level targets, using utility data and sub‑metering for verification. These...
US Energy Secretary Visits Venezuela's Orinoco Oil Belt
Well, I admit that if you have asked me three months ago, certainly I didn't have the following on my 2026 bingo card: "... US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright tours the Orinoco oil belt in Venezuela with the US-installed Venezuelan...
Trump Presided over Record U.S. Coal Plant Shutdowns
NEW ANALYSIS: Donald Trump has overseen more coal closures than any other US president That must be why he was just crowned "undisputed champion of beautiful clean coal” (10/10 no notes, I am not making this up) https://t.co/eddrivj51U https://t.co/GCeGP8hv03
Trump Calls India-US Trade Deal ‘Historic’ as Tariff Cuts and Coal Exports Take Centre Stage
President Donald Trump called the newly concluded India‑US trade deal historic, highlighting its potential to expand American energy exports, especially coal. The interim agreement slashes U.S. duties on Indian goods to a uniform 18% across textiles, apparel, chemicals and more,...
Rising Energy Demand Calls for Cutting Red Tape
This is the important energy graph, not the one showing generation flat. We've had a couple decades of little to no demand growth. But now that we have growing demand again, we must cut the red tape and build.
Utilities Prefer Rate Hikes over Data‑center‑funded Battery Power
Culture change is hard. Utilities like @DukeEnergy would rather raise rates 15% on their ratepayers because they feel forced to pay “$3k/kW” for gas instead of adding 7,200 MWs of batteries paid for by data centers at existing solar sites...
Electricity Boosts Nighttime Learning for Chad Students
#Mission300 continues to make significant progress across #Africa. In Eastern #Chad, new #electricity access enables students to learn in classrooms that are both ventilated and well-lit, giving them the opportunity to continue learning after dark. 🔗https://t.co/QdI1hnVw0v https://t.co/Bzkzai5ClE
DoD Funding Keeps Aging Coal Plants Alive Amid Market Decline
You cannot make this up. US administration is directing the Department of Defense to buy coal power and spending $175m to keep ageing coal plants running. Coal plants average 44 years old. Many are costly and prone to outages. Markets, not ideology...
Drones Strike Russian Refinery 1,800 Km From Front
Meanwhile in Russia’s Ukhta. The local refinery keeps getting hit by drones as we speak. 1,800 km away from the Ukrainan border. https://t.co/TZMDIrIIg6
China's CO2 Em
NEW ANALYSIS: China's CO2 has now been 'flat or falling' for 21 months * Down in 2025 * Still below Mar 2024 * Clean energy wave a key factor If this is China's peak (TBC) it's the climate story of the century so...
Japan's Next‑month Heat Ends Winter, Gas Bulls Retreat
Pack it up, gas bulls. Winter is over Japan's temperature outlook for the next month 👇 https://t.co/0NTPCXmGD1
Electric Cars Make up 3.5% of Jan Sales
🇮🇳About 3.5% of total passenger cars sold in January 2026 in India were electric (these are actual cars and do not include two- and three-wheelers).