Thursday, 16 July 2026

Radiant has moved its Kaleidos microreactor toward full-power trials, sending the first fuel batch to the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments facility run by the National Reactor Innovation Center at Idaho National Laboratory, according to World Nuclear News. The shipment clears the way for full-power, full-temperature testing of the reactor.

Standard Nuclear produced the tri-structural isotropic fuel to Radiant's specifications earlier this year, World Nuclear News reported.

The test sequence steps through zero-power criticality, 1 MW thermal, full power and full heat, then requires the reactor to run at full power for at least 150 hours with no operator intervention, according to World Nuclear News.

"We are de-risking a commercial product that will be manufactured and delivered within 18 months," said Rita Baranwal, Radiant's Chief Nuclear Officer, who added that customer deployment is targeted by 2028.

Kaleidos is a high-temperature gas-cooled design that runs on TRISO fuel with helium coolant and prismatic graphite blocks, according to World Nuclear News. The unit fits inside a single shipping container and is rated at 3MW thermal or around 1MW electrical.

The test bed reuses the containment structure of the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II, which ran from 1964 to 1994, World Nuclear News reported. The facility stands 100 feet tall and measures 80 feet across.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has run pre-application work on the reactor with Radiant since 2022, according to World Nuclear News.

TotalEnergies SE has shipped the first LNG cargo from its Ensenada, Mexico venture with Sempra Infrastructure, sending it to Asia, according to Rigzone.

The French producer owns 16.6 percent of the project alongside operator Sempra Infrastructure, and its offtake runs to 1.7 million tonnes a year across 20 years once commercial operations begin, Rigzone reported. Through the ramp-up window, TotalEnergies takes all output while ECA LNG Phase 1 stays in commissioning, the company said.

Combined, TotalEnergies and Japan's Mitsui & Co Ltd have contracted 2.5 MMtpa for 20 years out of phase 1, a single-train plant rated at 3.25 MMtpa, according to Rigzone. The feedgas comes from United States supply out of the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico, the company said.

When it enters commercial service, ECA LNG Phase 1 will be the first LNG liquefaction plant on Mexico's Pacific Coast, according to Rigzone. Substantial completion is expected in the summer of 2026, with the long-term sales agreements taking effect once the facility starts commercial operations.

A proposed second stage, ECA LNG Phase 2, would add two trains and one storage tank for roughly 12 Mtpa of export capacity, according to Rigzone.

Fugro won a contract from Saipem to run marine survey and inspection work for the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP), a carbon capture transportation and storage infrastructure project, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

Saipem is heading the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the project's offshore pipeline and connected infrastructure, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

NEP operates as an incorporated joint venture between bp, Equinor and TotalEnergies, the same report said.

The project can draw on up to 1 billion tonnes of CO2 storage capacity beneath the North Sea, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

Trinasolar plans to deliver between 1.4 GWh and 1.6 GWh of battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Italy in 2026, according to ESS News.

The company expects to supply about 2 GW of solar modules in Italy over the same period, ESS News reported. Trinasolar estimates its share at between 15% and 20% in both Italy's BESS and solar module markets.

Italy ranks as Trinasolar's second-largest BESS market after the United Kingdom, and its third-largest solar module market after Spain and Germany, according to Gonzalo de la Viña.

De la Viña said manufacturing costs in Europe remain 30% to 50% higher than in China. He named France and Spain as the leading candidates for a future Trinasolar BESS factory in Europe.

Trinasolar holds a small stake in the 5 GW HoloSolis solar manufacturing project in France, which aims to begin production in the third quarter of 2028. The BESS delivery range for Italy this year runs to 1.6 GWh, ESS News reported.

American Electric Power (AEP) Co's Texas subsidiary has closed on a loan worth up to $3.26 billion, drawn from the Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) Program run by the US Department of Energy (DOE), according to Rigzone.

The money will back roughly 100 transmission projects in Texas, according to Rigzone. That work covers rebuilding and reconductoring existing lines and building new infrastructure that stretches about 2,800 miles.

