Wednesday, 15 July 2026

Octopus Energy has launched Nook, a line of residential battery storage systems that includes a 2 kWh plug-in unit called the Nook Cube and a 5 kWh wall-mounted unit called the Nook Colossus, according to ESS News.

The Nook Cube plugs into a standard household socket, and owners can stack additional units to reach 10.5 kWh. The wall-mounted Colossus can be built out to 30 kWh for larger properties.

Both units work with rooftop solar and carry a 12-year warranty. Octopus says the batteries store power when prices fall and release it when prices climb.

Octopus will bring the Nook range to the United Kingdom in 2027, then extend it to Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.

Separately, Octopus set out its spending plans for Italy. The company has put more than EUR 250 million into the country so far and intends to lift that to more than EUR 1 billion by 2030, according to ESS News.

Octopus also unveiled Swaptopus, a joint venture with CATL to build a European battery-swapping network for electric trucks. The first swapping hubs are due to open in the United Kingdom in 2027.

The Nook launch and the first Swaptopus hubs are both scheduled for the United Kingdom in 2027.

France's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said wildfires had scorched more than 12,000 acres and driven the evacuation of nearly 12,000 people, according to Inside Climate News. Writing on X, Nuñez said the fires had not been brought under control.

Across six countries facing high fire risk, 777 firefighters drawn from 14 countries have been or will be deployed, the European Commission said, per Inside Climate News. Those crews cover Cyprus, Greece, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal.

One week of the June heat wave left an estimated 2,025 excess deaths in France, a count officials described as likely too low, according to Inside Climate News. Spanish authorities logged 1,029 excess deaths tied to heat during June, Reuters reported.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu committed roughly USD 114 million to fit healthcare facilities with cooling systems and upgraded infrastructure, according to Inside Climate News. The government also placed an order for 30,000 cooling appliances bound for hospitals as high temperatures persist.

The same stretch of extreme heat pushed Washington, D.C. to 102 degrees Fahrenheit with a heat index of 117 on July 4, a new local record, according to Inside Climate News.

Annual U.S. heat-related emergency department visits or hospitalizations could climb to 237,000 by 2040, according to a study published in June and cited by Inside Climate News.

Scotland has areas with high potential for new nuclear development from a technical perspective, according to a siting study by Great British Energy - Nuclear (GBE-N), the UK government's nuclear delivery body.

The Energy Secretary commissioned GBE-N in late 2025 to conduct the technical study into potential suitable areas in Scotland for new nuclear developments, including small modular reactors (SMRs) or large-scale plants, according to World Nuclear News.

The study identified Torness in East Lothian, Dounreay in Caithness, and Hunterston in North Ayrshire as areas currently associated with nuclear power.

The findings run against Scottish government policy. The Scottish government has a long-standing policy that it will not grant planning consent to new nuclear projects in Scotland.

Energy Minister Michael Shanks said the report shows there is potential for new nuclear in Scotland that could boost energy security and deliver new jobs.

In November, GBE-N was commissioned to undertake a wider study to consider land areas potentially suitable for large-scale reactor deployment in England, Wales and Scotland, due to conclude later this year, according to World Nuclear News.

Building new nuclear reactors in Switzerland does not pay off under present market conditions, but state subsidies, risk mitigation and much lower construction costs would flip the economics, a study from ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute concluded.

To get there, politicians would have to pull the financing costs of new plants down from an estimated market rate of 8% to 5%, matching the interest rate that applies to other large-scale carbon-neutral plants, World Nuclear News reported.

The study modelled the effect on winter supply. New nuclear plants would trim net electricity imports during winter by 1 to 6 TWh, or 3 to 20% of the electricity now generated between October and March.

Switzerland runs four reactors, two at Beznau and one each at Gösgen and Leibstadt, together producing about one-third of national electricity, World Nuclear News reported.

Those plants sit under a policy that pushes the other way. The Energy Strategy 2050 initiative, drawn up by the Federal Council, took effect on 1 January 2018 and calls for a gradual exit from nuclear energy.

State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) said the final large module has been installed at unit 4 of the Haiyang nuclear power plant in China's Shandong province. The component, the CB-20 containment water tank module, was hoisted onto the top of the nuclear island's shielding building on 29 June, according to World Nuclear News.

The module will store more than 3,000 tonnes of water for emergency reactor cooling. Combined with other passive safety features, it can maintain unit safety for 72 hours without human intervention.

World Nuclear News reported the module has an outer diameter of nearly 26 metres, an inner diameter of 10.6 metres, a height of just over 10 metres, and a total weight of some 419 tonnes.

China's State Council approved construction of two CAP1000 reactors at each of the Haiyang, Sanmen and Lufeng nuclear power plant sites on 20 April 2022. The planned construction period for Haiyang 3 and 4 was 56 months, with both units scheduled to be fully operational in 2027.

Once all four units are in operation, the Haiyang plant is expected to generate 40 billion kWh of electricity annually and cut carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 30 million tonnes each year, according to SPIC.

Germany will trim the eligible-cost ceiling in its BEG efficient buildings subsidy scheme to 28,000 euros from the current 30,000 euros once the program restarts, pv magazine reported. That earlier ceiling of 30,000 euros was worth USD 34,231.

After the relaunch, the ceiling drops another 750 euros at six-month intervals, landing at 22,000 euros in the second half of 2030, according to pv magazine.

Lower-earning households gain ground under the plan. Where taxable income does not exceed 30,000 euros, the bonus climbs to 40%, up from the 30% paid today.

A new "Made in Europe" bonus is set to arrive in the first quarter of next year, pv magazine reported. Qualifying heat pumps would need at least 15% of their value creation carried out inside the European Union or associated markets.

One existing perk disappears: the reform strips out the 5% bonus for heat pumps running on natural refrigerants. Repayment grants tied to loans through the state development bank KfW face a possible 10% reduction.

The broader legislative timetable has slipped. Parliament dropped the Building Modernization Act from its final session week ahead of the summer recess, so debate may not pick up before September, pv magazine reported.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) has granted licences to four solar projects with a planned cumulative installed capacity above 1 GW, according to pv magazine. Contracted capacity across the four projects totals 890 MW.

The licences were awarded under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP) bid window 7.3, pv magazine reported.

Red Rocket SA will develop three of the awarded projects, according to pv magazine: Sculptor Energy at 278 MW, the 277 MW Springhaas Solar Facility 1 and the 206 MW Springhaas Solar Facility 6. The two Springhaas facilities are to be built in South Africa's Free State.

The final licensed project is the 288 MW Corona Energy facility, which carries a contracted capacity of 240 MW, pv magazine reported. Corona Energy is to be developed by France's Engie in the Free State.

With the additional allocations, the amount of solar approved under bid window 7 of REIPPPP now stands close to 5 GW, according to pv magazine.

South Africa's cumulative solar capacity now exceeds 10 GW, after the country deployed 1.6 GW last year, pv magazine reported.

Oil prices were rising more than 6% at the time of writing, according to Rigzone. Saxo Bank said the gains followed U.S. strikes on targets in Iran and the revocation of a waiver allowing new sales of Iranian oil, moves made in retaliation for Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Three commercial vessels were attacked in the Strait over the past day, the most since the ceasefire agreement took effect, with the U.S. blaming Iran for the strikes, according to Saxo Bank. The bank said Brent has moved back above $76, potentially triggering further short covering among hedge funds.

