Energy Shock Hits Europe: Prometeia
Prometeia’s latest brief warns that a sharp rise in energy prices—sparked by shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and heightened Iran tensions—has pushed Italy’s 2026 GDP growth forecast down to 0.4% and inflation up to 2.9%. The energy shock is expected to hit hardest in the second quarter, with the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) providing only a modest 0.3‑percentage‑point boost. Europe’s broader outlook also dimmed, with Euro‑area growth trimmed to 0.8% and global GDP revised to 2.6% for 2026. The United States and China remain comparatively resilient, but higher fuel costs could curb U.S. consumption.
Rajasthan CM Reviews Preparations at HPCL’s Pachpadra Refinery Ahead of PM Visit
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma inspected Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd’s integrated refinery‑cum‑petrochemical complex at Pachpadra ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled inauguration on April 21. The CM reviewed the crude distillation unit, control room, and public‑meeting venue, emphasizing timely completion of security,...
Farming Under Solar: How Agriphotovoltaics Can Transform Rural Livelihoods in India
India’s solar capacity has surged to roughly 150 GW, largely through ground‑mounted farms that consume valuable agricultural land. The resulting tension between energy expansion and farmer livelihoods has prompted interest in agriphotovoltaics (Agri‑PV), which co‑locates solar panels and crops. Early pilots,...
$266B in Building Carbon Costs Saved Thanks to BACnet, Study Shows
A University of New Hampshire study commissioned by ASHRAE finds that BACnet‑enabled building automation systems have avoided 1.4 billion tons of CO₂ since 1995, translating to roughly $266 billion in avoided climate costs. The model projects an additional 2.06 billion tons could be...
Chinese OEMs Dominate 2025 Wind Market
Chinese turbine manufacturers captured 78% of the 176 GW of global wind capacity added in 2025, driving a record 45% year‑on‑year growth. China became the first country to install more than 100 GW in a single year, with nine domestic OEMs occupying...
Isle of Wight to Deploy 1,500 EV Chargers
The Isle of Wight Council has awarded char.gy, with installer Joju, a contract to deploy more than 1,500 public curbside electric‑vehicle chargers across the island. The project is backed by roughly $2 million in funding from the UK’s Local Electric Vehicle...
Trump Administration’s Temporary Reprieve on Russian Oil Expires
The Treasury Department’s one‑month sanctions waiver that let Russia sell oil at sea expired on April 13, ending a temporary lifeline that helped keep global crude prices in check. The waiver, introduced amid a Middle‑East conflict that pushed oil above...
Halliburton Wins Multibillion-Dollar YPF Fracking Contract in Argentina
Halliburton secured an exclusive, multibillion‑dollar agreement with Argentina’s state‑run oil firm YPF to deliver bundled hydraulic‑fracturing services across the Vaca Muerta shale basin. The contract, valued in the low‑single‑digit billions of U.S. dollars, positions Halliburton as the primary service provider...
ViscoTec Introduces ViscoTreat-I Slurry Feeding and Conditioning System for Lithium-Ion Battery Electrode Coating
ViscoTec has launched the ViscoTreat‑I Slurry system, a mobile unit that buffers, conditions, and delivers lithium‑ion battery electrode slurry without pulsation. The solution sits between the mixing extruder and the coating line, offering optional recirculation and inline degassing to maintain...
Hormuz, Trump, & The Carbon Paradox
The analysis quantifies how the March‑April 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis suppressed fossil‑fuel demand, producing a net avoidance of roughly 10 million tonnes of CO₂ across aviation, road transport, shipping and natural‑gas sectors. Aviation saw the largest cut, with about 4.7 Mt...
Zwitterions Are The Key To New Solid-State Batteries
Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists have engineered a polymer electrolyte infused with zwitterions that enables ion transport up to 10 billion times faster than conventional solid matrices. By fine‑tuning the zwitterion content to an optimal 80 % blend, the material forms self‑assembled...
Rolls-Royce SMR Secures Wylfa Contract and £599M Government Loan
Rolls‑Royce SMR has secured a commercial contract with Great British Energy‑Nuclear to lead the technology design for three 470 MW small modular reactors at the Wylfa site in North Wales. The UK government has also pledged a loan of up to...