DOE and AEP estimate the financing is expected to deliver $685 million in electricity cost savings over 30 years, reaching more than one million households and businesses in the state, according to Rigzone.

Separately, AEP said its Texas unit has signed letters of agreement covering up to 41 gigawatts of potential load additions through 2030, according to Rigzone.

The latest financing adds to a $1.6-billion loan guarantee that AEP had already obtained under the same program, according to Rigzone.

DOE counted the Texas deal as its third concurrent conditional commitment and financial close, and the third utility financing to reach completion through the EDF Program, according to Rigzone.

Southern Co's Alabama Power and Georgia Power together locked in up to $26.54 billion in EDF loans earlier in 2026, according to Rigzone.

Posco has opened a joint development effort with Hyundai Motor and other partners aimed at a high-silicon electrical steel used as a precursor for stator and rotor production, according to electrive. The material is intended to yield more efficient electric motors.

The work is built around electrical steel carrying a silicon content of 6.5%, electrive reported. Lifting the silicon share cuts iron losses in a motor's magnetic core, though it also leaves the metal more brittle, turning the rolling of thin, large-format sheets into a manufacturing hurdle, according to electrive.

Ten partners signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set the collaboration in place, electrive reported. Funding comes from South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), with the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT) handling coordination, according to electrive.

Cho Myung-jong, Head of the Future Steel R&D Center at Posco, said the effort brings the steel and future mobility industries together on electrification, according to electrive.

The steel project follows a separate battery-materials deal. Posco struck a multi-year contract with SK On earlier in the year for up to 25,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate sourced from Argentina, destined for electric vehicle batteries and stationary storage, electrive reported.

Fermi America intends to cool its planned AP1000 reactors with air-cooled condenser systems rather than wet cooling towers, a design the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) says is untested at scale in the United States. According to IEEFA analyst Dennis Wamsted, no large reactor in the U.S. has ever operated using anything other than water for its cooling systems.

Fermi stated the AP1000 units will not rely on wet cooling towers, and that air-cooled condenser systems significantly reduce consumptive water use, limiting demand to system makeup, domestic supply, and incidental process needs. In its initial licensing filings to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Fermi acknowledged that the specifics of the cooling system have not yet been designed, according to IEEFA.

Building the four reactors is already estimated to cost USD 41 billion, according to IEEFA, which said the project is likely to take much longer and cost far more than current forecasts.

The project also faces leadership upheaval. Co-founder Toby Neugebauer was removed as chief executive, and chief financial officer Miles Everson resigned, according to IEEFA.

Investors have marked the company down. IEEFA reported that Fermi's stock has traded below USD 10 a share since early March, before the executive shakeup, and is down more than two-thirds from its initial opening price last October.

China wants new energy vehicles (NEVs) to reach around 30% of its total vehicle fleet by 2030, according to electrive. The State Council issued the action plan on Thursday under the country's 15th Five-Year Plan.

Reaching that level would require nearly tripling the current share. China's Ministry of Public Security counted 43.97 million registered NEVs at the end of 2025, or 12.01% of all vehicles on the road, electrive reported. Battery-electric vehicles made up about 30.22 million of that count, close to 69% of the NEV total.

The plan also fixes energy and emissions targets for 2030. CO2 emissions per unit of gross domestic product should drop 17%, while non-fossil sources should supply 25% of China's energy consumption, according to electrive.

Separately, China moved in early July to phase out the annual vehicle tax exemption for plug-in hybrids and several classes of electrified commercial vehicles, ending it in 2027, with battery-electric passenger cars keeping their exemption, according to electrive.

EP Lynemouth Ltd. and the Low Carbon Contracts Company signed the final terms of a four-year low-carbon dispatchable (LCD) Contract for Difference for Lynemouth Power Station on 8 July 2026, according to UK DESNZ. The signature followed direction by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.