Standard Chartered's Emily Ashford said the U.S. launched strikes on Iran and revoked its license to sell oil under the 60-day negotiation window sanctions waiver. Ashford said Iran retaliated by targeting U.S. military installations in Bahrain and Kuwait.

GivTrade's Waleed Said said Brent traded near $76 and WTI near $72, with traders rebuilding the Middle East risk premium amid concerns over Iran, shipping security, and the Strait of Hormuz.

Samer Hasn of XS.com cited widespread U.S. strikes on more than 80 Iranian targets and attacks on U.S. bases in the Gulf. Hasn also said the U.S. Treasury Department revoked the license that allowed the purchase of Iranian oil.

Tesla is launching the 'Cell Giga Challenge', an innovation program for battery cell production at its Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg in Grünheide, Germany, according to electrive. Startups can test their technologies directly in cell production under the scheme.

Applications are open until 24 July, and the programme is set to begin in August, according to electrive.

In May, Tesla announced plans to raise the planned annual capacity of future cell production from eight to 18 GWh and to invest an additional USD 250 million, electrive reported. Combined with previously announced measures, total investment in the cell production setup comes to around USD 350 million, according to Tesla and JUNI.

At an annual capacity of 18 GWh, the plant could produce battery cells for approximately 250,000 to 350,000 electric vehicles per year, according to electrive.

Tesla recently indicated that production is expected to commence in the first half of 2027.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) opened its third Gulf of America offshore lease sale, putting roughly 80.4 million acres of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf up for bidding under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

Carrying the designation Lease Sale Big Beautiful Gulf 3 (BBG3), the round is the third of 30 mandated Gulf sales under the act and puts about 15,100 unleased blocks in play, BOEM said.

The blocks range from 3 miles to 231 miles offshore, sitting in water from 9 feet deep to more than 11,100 feet, according to OEDigital.

BOEM set the final notice for the Federal Register on July 8, starting a 30-day clock before the sale, with a public bid reading due August 12 at 9 a.m. Central Time.

BBG3 follows a predictable Gulf leasing schedule and builds on the first two sales, BOEM Acting Director Matt Giacona said.

Across the Gulf of America Outer Continental Shelf, BOEM counts about 160 million acres holding an estimated 26.90 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and 45.59 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The sale is tied to Executive Order 14154, "Unleashing American Energy," which instructs federal agencies to speed up offshore oil and gas development.

OMS Group began construction of CS Resilience, the third vessel in its GREAT-Class fleet, with a first steel cutting ceremony at CRIST's shipyard in Gdynia, Poland, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital. The cable-laying vessel is scheduled to enter service in 2028.

CS Resilience is one of two next-generation cable-laying vessels being built under the company's partnership with Ulstein, announced in January 2026, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

The vessel will feature Ulstein's X-BOW design and POWER Variable Speed Generator technology, a combination OMS Group said is intended to improve seakeeping performance, fuel efficiency and emissions performance.

OMS Group currently operates five cable vessels and has four new vessels under construction, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital. CS Genesis, CS Triumph, CS Resilience and CS Alliance make up the company's largest fleet investment to date.

Datuk Lim Soon Foo, Founder and Chairman of OMS Group, said the decision to partner with Ulstein was driven by more than its shipbuilding expertise. "We sought a partner that shares our commitment to innovation, quality, operational excellence and sustainability," he said.

Tata Motors launched the Sierra.ev on Tuesday, its seventh passenger EV sold in India, according to electrive. Pricing runs from 1.879 million rupees to 2.599 million rupees before registration charge, insurance, and 1% Tax Collected at Source.

The model comes with a choice of two module-less LFP battery packs, sized at 63kWh and 75kWh, electrive reported. On the larger pack, the Long-Range RWD variant covers 665km while the Long-Range AWD variant reaches 624km. The dual-motor AWD version hits 0 to 100km/h in 5.8 seconds, according to electrive.

Tata Motors sold more than 92,000 electric cars in FY2026, spanning April 2025 to March 2026, and held a market share above 40%, electrive reported.

By FY2031, the company aims to run ten electric car models, according to electrive. It targets total car sales rising from 640,000 units in FY2026 to over 1.2 million units by FY2031, alongside 30% EV penetration by that year.

About one-third of India's recently commissioned renewable energy capacity faces grid curtailment as transmission expansion lags new additions, according to ICRA reported by pv magazine.

Roughly 33% of 54.8 GW of recently commissioned renewable capacity was being evacuated through the temporary general network access (T-GNA) route as of May 2026, ICRA said, per pv magazine. Curtailment under T-GNA runs highest during solar generation hours, ranging from 50% to 60%, according to the same reporting.

The backlog sits against a heavy build schedule. A pipeline of 107 GW spanning solar, wind, hybrid, hydropower, pumped storage and thermal, all already granted connectivity, is set to integrate into the interstate transmission system (ISTS) between fiscal 2026 and 2031, pv magazine reported.

Transmission delivery has been slipping. Of projects commissioned under the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) route by March 2026, only 12% finished on schedule, with a median delay of more than 10 months, according to ICRA cited by pv magazine.

ICRA's Ankit Jain warned that slippages in the timely commissioning of upcoming transmission infrastructure cannot be ruled out, which could impact renewable capacity additions or result in continued grid curtailment, materially affecting project returns, pv magazine reported.

Meeting government targets requires annual additions of about 20,000 circuit kilometers of transmission lines and 120 GVA of substation capacity, ICRA said, according to pv magazine.

The ratings agency estimates the transmission sector will need investments of INR 5 trillion to INR 6 trillion between 2026 and 2032 to evacuate electricity from more than 900 GW of non-fossil fuel generation capacity by FY2035-36, including about 548 GW of solar and wind, pv magazine reported.

Saudi Arabia's debt could climb to 60% of GDP by 2030, according to consultancy Capital Economics, a level the firm said could push up borrowing costs and pressure the government to tighten spending.

The projection rests on an assumption that the oil price spike following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz fades and that crude prices fall over the next few years, Capital Economics said. The firm noted that the kingdom's debt levels remain low compared with most other countries.

The Saudi government's own forecast points to a far shallower rise. It projects debt of around 33% of GDP by 2028, up from 32% now, according to Semafor Net Zero.

The government has said it is borrowing to invest in economic transformation projects, with a focus on growing the non-oil economy.

Capital Economics said its scenario could also lead to higher government borrowing that crowds out private-sector firms.

A 100 MW/200 MWh battery called Hertz 2 entered service on July 7 in Aruküla, Estonia, taking the combined output of the site and its sister unit Hertz 1 to 200 MW and 400 MWh, according to ESS News.

Baltic Storage Platform built both units as a joint venture linking Evecon, Corsica Sole, and Mirova, ESS News reported.

The pair drew EUR 170 million (USD 193.9 million) in private capital, with no subsidy behind the investment call, according to Evecon CEO Karl-Joonatan Kvell.

An EUR 85.6 million construction loan from the EBRD, Nordic Investment Bank, and Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management funded the build, ESS News reported.

Wired into the Elering-operated network, the system will sell frequency regulation and trade in day-ahead and intraday electricity markets.

That service matters because Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have balanced their own grid frequency since leaving the Russian grid and joining continental Europe in February 2025, ESS News reported.