Sri Lanka Urges Daytime EV Charging to Ease Grid Pressure
Sri Lanka is urging electric‑vehicle owners to shift charging from night to daytime to ease a 300 MW evening load spike. The country’s grid relies heavily on a 900 MW coal plant and about 1,000 MW of diesel capacity at night, while solar...
UK 'Not Supporting' U.S. Iran Blockade as France's Macron Confirms 'Multinational' Talks on the Strait of Hormuz
The United Kingdom announced it will not support the United States’ planned blockade of Iranian ports, rejecting any involvement in what Prime Minister Keir Starmer called a "war of choice." President Donald Trump has ordered the blockade to begin at...
IRENA: Incentivise Renewables Deployment to Minimise Impacts of Global Energy Shock
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) released a policy advisory urging governments to speed up renewable‑energy deployment to shield economies from volatile fossil‑fuel prices. The agency estimates the EU has avoided about $67.8 billion in fuel costs thanks to recent solar...
Pionix’s New Virtual Charger Park Offers EV Charging Infrastructure Testing with True Digital Twins
Pionix has unveiled the Virtual Charger Park (VCP), a cloud‑native platform that creates digital twins of EV chargers and vehicles for load testing and scenario validation. Built on the open‑source EVerest firmware stack, VCP can spin up thousands of virtual...
Railways, Bharat Petroleum Ink Pact to Develop Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal in Jammu
Indian Railways and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited have signed an agreement to build a Gati Shakti multi‑modal cargo terminal near Jammu. The facility at Bajalta will feature 109,225 kilolitres of storage and handle two rail rakes per day, delivering roughly 162,000 metric tonnes...
EU Commission Backs Renewables and Nuclear to Shield Europe From Fossil-Fuel Gulf Turmoil
The European Commission, led by President Ursula von der Leyen, is accelerating a dual push for renewable energy and nuclear power, especially small modular reactors (SMRs), to shield Europe from supply shocks sparked by the Iran‑related conflict in the Strait...
Daybreak April 13: E15 Watch Resumes as Congress Returns After Break
Congress returns from recess with a sharp focus on passing year‑round E15 ethanol blend legislation, a priority voiced by Rep. Dusty Johnson and Sen. Elissa Slotkin. Lawmakers such as Rep. Randy Feenstra face heightened political pressure, as the E15 bill...
Oil Price Tops $100 a Barrel as US Prepares Strait of Hormuz Blockade; Goldman Sachs Posts Rise in Profits –...
Oil prices surged past $100 a barrel, with Brent trading at $102.31 as the United States prepared a naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman amid the Iran‑Israel conflict. Goldman Sachs reported a 48% jump in investment‑banking fees, posting Q1...
Santa Monica Breaks Ground on $56m Zero-Emission Bus and Charging Project
Santa Monica has launched a $56 million zero‑emission bus program, backed by a $53.3 million state grant, to expand its battery‑electric fleet and build overhead gantry chargers. The initiative will support up to 195 electric buses and aims for a fully zero‑emission...
Pre-Markets Down as U.S. Sets Blockade at Hormuz
U.S. forces announced a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices sharply higher and casting a geopolitical shadow over the opening bell. WTI crude rose to $104 a barrel and Brent to $102, while major equity indexes opened...
Oman’s Naqaa Sustainable Energy to Lead 500MW Botswana PV Project—Reports
Omani renewables firm Naqaa Sustainable Energy has been appointed lead developer for a 500 MW photovoltaic plant in Botswana, the country’s largest solar project to date. The plant, slated for the Maun region, will incorporate an integrated battery energy storage system....
Tokyo Mayor Signals Willingness for Nuclear Waste Site Survey on Minamitori
Tokyo’s Ogasawara village mayor Masaaki Shibuya said he will permit a government‑led survey of Minamitori Island to assess its suitability as an underground high‑level radioactive waste repository. The island, uninhabited by civilians and currently used only by Self‑Defense Force personnel,...
Prairie's Saskatchewan DLE Plant Nears Completion
Prairie Lithium announced that its commercial‑scale direct lithium extraction (DLE) plant in Saskatchewan is nearing construction completion. The ASX‑listed firm expects to commence its first lithium production in the fourth quarter of 2026. The facility will process lithium‑rich brine using...