UK DESNZ said the four-year contract reduces subsidy and strengthens sustainability.

Heads of terms for the LCD CfD were agreed in February 2026 with EP Lynemouth Ltd., operators of Lynemouth Power Station in Northumberland, according to UK DESNZ.

Allego is switching to Ampeco for the backend of its charging network, according to electrive, a system that will manage over 35,000 charging points across 16 European countries. The migration is expected to be completed in Q4 2026.

The move covers around 1.3 million charging sessions per month, more than 200,000 registered EV drivers, and over 60 active roaming connections, according to Ampeco.

Norbert Teichmann, IT Director at Allego, said the platform demonstrated depth across the core charge point management system capabilities needed to operate and scale a large charging network.

Ampeco's platform is used by over 200 charging infrastructure operators across more than 70 markets, with more than 120,000 charging points already migrated to it, according to electrive.

In September 2025, Allego announced plans to develop and implement a new mobility service provider platform in collaboration with Deftpower.

Kia UK has confirmed that the EV2 Long Range now qualifies for the maximum Band 1 Electric Car Grant, cutting the on-the-road price by GBP 3,750, according to electrive.

All variants fitted with the 61kWh Long Range battery are eligible for the full GBP 3,750 grant, including the Air, GT-Line, and GT-Line S models, electrive reported.

The grant brings the entry-level EV2 down to GBP 24,245, the GT-Line LR to GBP 28,995, and the GT-Line S LR to GBP 32,595, according to electrive.

Kia states these variants offer an all-electric driving range of up to 275 miles on a single charge.

Across the EV2, EV3, EV4, and Passenger ranges, 13 Kia EVs are now eligible for the grant scheme, according to electrive.

Kia had previously offered its own GBP 1,500 discount on the EV2 through the Kia EV2 Reservation Saving, which has now been replaced by the government's ECG scheme, electrive reported.

Severe floods in south-western China's Guangxi province killed 39 people and left nine missing after heavy rains, according to Carbon Brief. At least 11 people were killed by two tornadoes in central China's Hubei province linked to Typhoon Maysak, according to Reuters.

Carbon Brief reported the tornadoes as extremely rare events tied to the same storm system. During prolonged heatwaves in June, temperatures in Xinjiang reached 50C, according to National Business Daily.

The China Meteorological Administration's 2026 blue book on climate change found that China's annual average temperature increased by 0.31C per decade from 1961 to 2025.

On policy, China released an action plan for peaking its carbon emissions by 2030, according to state news agency Xinhua. The country's 15th five-year plan for building a Beautiful China set quantitative targets for 2030, including a 3% cut in carbon emissions per unit of production at industries covered by China's national carbon market.

The EU and China set an October deadline to reset trade ties as tensions over cleantech exports and other economic matters rise, according to Carbon Brief. The two sides established a trade and investment consultation mechanism with four workstreams, including trade and investment balancing and export controls.

London marine insurers are fielding fewer inquiries for voyages through the Strait of Hormuz, and some report that the cost of cover has risen as the US and Iran exchange attacks, according to Rigzone.

Insurance rates for Hormuz transits have climbed to between 2% and 6% of a vessel's value, up from a fraction of a percent before the conflict, according to Marcus Baker, global head of marine at Marsh. At the higher end of that range, insuring a $100 million oil tanker for a Hormuz transit would cost $6 million before any no-claim discounts, though owners often receive large discounts that reduce headline rates.

At the height of the conflict, some ships were charged as much as 10% of their value to transit the strait, according to Rigzone.

Visible shipping traffic through Hormuz had virtually ground to a halt on Thursday, with few observable journeys taking place.

Requests for quotes have dropped off because of a reluctance to commit to transits, though inquiries continue and terms remain available, according to Simon Lockwood of Willis Towers Watson.

Ford is recalling an estimated 42,784 Mustang Mach-E electric crossovers in the US over a potential rear differential issue, according to electrive.