ExxonMobil, Repsol, and Chevron have taken leases in the Gulf of Mexico for carbon capture and storage (CCS), a move the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) flagged as risky in a report dated July 8, 2026.

The report examines the injection and geologic storage stages of CCS, the phases where CO2 is pumped below the seabed and left to settle. Those stages carry a timeline that dwarfs most industrial commitments. Anika Juhn, an analyst at IEEFA, said operators must forecast risk across 50 years of injection and plume stabilization, then for hundreds of years after injection stops.

The rules governing offshore geologic carbon storage in the United States remain unsettled, IEEFA said, describing them as still forming, untested, or in flux. That legal uncertainty can make projects harder to finance and can widen a developer's exposure to liability, according to the report.

Operating problems during injection and plume stabilization could produce leaks that are harder to detect, manage, and mitigate offshore, IEEFA said.

Four Ugandan farmers have filed a lawsuit against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project in the High Court in London, according to Mongabay. The case targets EACOP Limited, a U.K.-registered company, according to Leigh Day partner Matthew Renshaw.

The pipeline is being built by TotalEnergies, Mongabay reported. It will run 1,443 kilometers from oil fields in Uganda to the Tanzanian port of Tanga.

More than 100,000 people, most of them farmers, have been displaced to make way for the project, according to Mongabay. Claimant Samuel Abidimba said he lost 42% of his land and was inadequately compensated.

Renshaw said EACOP Limited has the potential to cause devastation in Uganda and in the wider world. The pipeline will cross 16 protected areas and the Lake Victoria Basin, which is vital for more than 40 million people, according to Mongabay.

EACOP is expected to begin operations in 2027, with production from the oil fields projected to last around 20 years.

Tesla has introduced Tesla Home, an energy management platform that runs on an artificial intelligence engine named Opticaster, according to Electrek. The company says the system automates daily choices about when to store and draw electricity to trim a customer's bill.

The platform ships as standard on every Powerwall, and existing owners need no extra hardware to use it, Electrek reported.

Electrek reported Tesla's own figures for Opticaster: more than a hundred million hours of operational experience and, in the company's words, "tens of millions of dollars in value from opex savings and grid service revenue" spread across thousands of customers worldwide. The same engine runs Tesla's virtual power plants, which paid Powerwall owners nearly USD 10 million in 2024, per Electrek.

Most of what users see arrived through a Tesla app update. Version 4.58.6 began rolling out this week and pulls previously scattered settings, including backup reserve, off-grid modes, and operational modes, into one Home Controls menu, according to Electrek.

Rate Plan Charging shifts electric vehicle charging to the cheapest hours of the day, and it functions when a Powerwall is paired with a Gen 3 or Universal Wall Connector, Electrek reported.

The interface connects hardware Tesla already sells, spanning Powerwall, solar panels, Solar Roof, and the Wall Connector, and now adds Eaton's AbleEdge smart breakers, according to Electrek.

Mercedes-Benz Group sold 63,000 battery-electric vehicles worldwide in the second quarter of 2026, according to electrive, a 25 per cent increase over the first quarter and a 50 per cent rise against the second quarter of 2025.

The share of fully electric vehicles in Mercedes passenger car sales climbed from 7.7 per cent in Q2 2025 to 13 per cent in Q2 2026, electrive reported. That worldwide gain came as total passenger car volumes fell. Mercedes-Benz Cars sold 417,800 passenger cars worldwide in the quarter, an 8 per cent decline year-on-year, with China sales dropping 30 per cent to just under 100,000 units, according to electrive.

Mercedes-Benz attributed the China decline to intense competition, cautious consumer sentiment, ongoing model transitions and active sales steering.

Europe carried the electric growth. Mercedes-Benz sold 43,500 battery-electric passenger cars in the region in the quarter, an 87 per cent growth rate, with fully electric models representing 26 per cent of Mercedes passenger cars sold there, electrive reported.

The van division also lifted its electric mix. Mercedes-Benz Vans recorded 94,100 sales in the quarter, including 10,100 BEVs, a 46 per cent increase versus Q2 2025, according to electrive. That raised the global electric share for vans to 11 per cent from 7 per cent a year earlier.

Board member Mathias Geisen said the all-new electric GLA will have its world premiere at the end of July as part of the company's launch plan.

The UK Secretary of State issued a decision on 8 July 2026 on the One Earth Solar Farm development consent order under the Planning Act 2008, according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

The application was made by One Earth Solar Farm Limited, and the decision was issued by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

The project covers a solar photovoltaic generating facility with a total capacity exceeding 50 megawatts, according to the department's decision documentation.

The solar farm is proposed on land surrounding the River Trent in Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.

Premium jackup dayrates have improved from 2025 lows and now hold within a higher range, though pricing stays uneven across fixtures and geographies, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

Average premium jackup values fell through 2025, stabilised toward the end of the year, and have recovered gradually into 2026, OEDigital reported.

The recovery is already showing in implied valuations for individual operators. By May 2026, Borr Drilling's implied value had risen from $95 million per rig to $133 million, against an estimated realisable value (ERV) of $86.8 million, according to OEDigital.

Valaris moved further over the same measure, with its implied value climbing from $77 million to $140 million against an ERV of $71.3 million, OEDigital reported.

The gap has widened from a year earlier. In mid-2025, Pareto's implied values for Borr Drilling and Valaris were broadly aligned with Esgian rig values, according to OEDigital.

Esgian forecasts that premium jackup dayrates will peak before rig values do, with rig values reaching their high point later as conditions feed through into backlog and cash-flow visibility, according to OEDigital.

Cubos is taking over TotalEnergies' fleet charging business in Germany, according to electrive, its third takeover within six months after the Swarco acquisition in December 2025 and the ChargeOne acquisition in April 2026.

The deal covers around 6,000 charging points, electrive reported. That will expand the Cubos German network to around 15,000 charging points across more than 1,000 B2B customer sites.

The acquired assets consist of AC and DC charging points, according to both companies. The AC points sit primarily at customer sites such as employee or fleet car parks, while the DC points are mainly used at high-throughput locations, Cubos said.

All jobs in TotalEnergies' fleet charging business will be retained after the acquisition, electrive reported, growing the Cubos team to around 500 employees.

The purchase is a decisive step toward becoming one of the top three charge point operators (CPOs) in Germany, said Cubos CEO Marc Wille.

The UK government has approved One Earth Solar Farm, set to be the second largest solar farm in the UK. According to the developer, the project could power over 200,000 homes a year, the equivalent of half the homes in Lincolnshire.

The approval marks the 30th nationally significant clean energy project approved by the government since July 2024. It is the 42nd nationally significant project approved during this Parliament.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the only way to have energy security is to take a pro-growth approach to building more clean energy in Britain.

Government planning reforms will scrap mandatory pre-application consultation requirements for major infrastructure projects, cutting up to 12 months from the planning process and potentially saving industry GBP 1 billion this Parliament.

Government data shows 2025 was the strongest year on record for solar deployment, with 269,000 installations completed across the UK.

Campaigners warned that the first UN dialogue on artificial intelligence governance, held in Geneva this week, has stayed silent on the technology's risks to nature, according to Climate Home News.