Solar Generation to Rise 17% This Summer: EIA
The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects solar generation will rise 17% this summer compared with 2025, outpacing wind and helping meet peak demand. Overall electricity sales are expected to grow 1.2% in 2026, while coal output will fall about 10%...
Jakson Expands Energy Solutions Portfolio with BESS, Solar Kits; Enters E3W Segment
Jakson Group announced a five‑product expansion of its energy solutions portfolio, adding a compact Genset Xtra, a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), a rooftop Solar Kit, a Mobile Light Tower, and electric three‑wheelers through a new partnership. The launch is...
Halocell Energy, Sofab Inks Advance Perovskite Collaboration
Halocell Energy and U.S. startup Sofab Inks have demonstrated that perovskite modules using Sofab’s Tinfab electron transport layer retain roughly 100% of their normalized efficiency after 1,300 hours of accelerated light and damp‑heat exposure. In contrast, comparable control devices lost...
India Piles Up Export Tax on Diesel, Jet Fuel
India has more than doubled its export duty on diesel to 55.5 rupees (≈ $0.60) per litre, up from 21.5 rupees, and raised jet‑fuel export duty to 42 rupees (≈ $0.45) per litre from 29.5 rupees. The measures are intended to shore...
PJM Proposes Adding 14.9 GW with Bilateral Contracts, Central Procurement
The PJM Interconnection is proposing a one‑time, two‑phase backstop procurement of up to 14.9 GW to address projected capacity shortfalls driven by data‑center growth. Phase one would run bilateral contracts between generators and large loads from September to March, followed by...
Thyspunt Emerges as Frontrunner for New Eskom Nuclear Plant
Eskom’s draft environmental scoping report recommends Thyspunt on the Eastern Cape as the preferred site for its proposed 5.2 GW nuclear power plant, citing superior proximity to transmission lines and existing wind‑farm infrastructure. The 776‑page report limits further study of the...
Wah Kwong Unit Lines up Green Methanol Supply Deal
Wah Kwong’s fuel subsidiary Venture Energy has signed a supply agreement with Shanghai Shenji Energy to import ISCC‑certified green methanol, with first deliveries slated for the first half of 2026. The methanol, derived from municipal waste, crop residues and livestock...
Cork Airport to Deliver Ireland’s Largest Solar-Powered Carport
Cork Airport announced Ireland’s largest solar‑powered carport, a 1.7 MW structure with 3,696 photovoltaic panels slated for completion in August 2027. The carport will generate about 1.5 GWh of renewable electricity each year—roughly 20% of the airport’s power needs—and cut CO₂ emissions by...
Coal Stock Adequate for 90 Days Available: Union Coal Minister Kishan Reddy
India’s coal reserves have risen to over 200 million tonnes, enough to power the nation for about 90 days. This marks a jump from the previous 21‑25‑day buffer and follows a second consecutive year of hitting 1 billion tonnes of coal production....
Eni Invests $70MM in Canadian Battery Feedstock Project
Italian energy giant Eni is injecting $70 million USD in equity into Quebec‑based Nouveau Monde Graphite (NMG) and will purchase up to 15,000 tonnes per year of graphite concentrate from the second phase of NMG’s Matawinie Mine. The deal gives Eni an...
Greengine Deploys World’s First Vertical Algal Biofilm Carbon Capture & Utilization Unit
Greengine Environmental Technologies has installed its G‑Urban Tree 100x, the world’s first vertical algal biofilm carbon capture unit, at Engineers India Limited’s Gurugram campus. The solar‑powered, modular system uses patented VABT™ technology to capture about 2.25 tonnes of CO₂ annually, equivalent...
Gadkari Sees Farmers as Future Energy Providers to Reduce Import Dependence
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari told farmers at the Unnat Krishi Mahotsav that they should expand beyond food production to become suppliers of bioenergy, ethanol, compressed natural gas and hydrogen. He highlighted the untapped revenue from agricultural residues and stressed the...