The recall covers certain vehicles from the 2021, 2022, and 2023 model years, electrive reported. All affected cars feature a rear-wheel drivetrain, meaning they lack a front motor that could keep the vehicle moving if the rear differential breaks.

Ford was aware of 62 warranty claims as of June 11, 2026, according to electrive.

The fault traces to a teardown analysis shared by Ford's Product Development team on March 11, 2026, electrive reported. The analysis examined a rear differential recovered from a 2023 model year Mustang Mach-E in Europe and identified a failed rear differential pinion shaft.

Ford will begin contacting owners of the affected vehicles from July 13, 2026, according to electrive.

Eaton and FranklinWH announced a partnership to expand the availability of home energy systems for the North American public, according to Solar Builder. The tie-up combines Eaton's AbleEdge smart breakers with the FranklinWH System.

Solar Builder reported that the AbleEdge smart breaker will support virtual power plant (VPP) capabilities for eligible customers. The integration allows for load management during peak hours and extended backup power duration during a grid outage.

Eaton smart breakers can be added to FranklinWH's Meter Adapter Controller, supporting both retrofit and new construction projects, according to Solar Builder.

Paul Ryan serves as VP and general manager of energy transition at Eaton. Gary Lam is CEO and Co-Founder of FranklinWH.

Delhi deployed 300 electric buses for public transport on Tuesday, according to electrive. The induction expands the city's public transport electric bus fleet to 4,845 units, the largest in India, electrive reported.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the government aims to grow the e-bus fleet to 7,000 units by the end of 2026 and 14,000 units by 2028, according to electrive.

The government also inaugurated four electric bus depots on the same day as the deployment, electrive reported. Two depots in Narela together offer space for 250 nine-metre units, while depots in Rithala and Kohat Enclave have capacity for 30 and 90 electric buses respectively.

The expansion follows the Delhi EV Policy 2026, launched at the beginning of the month, according to electrive. The policy is valid until 31 March 2030 and offers road tax and registration fee exemptions, incentives on EVs, and an incentive for scrapping old vehicles.

Hy2gen Nordic's 100 MW Albatros plant in Denmark secured European Hydrogen Bank backing, according to Hydrogen Fuel News. The project won a premium of EUR 0.97/kg and EUR 139.8 million in support for green hydrogen.

Albatros is a planned 100 MW electrolyser plant located in Kassø, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

Solar projects across southern Honduras have hurt the local economy and the health of surrounding communities, according to a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies cited by Mongabay.

Honduran officials designated renewable energy development a national priority in 2013, seeking foreign investment in solar power technology, according to Mongabay. In one case, the government approved 23 solar parks during an overnight legislative session.

In 2014, congress approved nine contracts for the Los Prados solar project in the southern department of Choluteca, according to Mongabay. The contracts let the companies operate for 50 years and supply energy to the government for 20 years.

Protests stopped six of the nine Los Prados projects from moving forward with construction, the report said. Residents, MASSVida and the Network of Women Human Rights Defense Lawyers have filed over 30 complaints about prior consultation and other irregularities, according to Mongabay.

The U.S. Department of Energy has appointed new members to the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, according to the department, with terms that expire in May 2028.

SEAB members are appointed for a two-year term, according to the DOE, and the board meets quarterly to advise the Secretary on emerging issues tied to the department's activities and to recommend improvements to its operations. Members include leaders from research and education, exploration and production, energy financing, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity.

The appointees include Eimear P. Bonner, CFO of Chevron, and Jack Fusco, Chairman, President and CEO of Cheniere, according to the DOE. Others named to the board include Cody Campbell, Co-CEO of Double Eagle Holdings; Joseph W. Craft III, CEO of Alliance Resources Partners; Alex Cranberg, Chairman of Aspect Energy; and Bill Fehrman, Chairman of the Board of Directors, President and CEO of American Electric Power.

Secretary Chris Wright said the appointees' diverse backgrounds and expertise will help expand access to affordable, reliable, and secure American energy, according to the DOE.