Brian O'Donnell, director of the Campaign for Nature, said over USD 250 billion of private capital went into AI in 2024 alone, according to Climate Home News, and almost all of it was seeking an economic return.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres wants big AI players to commit to power all data centres with renewable energy by 2030, according to Climate Home News.

Guterres launched an initiative last month to hold major AI firms accountable for their environmental impacts, according to Climate Home News, including carbon emissions, the water and land used for data centres, and the energy they consume.

The preliminary report of the newly formed Independent International Scientific Panel on AI mentions environmental concerns only briefly and does not highlight threats to nature and biodiversity, according to Climate Home News. The report, which examines available scientific evidence, was presented to governments at the Geneva dialogue.

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, an Indigenous leader from Chad, produced a report on Indigenous peoples and AI for the UN in April, according to Climate Home News.

Metacon AB secured SEK 111 million from Klimatklivet to co-finance a 10 MW electrolysis plant at Uppsala Vatten och Avfall's waste facility, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

The grant covers about 55% of the SEK 202 million needed to build the plant at Uppsala Vatten och Avfall AB's Hovgården waste management facility outside Uppsala, Hydrogen Fuel News reported.

The plant aims to produce 1,480 tonnes of green hydrogen annually and cut 23,000 tonnes of CO2, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

Metacon AB is a hydrogen tech company listed on Nasdaq's First North Growth Market.

Serentica Renewables has taken the largest allocation among bidders in Solar Energy Corp. of India's Firm and Dispatchable Renewable Energy (FDRE) VII tender, and signed a power purchase agreement covering a 600 MW/2,400 MWh solar-plus-storage project, according to ESS News.

The tender targets an assured peak supply of 4,800 MWh, drawn from projects tied to the interstate transmission system, ESS News reported.

Contract terms bind the project to a demand fulfilment ratio of 70% each month and 85% across the year, according to ESS News.

An independent power producer founded in 2022, Serentica holds 8,700 MW of contracted renewable capacity and more than 3,200 MW operational, ESS News reported, with a $650 million investment from KKR behind it.

The pairing of generation and storage can serve peak demand while supporting grid stability, said Akshay Hiranandani, CEO of Serentica Renewables.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said its Office of Energy Dominance Financing has finalized a loan of up to USD 3.26 billion for AEP Texas, aimed at cutting electricity costs and upgrading the state grid.

Over 30 years, the financing should deliver about USD 685 million in electricity savings to more than one million Texas households and businesses, according to DOE estimates. The department tied added grid reliability and thousands of jobs to the same investment.

The money backs roughly 100 transmission projects statewide. That work covers rebuilding and reconductoring lines already in place alongside new transmission stretching close to 2,800 miles, per the DOE.

Upgraded lines are set to carry twice their current power load, with the projects hooking new baseload generation into the network, the department said. DOE also expects fewer power interruptions from the build-out.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the loan will "modernize Texas' electric grid" and "help keep electricity costs down for Texans".

The department counts the AEP Texas deal as its third concurrent conditional commitment paired with a financial close, and the third utility financing to reach completion under the Energy Dominance Financing Program.

Deployable Energy's Unity demonstration reactor reached initial criticality at the National Reactor Innovation Center at Idaho National Laboratory, the third US microreactor to do so under a presidential goal of three under Department of Energy (DOE) authorisation by July 4, 2026, World Nuclear News reported.

The first to reach the milestone was Antares Nuclear's Mark-0 reactor in early June, with Valar Atomics' Ward 250 reactor following shortly after, according to World Nuclear News.

Those two reactors ran under the DOE Reactor Pilot Program. Unity operated instead under the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad, an initiative started in March at the Idaho National Laboratory-based National Reactor Innovation Center to extend the Reactor Pilot Program, World Nuclear News reported.

Unity's criticality used a full-scale core load but ran at zero power, according to World Nuclear News. A phased testing programme follows, covering reactor physics, load following, inherent safety, and full-power operations.

Unity reached criticality in roughly 150 days, and the facility supplied the expertise behind the result, said Idaho National Laboratory Director John Wagner, according to World Nuclear News.

Twelve of Algeria's provinces are set to host as many as 20 utility-scale solar projects under a 3.2 GW development plan now in progress, according to pv magazine.

The Africa Solar Industry Association (AFSIA) puts the country's tracked solar at 2.87 GW in its project database, with another 2.6 GW under construction, according to pv magazine.

Scatec's Yacine Boulfrad told pv magazine the company reached tariffs below USD 0.03/kWh in Tunisia and expects to match or beat that level in Algeria.

Sonelgaz plans an electric highway running roughly 800 kilometers to move power between the north and south of the country, according to pv magazine.

Boukhalfa Yaici, Director of Algeria Green Energy Cluster, said Algeria is "moving in the direction to receive international funds" after amendments to its financial law last year, according to pv magazine.

Aalo Atomics' Aalo-X became the fourth firm to complete a zero-power fueled criticality demonstration under the U.S. Department of Energy Reactor Pilot Program on July 4, 2026, according to Neutron Bytes.

Antares Nuclear, Valar Atomics, and Deployable Energy completed their own zero-power fueled criticality demonstrations earlier in June, Neutron Bytes reported. All four experiments took place at Idaho National Laboratory.

DOE Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the department had issued a challenge to 11 firms selected for the reactor pilot program, expecting at least three to meet it, according to Neutron Bytes. Four succeeded, Wright said.

Aalo Atomics President and Chief Technology Officer Yasir Arafat said the company went from breaking ground to a sustained chain reaction in eight months, according to Neutron Bytes.

Deployable Energy was added to the Reactor Pilot Program in April, Neutron Bytes reported. The initial group of 11 firms included Aalo Atomics, Antares Nuclear, Atomic Alchemy, Deep Fission, Last Energy, Oklo, Natura Resources, Radiant Industries, Terrestrial Energy, and Valar Atomics.

A first liquefied natural gas cargo has sailed from Sempra Infrastructure's export plant on Mexico's west coast, based on ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

The carrier Pacific Success departed the Energia Costa Azul facility at Ensenada, in Baja California state, late Tuesday.

Production at the terminal started in June. Capacity in the opening phase runs to 3.25 million tons a year, and a second phase is being built out.

Offtake is covered by supply deals with TotalEnergies SE, Sempra's joint venture partner, and the Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co.

Rigzone reported that conflict in the Middle East has cut a fifth of global LNG supply, lifting prices across Asia and Europe.

Battery energy storage system (BESS) offtake in Germany during the first half of 2026 ran 7% above the total contracted across all of 2025, according to Pexapark's latest market brief.

Fixed-price agreements accounted for most of that jump. Pexapark put those volumes at 254 MW for the whole of 2025 and 642 MW in the first half of 2026, a 153% rise.

Tolls still dominate the German market, with day-ahead swaps a newer option, Pexapark said. Three swap deals have been announced so far, two of them in June.

Lenders are pushing developers toward contracted revenue. Akaysha Energy said German banks want 60% to 80% of a project's revenue under contract before releasing project debt to BESS developments.

Pexapark also reported that Europe contracted close to 24 GWh of BESS capacity under flexibility purchase agreements and optimization agreements in 2025, triple the 2024 figure, in its Renewables Market Outlook 2026.

Aalo Atomics reported that its Critical Test Reactor achieved criticality, making it the fourth United States advanced reactor design to reach the milestone under a federally supported campaign, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).