Construction Works to Commence on Wylfa on Anglesey Nuclear Power Station in UK
The UK government has approved construction at the Wylfa on Anglesey site, launching a £2.5 bn (≈$3.2 bn) partnership with Rolls‑Royce to build three small modular reactors. The project is expected to create 3,000 construction jobs locally and support about 8,000 jobs...
CIP Sells Summerfield Battery to Palisade
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners has sold its 100% stake in the 240 MW/960 MWh Summerfield Battery Energy Storage Project near Adelaide to Palisade Investment Partners via Intera Renewables. Construction, which began in February 2025, is now substantially complete, with energisation slated for May 2026 and...
Green Hydrogen Brightlighted as Middle East Crisis Alters Fossil-Fuel Economics
The Middle East crisis is reshaping fossil‑fuel economics, prompting South Africa’s presidency to prioritize energy independence and accelerate green hydrogen and ammonia projects where it holds a platinum‑catalyst advantage. Simultaneously, global players are pouring capital into hydrogen ecosystems – BMW...
GRAPHERGIA Project Launches Three Demonstration Cases to Pilot Graphene-Based Technologies
The Graphene Flagship’s GRAPHERGIA project has entered the piloting stage of three demonstration cases that embed graphene‑based energy harvesting and storage technologies into real‑world products. The first case delivers an all‑in‑one self‑charging textile for wearables, the second integrates a triboelectric...
Vikram Solar Doubles PV Deployments to 10GW
Vikram Solar announced that it has doubled its cumulative solar module deployments to 10 GW within two years, equivalent to roughly 25 million modules, of which about 1.5 GW were exported. The Indian manufacturer now operates 9.5 GW of module capacity across West Bengal...
PowerBank Terminates Sale of Two New York Solar Projects Following Permit Delays
PowerBank Corp. said a third‑party buyer, Qcells, exercised a sell‑back option for its Gainesville and Highway 28 community solar projects after the sites failed to obtain local permits. The two projects were part of a broader 48 MW, $49.5 million portfolio sale, but...
US DOE Proposes 52% Cut to National Laboratory of the Rockies Funding
The U.S. Department of Energy’s FY 2027 budget justification proposes a $264 million, 52% cut to the National Laboratory of the Rockies, formerly NREL. Similar reductions target Lawrence Berkeley, Oak Ridge and Argonne labs, while $15.2 billion is slated to be removed from...
The Brewery Powering Itself From Its Own Waste
Hepworth Brewery, a 25‑year‑old independent brewer in England, completed a green‑focused rebuild a decade ago, installing solar panels, heat pumps and CO₂ capture. The brewery partnered with waste‑to‑energy startup WASE to pilot modular electro‑methanogenic reactors that convert spent grains and...
Greggs Sets Sights on Net Zero Energy by 2030
Greggs, the UK’s leading bakery chain, announced a commitment to achieve net‑zero Scope 2 emissions from energy use by 2030. The company highlighted that it has already reduced its emissions intensity by more than half since 2019 through renewable energy adoption...
The U.K. Just Spelled Out What a Carrington-Class Solar Storm Would Cost — and the Numbers Should Change Policy
The UK’s National Risk Register now quantifies a Carrington‑class solar storm as a trillion‑dollar threat, estimating $0.6‑$2.6 trillion in first‑year global damages and tens of billions of pounds in domestic losses. The country’s electricity sector alone underpins roughly $112 billion of GDP,...
Managing Cyber Risks in the Era of Decentralized Energy
The U.S. electric grid is rapidly integrating distributed energy resources (DERs) such as rooftop solar, storage and vehicle‑to‑grid systems, creating a more resilient but digitally complex network. This shift has expanded the attack surface, with utility cyber‑attacks up 75% from...
Saudi Arabia Restores Capacity of Affected Oil and Gas Assets
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy announced that the East‑West oil pipeline, which lost about 700,000 barrels per day in the April 9 Iranian attacks, has been restored to its full 7 million b/d capacity. Production at the Manifa field, previously reduced by 300,000 b/d,...
AI Inspection Data Is Gaining Traction in Solar Risk Assessment
Machine learning is moving beyond operations and maintenance to become a core component of solar risk assessment and financing. AI‑driven visual intelligence can spot microcracks, thermal hot spots, and soiling at the panel level, enabling longitudinal performance tracking and financial...