A 7-megawatt Krambu data center planned for Bonner, Montana, has stalled after the property owner pulled his name from a required land-use filing, according to Inside Climate News.

Mike Heisey, who manages the Bonner Mill Industrial Park, said public concerns drove his decision to strip his signature from the Krambu special exception application. "Bonner Property will not be moving forward with the data center proposed by them," Heisey said in a statement provided by Missoula County, per Inside Climate News.

Krambu had proposed the roughly 7-megawatt facility at the Bonner Mill Industrial Park, Inside Climate News reported. Opposition built earlier in the month when more than 100 residents packed a community meeting in Bonner to object to the plan.

Missoula County's zoning rules trace back to cryptocurrency mining, according to Inside Climate News. Officials wrote the regulations after a crypto mine ran at the Bonner Industrial Park from 2017 to 2020, targeting electricity use and electronic waste.

The county holds a distinct position under those rules. Missoula County is the only county in Montana with regulations shielding residents from air and water pollution as well as noise and vibrations, said Anne Hedges of the Montana Environmental Information Center, per Inside Climate News.

Any interim zoning ordinance the county adopts could stand for up to one year under Montana law, with a possible one-year extension, Inside Climate News reported.

SolarEdge Technologies Inc. has opened national order availability in the United States for its Nexis residential solar and storage platform, according to Solar Builder. The company had previously launched Nexis in Germany, where it generated what the firm described as record order volumes.

The Nexis inverter delivers up to 13 kW on-grid and 14.5 kW off-grid, according to Solar Builder. Its battery scales from 5 kWh to 80 kWh.

SolarEdge said the system is manufactured solely in the United States, a design choice aimed at helping contractors and their projects meet domestic requirements including FEOC restrictions. SolarEdge officials said Nexis plans to use up to 40% less wall space in the average American home.

"SolarEdge Nexis has been our most anticipated residential product launch," said Nick Alex, SolarEdge's VP of residential sales in North America, per Solar Builder. Alex said the platform brings together years of innovation and customer feedback into a single system designed to make solar-plus-storage more powerful, more intuitive and easier to deploy.

SolarEdge will host a Nexis Takeover Day livestream event from noon to 2 p.m. on July 15.

BYD has opened orders for the Dolphin G DM-i plug-in hatch in Europe and the UK, with first customer deliveries set to begin in September, according to Electrek.

In Germany, the Dolphin G DM-i Active starts at €18,990 after a €4,500 government incentive and a €5,500 BYD E-Bonus discount, according to Electrek. Without the incentives, the standard Active model is priced from €28,990.

Electrek reported that the Boost, Comfort, and Sport Edition models use an 18.3 kWh Blade Battery, delivering a pure-electric range of 65 miles and a combined range of 646 miles.

All versions run a permanent-magnet synchronous front-mounted electric motor producing 161 hp and 210 Nm of torque, according to Electrek, enabling a 0 to 62 mph sprint in 8.3 seconds.

The Boost, Comfort, and Sport versions carry a 6.6 kW on-board charger and 39 kW DC charging capability, which can take the battery from 10% to 80% in 26 minutes, according to Electrek.

A Canada-based consortium is advancing plans for a major natural gas-fired power plant in Alberta, according to Power Magazine.

The Greenlight Electricity Centre is a proposed USD 3.2 billion, 932-MW gas-fired combined cycle power generation facility, Power Magazine reported. The consortium is moving forward with the project.

The facility will serve a major data center development, according to Power Magazine.

Taipingling Unit 2, a 1,116 MWe (net) pressurised water reactor, connected to the grid for the first time on 4 July and generated its first kilowatt-hour of electricity, according to China General Nuclear (CGN).

The unit is the second of six planned Hualong One (HPR1000) reactors at the site in Guangdong province. CGN expects it to officially commence power generation in the second half of 2026.