The experiment took place at Idaho National Laboratory, according to Rigzone. The DOE said the result exceeded the July 4 goal outlined by President Trump in his May 2025 executive order. Aalo Atomics described the demonstration as showing criticality for a commercial-scale advanced nuclear reactor.

Aalo Atomics said the Critical Test Reactor went from groundbreaking to a sustained chain reaction in less than eight months, which it called one of the fastest reactor builds in 80 years. The company added that it went from founding to fission in less than three years.

The Critical Test Reactor includes a full-scale core and demonstrates the nuclear components of Aalo's 10 MWe reactors, according to Rigzone. Those reactors will be deployed in 50 MWe Aalo Pods to power AI data centers. A second reactor for Project Ascension will produce 10 MWe of electricity and power an on-site data center in 2027.

Aalo's technology was among 11 initial selections announced by the DOE under Trump's Reactor Pilot Program on August 12, 2025, according to Rigzone.

Trump's May 23, 2025 executive order set a target for at least three advanced reactors to achieve criticality by July 4, 2026, according to Rigzone. The order aims to grow US nuclear energy capacity from about 100 GW to 400 GW by 2050.

The Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa produced 320 commitments worth USD 6.4 billion from governments, institutions, companies and civil society groups, according to Climate Home News.

Sustainable blue economy projects drew the largest share, with 86 commitments worth USD 2.86 billion, Climate Home News reported. Sustainable fisheries commitments totaled USD 1.75 billion, and ocean-climate action commitments reached USD 1.18 billion.

The pledges land against a rapidly expanding sector. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the value of the blue economy doubled from USD 1.3 trillion in 1995 to USD 2.6 trillion in 2020, and is projected to quadruple by 2050.

Efforts to steer that growth toward coastal communities predate the Mombasa gathering. In 2020, a group of 14 countries co-led by Australia and Chile pledged to manage their oceans sustainably by drawing up plans with coastal communities to shape how marine resources are managed and where investments should go, according to Climate Home News.

Community participation has shaped outcomes in the host country before. In 2019, Kenya's National Environment Tribunal revoked the environmental licence for a proposed coal-fired power plant at Lamu Port, citing inadequate public participation and flaws in the environmental assessment, Climate Home News reported.

Wren Kitchens has taken delivery of 10 electric Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 tractor units to begin electrifying its heavy goods fleet, according to electrive.

The purchase was partially funded by the UK Department for Transport's GBP 1 billion zero-emission commercial vehicle programme, electrive reported.

Each eActros 600 carries a battery capacity of 621 kWh, with electrive citing a minimum range of 500 km and up to 750 km.

The trucks can recharge from 20% to 80% in one hour using 400 kW DC rapid charging, according to electrive.

Renault has refreshed the Master E-Tech Electric with a chemically redesigned 87kWh battery, new comfort and safety functions, and additional variants for different applications, according to electrive.

The new cell chemistry uses a medium nickel content and will not affect the vehicle's range, a Renault spokesperson told electrive. The revised composition improves thermal management and charging performance. The cells are supplied by LG Energy Solutions, the spokesperson confirmed, and the 87kWh battery is assembled at Renault's plant in Batilly.

The van retains its bidirectional 11kW onboard charger for AC charging, with an optional bidirectional 22kW charger now available, according to electrive. Depending on the market, the Master E-Tech Electric is expected to support Vehicle-to-Grid functionality by the end of the year.

Renault has widened the variant lineup, electrive reported. The smaller 40kWh battery is now offered for the Chassis-Cab version, which was previously available only with the larger battery. Across the range, the Master E-Tech Electric comes with either a 40kWh or 87kWh battery and achieves a WLTP range of up to 448km depending on the version.

The update also reaches the cabin. The upper section of the dashboard will consist of 20 per cent recycled plastic from end-of-life vehicles, according to electrive.

Ford plans to launch a midsize electric pickup in 2027 with a starting price of around USD 30,000, according to Electrek. The truck will be the first vehicle built on the automaker's new Universal EV Platform (UEV), Electrek reported.

Production will run at Ford's Louisville Assembly plant, according to Electrek. The model will also be Ford's first EV fitted with a native North American Charging Standard (NACS) charge port.

Ford's Advanced EV Aerodynamics senior manager, Saleem Merkt, said earlier this year that the pickup's aerodynamic efficiency is more than 15% better than any other pickup truck on the market today and will result in longer range and lower cost for customers, according to Electrek.

To cut costs and improve efficiency, Ford is adopting new manufacturing practices including megacasting and prismatic lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, Electrek reported. Ford claims the pickup will offer more interior passenger space than a Toyota RAV4.

Sunrun has launched a pilot program that installs AI compute nodes, servers in a distributed system, inside homes fitted with its solar panels and battery storage, according to Electrek.

Instead of building large data centers, the company wants to route AI inference workloads through its network of more than 1.1 million existing customers, Electrek reported.

Homeowners who join the pilot will be paid for hosting the hardware, and Sunrun will sell the resulting computing capacity to enterprise customers, according to Electrek.

Sunrun says it has already completed a proof of concept that demonstrated both customer demand and the ability to generate revenue, per Electrek.

The company plans to run the pilot over the next few months before deciding whether to expand it, according to Electrek.

Electrek reported that the AI pilot is separate from Sunrun's partnership with Renew Home and Tesla to aggregate more than 16 GW of flexible home energy capacity for utilities and hyperscalers.

Governments have paid out at least USD 82.8 billion to fossil fuel companies through the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system, based on publicly available case data reviewed in an Inside Climate News investigation.

Guyana risks up to USD 21 billion and Mozambique up to USD 31 billion in future claims under the same mechanism, according to research by Queen's University in Canada and Boston College cited in the investigation.

A rare earth and uranium mining company in Greenland lodged an ISDS claim worth up to USD 11.5 billion after a newly elected government restored a ban on such projects, Inside Climate News reported.

Ecuador drew two of the awards the investigation examined. Arbitrators granted French oil company Perenco and its partner more than USD 800 million once the government imposed a windfall tax on foreign oil companies, and did so while acknowledging the firm had polluted the Amazon. Chevron collected a separate USD 220 million after conceding that its predecessor, Texaco, had dumped millions of gallons of toxic waste into the Ecuadorian Amazon.

The United States came close to a USD 15 billion claim over a shuttered oil pipeline but avoided it, Inside Climate News reported.

James Shaw, former New Zealand climate change minister, told Inside Climate News that his government held back from restricting development of oil fields where reserves had already been found, since such limits would have opened it to ISDS claims.

A Qatari liquefied natural gas carrier was targeted near the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday as it exited the waterway, according to Rigzone. Rigzone reported it was the first time since fighting started in February that a Qatari LNG tanker has been hit.

Qatar's foreign ministry called the attack on the vessel, the Al Rekayyat, a grave violation of international law and freedom of navigation, per Rigzone.

A Saudi Arabian oil tanker was also damaged in the same area around that time, and the UK navy reported a third attack, according to Rigzone. The strike followed a roughly week-long lull in hostilities in a waterway that is a focal point in the war.

Rigzone reported that the interim peace deal reached last month established a 60-day negotiating period between Washington and Tehran. On Sunday, Qatar and Iran resumed maritime trade, potentially helping Iran export products such as fruits, crops and carpets, per Rigzone.

Andreas Krieg said the attack on the LNG tanker will prompt Qatar to reconsider its role as mediator, according to Rigzone.

Kia has launched an all-wheel drive variant of the EV4 in Europe, adding a rear electric motor for a combined 265 hp (195 kW) and 385 Nm of torque, according to Electrek.

The EV4 Earth AWD runs on an 81.4 kWh battery and delivers a WLTP range of up to 560 km (347 miles), Electrek reported. The AWD setup is offered on the Earth and GT-Line trims but not on the base Air model.

Electrek reported the Earth AWD starts at €48,730 ($55,700), while the GT-Line AWD starts at €51,940 ($59,300).

Despite matching the power of the dual-motor EV3 GT, Kia is not selling the AWD variant as a performance model with a GT badge, according to Electrek.

The separate EV4 GT is more powerful than the new AWD option, with a combined 288 hp (215 kW) and 468 Nm of torque, Electrek reported. Kia said the added power lets it accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in 5.6 seconds.

Kia delayed the EV4 indefinitely for the US market because of the Trump Administration's auto tariffs and other policy changes, according to Electrek.

A flock of 100 sheep is now working the ground under a solar array that helps run Volkswagen's car plant in Poznań, Poland, Electrek reported. The animals graze among more than 31,000 panels at the site.

The array carries a capacity of 18.3 megawatts, according to Electrek. Berlin-based Quanta Energy handled construction and now runs the installation. Across a full year, the panels cover about 25% of what the Poznań plant draws from the grid, Electrek reported.

The grazing runs alongside a study led by researchers at Poznań University of Life Sciences, Electrek reported. Their work tracks the effect of the sheep on animal welfare, biodiversity, soil quality, vegetation, and the microclimate around the panels.

Experienced breeders will oversee the flock, which stays on site through the fall, according to Electrek.

The U.S. Forest Service on Tuesday cleared South32's proposed Hermosa mine in southern Arizona, a project to extract zinc, lead and silver, with potential for manganese and copper, according to Inside Climate News.

The underground operation received the go-ahead alongside 31 exemptions written into the Coronado National Forest Plan, the outlet reported.

Capital costs have climbed 50 percent, moving from USD 2.2 billion to USD 3.3 billion, Inside Climate News reported. First production has slipped by a year, to 2028.

Under the decision, South32 can build a Primary Access Road across Coronado forest lands, string a 138-kV line to supply power, and construct a large tailings facility for mine waste, according to the outlet.

Hermosa entered the federal FAST-41 permitting track first, in 2023 under the Biden administration, the outlet reported. The Trump administration has since enrolled 57 more mining projects in the program, which fast-tracks federal permitting reviews.

The company expects the site to create roughly 900 direct jobs and has pledged to draw 80 percent of its workforce from Santa Cruz County, according to Inside Climate News.

Across a projected mine life of 70 years, an estimated 195,000 acre-feet of water would be drawn from the aquifer, the outlet reported.

Fervo Energy drilled Sawtooth 7, the ninth well built with its 3.0 well design at Cape Station for Phase II, from spud to total depth in 21 days, according to a company announcement carried by GlobeNewswire Energy.

The well reached a measured depth of 19,448 feet with a 7,500-foot lateral in a 460 degrees Fahrenheit resource, according to Fervo.

The drilling time marks a sharp reduction from the company's earliest work. Fervo drilled its first commercial well at Project Red, reaching a depth of 11,220 feet in 70 days using its 1.0 well design, according to Fervo.

Sawtooth 7 is one of the wells supporting Cape Phase II, a 400 MW development set to deliver power in 2028, according to the company.

Fervo CEO Tim Latimer said the company believes Cape Phase II is on track to deliver at $5,500 per kilowatt, and that Fervo remains committed to a goal of achieving $3,000 per kilowatt.

Cape Phase I is fully drilled and on track to deliver first power to the grid later this year, according to Fervo. That phase used the company's 2.0 well design, with 5,000-foot laterals, 7 inch casing at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

The IMF said on Wednesday that the global economy will grow at a slower rate in 2026, pointing to high energy prices from the Iran conflict as a drag on growth and a driver of inflation. The fund lowered its global growth forecast to 3%, down from its April projection and below the last two years' averages.

The IMF said the global economy avoided a sharper downturn in part because of increased demand for AI, and it projected growth would rebound in 2027.

Minutes of the US Federal Reserve's June meeting showed officials were divided over the economy's direction and where to take interest rates. That division reflected uncertainty over how long energy prices from the Iran conflict will keep inflation elevated.

Apollo's chief economist wrote that cheaper oil alone will not open the door to rate cuts.

Two pilot projects are demonstrating that hydrogen can power harbor vessels with zero tailpipe emissions, according to Hydrogen Fuel News. The outlet points to Zero Emission Industries' FCV Vanguard in California and the Port of Antwerp-Bruges' Hydrotug 1 as the working examples.

The FCV Vanguard runs on hydrogen fuel cells, while the Hydrotug 1 uses hydrogen combustion, per Hydrogen Fuel News. Together the two projects show that fuel cells and dual-fuel combustion can meet the demanding needs of quick marine craft.

Hydrogen Fuel News reports that the projects deliver zero tailpipe emissions with competitive efficiency.

Spain's Instituto Tecnológico de la Energía (ITE) has completed its HEDERA research project on green hydrogen production, according to Hydrogen Fuel News. The institute is based in the Valencian Community of Spain.

The project focused on Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzer degradation and flexible operation powered by variable solar and wind energy, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

HEDERA received backing from the regional agency IVACE+i, with co-financing from the European Union's FEDER program, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

The share of Queensland households owning an electric vehicle rose to 15 per cent in 2026 from 10 per cent in 2025, according to RenewEconomy reporting on the Queensland Household Energy Survey.

The survey was carried out by Ergon Energy Network, Energex, and Powerlink Queensland, which interviewed 4,301 people about energy behaviours and attitudes across the state, according to RenewEconomy.

Interest in electric vehicles is running ahead of current ownership. Two thirds of participants who do not own an EV and are considering buying a new vehicle within three years said they were looking at an EV or hybrid, up from 58 per cent in 2025, RenewEconomy reported.

Ownership varies by region and age. South-East Queensland recorded the highest rate in the state at 16 per cent, while ownership among 35-54-year-olds statewide reached 22 per cent, according to RenewEconomy.

Itaipu Binacional is planning a pilot battery project tied to its floating solar plant, a test meant to show how storage can smooth the meeting of solar output and hydropower, ESS News reported.

The project sits at the planning stage for now. Its installed capacity, storage duration, battery chemistry, investment size, procurement route, and build timeline all remain undecided, according to details Itaipu gave pv magazine Brazil.

Engineers plan to shape the pilot around the same technical criteria drawn up for Brazil's proposed Capacity Reserve Auction for battery storage, ESS News reported. That template sets a minimum four-hour storage duration, steady power delivery across that window, and defined performance and availability thresholds.

Itaipu is running the work with Itaipu Parquetec. The pilot will test energy shifting, operational flexibility, and how well floating solar meshes with hydroelectric output.

Enio Verri, Itaipu's Brazilian director general, said studies point to the reservoir holding more than 1 GW of floating solar capacity, ESS News reported.