The reactor received an operating licence from China's National Nuclear Safety Administration on 30 April, and the loading of 177 fuel assemblies was completed on 3 May, according to World Nuclear News. It attained first criticality on 25 June.

Unit 1 at the site attained first criticality on 3 February and was connected to the grid on 13 February, according to World Nuclear News. It entered commercial operation on 19 April.

The Taipingling plant will eventually have six Hualong One reactors, with a total investment exceeding CNY120 billion (USD 17 billion).

Once all six units are operational, annual generation will exceed 55 billion kWh, CGN said. The plant will reduce standard coal consumption by about 16.65 million tonnes and carbon dioxide emissions by about 50.82 million tonnes annually, according to CGN.

Pace Digitek's subsidiary Lineage Power manufactured more than 260 utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) containers in its first year of commercial operation, according to ESS News.

The manufacturing facility sits in Bidadi, in the Indian state of Karnataka.

Pace Digitek said the output marks one of the largest utility-scale cell-to-BESS manufacturing achievements by an Indian company in a single year.

A consortium of Sumitomo Electric and Van Oord has landed a long-term framework agreement with SSEN Transmission covering high-voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea transmission work across the north of Scotland, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

Early design and engineering for the proposed 525 kV Shetland 2 HVDC link falls within the scope of the deal, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

That link, connecting Shetland with mainland Scotland, ranks among the first projects set to move forward under the framework, the same report said.

According to Offshore Engineer OEDigital, the developers intend the connection to add network capacity, harden system resilience and help fold renewable electricity into the wider UK energy system.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has proposed a major rewrite of its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rules, according to Power Magazine.

The agency proposed the rule on July 7, Power Magazine reported.

Power Magazine reported that the rewrite is directed by a series of recent executive orders, statutory NEPA amendments, and a Supreme Court precedent.

Saitec Offshore Technologies has turned its operating DemoSATH floating wind demonstrator, run by DemoSATH Lab, into a working site for measuring environmental interactions and testing methods to assess how the structure coexists with marine life, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The underwater campaign is part of the AQUASATH Project, which fits several complementary systems to the foundation to gauge whether floating wind supports can host marine species and share space with aquaculture, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

Engineers fitted Nature Inclusive Design components to DemoSATH's submerged columns and packed them with shells and mussels, building microhabitats that give marine organisms surfaces to grow on, shelter in, and feed around the foundation.

A multi-trophic aquaculture trial on the platform is testing whether European flat oysters, pullet carpet shell clam, mussels, and Ulva algae can be grown next to floating offshore wind operations, evaluating whether the two activities can share the site.

Kotazero handled the subsea work, collecting the components from the raft and completing their installation on DemoSATH, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) lowered its Brent spot price forecast to an average of $81.91 per barrel in 2026 and $64.76 per barrel in 2027 in its July short term energy outlook. The June outlook had put Brent at $95.39 per barrel in 2026 and $79.39 per barrel in 2027, well above the latest numbers.

The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz sits behind the revision. According to the EIA, the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on June 18 to end the conflict and reopen the strait, which had been effectively shut since February 28 when fighting began.

Daily Brent spot prices dropped below $70 per barrel on July 1, close to the level seen when the conflict started in late February, the EIA said.

Production shut-ins averaged 8.3 million barrels per day in June, down from a May peak of 11.2 million barrels per day, on the EIA's assessment.

The agency estimated that global oil inventories drew down by an average of 5.1 million barrels per day in the second quarter of 2026, with a further draw of 2.2 million barrels per day expected in the third quarter.

That pattern reverses toward year end. Inventories are forecast to build by an average of 2.7 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter of 2026 and 5.0 million barrels per day across 2027.

VinFast's city car costs $7,150, according to a CleanTechnica headline.

CleanTechnica compared the vehicle with the Fiat Topolino EV, which it said costs $13,995. The VinFast headline also stated the city car has twice the range.

According to CleanTechnica, the Fiat Topolino EV cannot be driven on roads with a speed limit over 35 mph.