Leapmotor has launched the D99, a seven-seater van offered as a pure electric model and as a range-extender vehicle, according to electrive. Deliveries are set to begin on 20 July, electrive reported.

Prices run from 249,800 yuan to 319,800 yuan, or roughly EUR 32,250 to EUR 41,300, according to electrive.

The battery electric version uses a 1,000-volt architecture with a 115kWh battery from CATL, offering up to 700km of range under the CLTC standard, electrive reported. Its two electric motors deliver a combined output of 410kW.

The range-extender version runs on an 800-volt onboard system and pairs a 300kW all-wheel-drive powertrain with an 80.3kWh battery, rated at 480km of electric range, according to electrive.

Leapmotor claims both versions can charge from 30 to 80 per cent in around 15 minutes, electrive reported.

ZL Chemicals Ltd. has taken a license from Chevron Technical Center for surfactant chemistry aimed at lifting recovery from shale and tight oil reservoirs, World Oil reported.

The agreement lets ZL Chemicals sell products and services built on the licensed chemistry under the Vantis brand, a chemical enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method Chevron ran in its own unconventional wells, according to World Oil.

ZL Chemicals will run the Vantis offering as a turnkey service, from laboratory evaluation through field deployment and operational support, World Oil reported.

"Advanced chemicals are one of Chevron's areas of differentiation and have supported innovation in our own operations," said Ryder Booth, Chevron's chief technology and engineering officer.

Chevron plans to keep developing next-generation surfactants for its own wells and to license selected technologies to the wider industry through commercial partners, according to World Oil.

Finland's HELO project, a two-year initiative, began in mid-2026 to build a scalable green hydrogen value chain, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

The VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is leading the effort alongside the University of Vaasa and a group of industrial and government partners, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

The project aims to integrate green hydrogen production, storage, transport, and demand into an investment-ready value chain, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

Researchers at the University of Kiel have developed a communication system that transmits sensor data from inside a battery cell without additional data lines, according to electrive.

The method uses the power electronics already responsible for controlling the battery's charging and discharging processes, sending measurement data over existing power connections, electrive reported.

An initial cost estimate cited by electrive found the approach could reduce expenses by around 35% compared with conventional solutions that rely on separate sensor cables.

The results have been published in the journal Communications Engineering, according to electrive.

The developers envision long-term applications in electric vehicles, stationary battery storage systems, and wind and solar energy installations, electrive reported.

Polaris Renewable Energy has entered a 30-year investment agreement with CFE, the Mexican state utility, to develop three solar-plus-storage sites carrying 248.93 MWdc of solar and 61.6 MW/192 MWh of battery capacity, according to ESS News.

The sites sit in Quintana Roo, Tlaxcala and Sinaloa, with investment pegged at $217 million before grid interconnection and network upgrade costs are counted, ESS News reported.

Polaris' Mexican project entities and Banca Mifel, serving as trustee for CFE, executed the deal on July 3.

Los Girasoles in Quintana Roo anchors the portfolio at 132.57 MW of solar and a 33 MW/101.5 MWh battery, with an estimated $120 million cost and roughly 249,239 MWh of yearly output; Polaris targets commercial operation by Nov. 28, 2028, per ESS News.

In Tlaxcala, Solar Energía Tres Hermanos combines 91.06 MW of solar with a 22.5 MW/71.6 MWh battery. ESS News reported a projected 198,485 MWh a year, a $78 million outlay, and a startup date set for Dec. 1, 2028.

The smallest, Don Humberto in Sinaloa, pairs 25.3 MW of solar with a 6.1 MW/18.9 MWh battery. Polaris puts annual generation at 47,173 MWh and the investment at $19 million, with commercial operation planned for April 1, 2028, according to ESS News.

These three form part of the first tender under CFE's Mixed Development Program, which chose 37 renewable projects: 33 solar totaling about 6.71 GW and four wind totaling about 700 MW, ESS News reported.

The United States has three companies that fit the pure-play solar cell specialist category, according to pv magazine: Suniva, ES Foundry and TALON PV.

Suniva and ES Foundry are already running mass production, pv magazine reported. TALON PV is gearing up to begin production in 2027.

pv magazine argued that between 2026 and 2028 the US downstream solar community should concentrate on domestic solar cell production to build a sustainable manufacturing base, rather than speculating on early-stage raw materials.

Announcements and potential investments toward a fully integrated US solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing ecosystem have been abundant since the Inflation Reduction Act was announced in 2022, according to pv magazine.

Looking at companies likely to affect US cell production over the next five years, pv magazine named Corning and Tesla as two outliers falling into that category.

The assessment comes ahead of the Solar Manufacturing USA 2026 conference, scheduled for September 22 to September 23, 2026 in Austin, Texas.

Spain and Portugal have inaugurated a new 400 kV electricity interconnection between Pontevedra and Viana do Castelo, according to Red Eléctrica. The link raises exchange capacity between the two countries by about 1,000 MW, reaching 4,200 MW from Spain to Portugal and 3,500 MW from Portugal to Spain.

Red Eléctrica said the connection is expected to allow an additional 281 GWh of renewable energy to be integrated each year, cutting CO2 emissions by 113,000 tonnes annually.

The project was executed by Red Eléctrica in Spain and Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN) in Portugal, and was designated a Project of Common Interest by the European Commission.

On the Spanish side, the route required building the 400 kV Bearíz and 400/220 kV Fontefría substations, a 30-kilometre connecting line between them, and a 21.7-kilometre interconnection line running to the Portuguese border, according to Red Eléctrica. The Portuguese section measures about 68 kilometres, continuing from the border to the Ponte de Lima substation.

Both markets will now benefit from an additional interconnection, bringing the total to ten, said REN Chairman Rodrigo Costa.

Specialist Passenger Solutions, a FirstGroup subsidiary, has won a contract to run shuttle services to and from the Sizewell C nuclear plant construction site in Suffolk, according to electrive.

The contract runs for five years from July 2026, electrive reported. It will see the subsidiary operate a fleet of 150 buses, including both hydrogen and electric buses, sourced by Sizewell C Ltd.

The agreement is expected to create 400 new jobs and transport at least 8,000 workers during the plant's peak construction period, according to electrive.

FirstGroup CEO Graham Sutherland said the company's Business and Coach segment has seen revenues double to GBP 230 million in FY2026.

Specialist Passenger Solutions also operates transport services at Hinkley Point C, moving over 12,000 people per day, electrive reported.

In 2023, a pilot scheme between Wrightbus and Sizewell C tested four Hydroliners to assess whether they could be used for worker transport at the site, according to electrive.

Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had "essentially stopped," according to Jorge Leon, Head of Geopolitical Analysis at Rystad Energy.

Vessel movements through the strait fell from around 20 vessels on July 6 to 11 the following day, according to Rystad Energy.

Brent rose to near $79 per barrel as oil markets reacted to the renewed geopolitical risk. Ole Hansen of Saxo Bank said Brent crude had jumped more than nine percent since Monday.

Rystad Energy said the events of the last few days significantly weaken confidence that the current 60-day truce can still evolve into a permanent peace agreement.

The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero released its Homes for Net Zero research programme on 9 July 2026. The department calls it a long-running in-home energy monitoring trial built to track how homeowners move toward Net Zero.

The programme gathers longitudinal, real-world data from homes across Great Britain, concentrating on owner-occupied properties. Alongside the monitoring, it runs trials of energy efficiency measures, low-carbon heating, and household transition plans.

The published material covers a project summary and findings from Winter 2024 to 2025 at 124 pages, plus findings from Summer 2025 at 148 pages.

The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero published research on 9 July 2026 assessing the suitability of reversible air-to-air heat pumps for UK domestic use.

The modelling research analyses how reversible air-to-air heat pumps perform in different types of UK homes, according to the department, examining their energy use, running costs, and ability to provide heating, cooling, and hot water under a range of scenarios.

The department published the findings as a 59-page PDF document of 1.26 MB.

The research is intended for policymakers, researchers, and industry stakeholders interested in low-carbon heating.

Premier Energies Ltd has inaugurated a 5.6 GW solar module manufacturing facility at Seetharampur in Telangana, southern India, according to pv magazine. The plant lifts the company's total module manufacturing capacity to 11.1 GW, pv magazine reported.

Telangana chief minister A. Revanth Reddy inaugurated the facility, according to pv magazine. The Seetharampur campus spans 75 acres, the report said.

At the same site, Premier Energies broke ground on a 6 GWh battery energy storage system manufacturing facility and an aluminium frame manufacturing plant with an annual production capacity of 18,000 metric tonnes, per pv magazine.

The automated production lines can manufacture one solar module every four seconds, the company said. According to pv magazine, the new facility is equipped with G12R TOPCon module manufacturing lines and India's first Zero Bus Bar manufacturing unit.

Australia's home battery market recorded 1.07 GWh of registrations in June, down 28.3% from May, according to SunWiz. Monthly installations fell by nearly 30%, according to RenewEconomy.

The systems being installed are right-sizing to between 20 and 30 kWh, down from an average of around 50 kWh, according to RenewEconomy.

SunWiz managing director Warwick Johnston said June installation numbers were roughly triple the levels of one year earlier, when the federal rebate was just one month old.

Johnston described the slowdown as a healthy reset after the rebate-driven surge.

Argentina announced the construction of a new nuclear reactor as part of a worldwide revival of atomic energy, according to Semafor Net Zero. The Buenos Aires project is backed by $1.2 billion in US money, Semafor reported.

The start of the Argentine build coincides with Britain extending the life of Sizewell B, which will now run until 2055 rather than 2035, according to Semafor.

BloombergNEF projected that aggressive reactor building in China and India is expected to boost global nuclear capacity 44% by 2036, Semafor reported.

China had 59 gigawatts of reactors under construction last year, enough to power around 50 million homes, according to Semafor. The country is on track to surpass the US as the world's biggest nuclear nation by 2030.

Vattenfall has divested its B2B Solutions charging division, with the sale affecting markets in Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands, according to electrive.

The business includes around 10,000 charging points and has always been a niche offering, electrive reported.

In Sweden, the B2B charging business has already been sold to charging provider Voltavi, electrive reported, citing Hagmann.

Vattenfall separately announced the acquisition of the Swedish fast-charging business of Nima Energy, according to electrive. The deal includes 178 existing high-power charging (HPC) points at 16 locations, along with 254 planned HPC points at 36 new sites.

Under its InCharge brand, Vattenfall currently operates around 48,500 charging points across Sweden, the Netherlands, and Germany, according to electrive.

A 6.6 MW agrivoltaic plant in Donnerskirchen has begun sending solar power directly into Austria's 16.7 Hz railway grid, according to pv magazine.

The project pairs single-axis trackers with organic farming and routes its output to the traction network without an intermediate conversion step. ÖBB describes it as Austria's first tracking agrivoltaic system built specifically to power rail operations.

Set on a seven-hectare plot, the installation should produce around 8.3 GWh a year, pv magazine reported. That volume matches roughly 32,500 train trips annually on the 60-kilometer route between Vienna and Eisenstadt.

Direct grid feed-in raises supply security and trims energy losses, said Silvia Angelo, board member of ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG.

Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) takes the electricity through its rail power network, while Esterhazy Betriebe AG keeps organic farming running on the same land. Burgenland Energie also helped develop the site.

Firms shipping goods from the UAE into Saudi Arabia are reporting delays lasting up to several days, with some truck drivers waiting at the border for more than a week, according to Semafor Net Zero.

Trade between the two economies is worth more than USD 20 billion annually, Semafor reported. Saudi Arabia's Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority disputed accounts of disruption. "Trade exchange remains within the normal range of customs operations, reflecting the continued smooth movement of goods through customs ports," the authority said in a statement. It added that no complaints had been received and there were no indications of delays in customs procedures affecting trucks or the movement of goods at customs ports.

The reported slowdown follows the UAE's departure from OPEC in May, which Semafor described as a blow to Saudi Arabia, the group's de facto leader.

Saudi Arabia has been opening more shipping routes through the Red Sea to reduce reliance on the Strait of Hormuz, according to Semafor.

The Fiat Topolino electric quadricycle is now available to order in the United States, though it is not yet road-legal, according to electrive. The vehicle can be ordered at select US dealerships starting from USD 13,995, excluding a destination fee.

According to electrive, the Topolino has an initial top speed of 19 mph in the US, which disqualifies it from standard road use. Stellantis defines low-speed vehicles (LSVs) as federally regulated street-legal vehicles capable of 20 to 25 mph and legal on public roads with speed limits of 35 mph or less.

The quadricycle has a top range of 46 miles and can reach a full charge in around five hours on 2.3 kW alternating current, according to electrive.

Stellantis describes the Topolino as designed for neighbourhood and lifestyle use, including coastal drives, resort communities and private neighbourhoods. Olivier Francois, FIAT brand CEO, said the Topolino represents a new chapter for the brand in the US, defined not just by size but by purpose.

A research team has compiled a database tracking global environmental initiatives launched or run by China from the 1980s onwards, according to Carbon Brief in an interview with study co-author Dr Sun Yixian. The database is called 'China's Global Environmental Leadership' (CGEL).

Dr Sun Yixian is a professor of sustainability governance at the University of Bath and a co-author of the study, according to Carbon Brief.

Many China-led climate initiatives have been created since 2009 and 2010, Sun said, with the pace rising over the last 10 years and especially since 2021.

Sun said China is moving from a bilateral engagement model toward more global engagement, pointing to a clear upward trend of transnational initiatives that operate in more than two continents. He described this as an effort to project influence at the global scale.

The shift under the second Trump administration will probably help Chinese initiatives get more traction from their international partners, Sun said.

Baker Hughes landed three contracts tied to Cheniere's Sabine Pass LNG plant in Louisiana, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital. The work spans liquefaction equipment for Train 7, a re-liquefaction unit handling boil-off gas, and technology upgrades across the plant's gas turbine fleet.

Under the scope, Baker Hughes will provide seven PGT25+ G4 gas turbines paired with 15 centrifugal compressors, a package the report said should lift output by roughly 6 million tonnes per annum.

The upgrade program targets every installed aeroderivative PGT25+ G4 turbine at the site and runs across four years, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

Sabine Pass runs at a current capacity of about 30 MTPA, per the same report.

Combined, the Train 7 equipment, the re-liquefaction unit and the turbine work should raise capacity at the site by more than 6 MTPA, the report said.

Cheniere Chairman, President and CEO Jack Fusco described Baker Hughes as a key partner in developing Sabine Pass, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.