China Three Gorges Corporation has moved its 1-gigawatt Hami solar-CSP hybrid in Xinjiang into commercial trial operation, according to Electrek. The plant leans on molten salt storage, not batteries, to keep generating after sunset.

The site combines 900 MW of standard photovoltaic (PV) panels with a 100 MW concentrated solar power (CSP) unit spread across 1,817 hectares, sited at the southern edge of the Tianshan mountains, Electrek reported. Capital spending totaled CNY 3.53 billion, roughly USD 480 million.

At the heart of the CSP section, 260,000 tracking mirrors span 800,000 square meters of collector surface, focusing sunlight to bring molten salt to 550 degrees Celsius and support up to eight hours of generation after dark, according to Electrek.

CTG says the plant first joined the grid on September 18, 2025, and has delivered 6.54 million kWh to the regional grid since then. The company estimates yearly output of 2.07 TWh, with annual carbon savings near 1.63 million tons of CO2, Electrek reported.

Electrek describes the project as the world's largest CSP-PV hybrid, ahead of the 950 MW Noor Energy 1 plant at Dubai's Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

CTG intends to build the Hami base out to 3 GW in a second phase. China Energy Engineering Corp has already started construction on a separate 1.5 GW hybrid in the area, matching 1.3 GW of PV with 150 MW of CSP.

The Ohio Power Siting Board has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to dismiss a solar case rather than issue a ruling, according to Canary Media.

For more than a year, the Ohio Supreme Court has been set to make what Canary Media described as a landmark ruling in a case with high stakes for renewable energy development. The Ohio Power Siting Board has now asked the court to skip that ruling and dismiss the case altogether.

The case traces back to December 2022, when the Ohio Power Siting Board denied developer Vesper Energy's permit, according to Canary Media.

SolarEdge says its new Nexis home battery system can be installed in under 30 minutes, according to Electrek. The launch in the United States follows the platform's debut in Germany.

Nexis battery capacity starts at 5 kWh and can scale up to 80 kWh, Electrek reported. The system's inverter delivers up to 13 kW while connected to the grid and up to 14.5 kW during outages.

SolarEdge says Nexis uses up to 40% less wall space than comparable systems, according to Electrek.

Tate Abdon, director of installations at Senga Energy, described the platform in comments reported by Electrek. "It's honestly like building with Legos," Abdon said.

AEP Texas has secured a federal loan worth as much as $3.26 billion to back nearly 100 transmission projects, Power Magazine reported.

The money underwrites roughly 2,800 miles of line work, spanning rebuilds, reconductoring, and fresh construction.

The agency's Office of Energy Dominance Financing confirmed the deal had closed on July 8, according to Power Magazine.

Eni North Ganal Limited has awarded SLB's OneSubsea joint venture a contract to supply a steel tube umbilical system for the Kutei North Hub deepwater development offshore East Kalimantan, Indonesia, according to World Oil.

The scope runs to engineering, procurement and manufacture of 94.6 km of steel tube umbilical rated for water depths reaching 2,200 m, World Oil reported. SLB put the total system weight at roughly 6,700 tonnes and described the award as a major umbilical contract.

The design carries a 10,000-psi operating pressure and covers a single continuous 30-km umbilical weighing about 2,100 tonnes, according to World Oil.

Eni North Ganal is held under Searah Limited, a joint venture linking Eni and PETRONAS.

Production will run across the company's Oscilay and planetary lines at the same time, an approach SLB OneSubsea said supports parallel manufacturing.

Mads Hjelmeland, chief executive of SLB OneSubsea, tied the award to the group's technical and manufacturing capabilities for deepwater work.

Qatar is delaying plans to increase liquefied natural gas (LNG) production after attacks on vessels near the Strait of Hormuz renewed concern about shipping through the waterway, according to Semafor Net Zero.

The fading prospect of a durable US-Iran ceasefire is prompting investors and energy companies to brace for prolonged instability in the Middle East, Semafor Net Zero reported.

Energy analysts warned that US oil stockpiles are far from prepared for a collapse of the ceasefire, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Prince George's County approved a two-year halt on new data center development on Tuesday, which Inside Climate News reported is the longest such pause in Maryland.

County officials framed the stop as protection for residents while the County Council writes rules covering where the server farms can be built, how they are sited, and how they are constructed, according to Inside Climate News.

The county acts after Montgomery, Frederick and Baltimore County each paused data center development in recent weeks, Inside Climate News reported.

Council chair Krystal Oriadha, who sponsored the resolution, said she backs a full ban but settled on the two-year window because the council was split. "The two-year moratorium was what the council could agree on," she said, according to Inside Climate News.

Maryland's People's Counsel David Lapp said each delay gives regulators more room to close gaps that leave ordinary households exposed to data center cost impacts, Inside Climate News reported.

Maryland has ordered a study of how the industry affects air, water, the Chesapeake Bay and the power grid, with results due Sept. 1, according to Inside Climate News.

State Sen. Katie Fry Hester said lawmakers set up a state data center registry, which she called the first in the country, listing energy and water use. It takes effect in January 2027, Inside Climate News reported.

ComEd announced the energization of two new 345 kV transmission substations on its grid, according to CleanTechnica. The substations enable the interconnection of up to 550 MW of wind generation.

The two substations are located in LaSalle and Woodford Counties, CleanTechnica reported. The added capacity is intended to connect utility-scale wind farms while improving reliability for surrounding communities.

The United States accounted for nearly 50% of the world's CO2 emissions growth in 2025, a rise attributed to an AI data center explosion, according to CleanTechnica.

The finding draws on the Energy Institute's Statistical Review of World Energy, which CleanTechnica reported is the 75th edition of the report.

Robert Rapier of OilPrice.com highlighted the finding about the US from the Energy Institute report, according to CleanTechnica.

The Victorian Liberals under Jess Wilson have pledged to pause major transmission projects and cancel the Southern Ocean offshore wind zone near Portland if elected, according to RenewEconomy.

Under the Liberal plan, a review of the new Victorian Transmission Plan would halt generation projects across the state, RenewEconomy reported. The party has said it backs offshore wind only in the Gippsland region.

State policy sets a target of at least 2 GW of offshore capacity by 2032, climbing to 9 GW by 2040, according to RenewEconomy. Nine projects with a combined 18.5 GW are in feasibility studies in the Gippsland zone, the first zone declared in Australia.

Southerly Ten published Commonwealth and state draft impact statements in May for its 2.2 GW Star of the South project and is seeking to be the first developer through environmental approvals, RenewEconomy reported.

The Port of Hastings Corporation disclosed design changes this week as it works to satisfy Commonwealth officials, after the federal government in 2024 ruled the site posed an unacceptable environmental risk, according to RenewEconomy. The corporation plans to open its full environmental plan for public comment in 2027. The state government is putting $124.5 million toward supporting the corporation through that process.

One Nation could hold the balance of power, and its stated policy is to ban offshore wind installations, RenewEconomy reported.

Complaints related to home batteries rose 107% in the first quarter of 2026 against the same period in 2025, according to RenewEconomy.

RenewEconomy reports that more than 400,000 batteries have been installed since the federal home battery rebates became available.

The consumer watchdog warns that the benefits of home batteries and solar panels could be blunted if complaints go neglected, according to RenewEconomy.

INOCEL and ACCIONA have deployed a hydrogen fuel cell generator at the Port of Valencia's North Terminal expansion to power a tower crane with zero local emissions, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

The two companies are partnering with the Port of Valencia on the project, Hydrogen Fuel News reported. INOCEL is a hydrogen company from France, and ACCIONA is described as Spain's top infrastructure player.

The partners plan to begin installation of the high-power hydrogen generator for the North Terminal expansion this month, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

The project aims to replace traditional diesel generators with zero-emission systems capable of powering a large crane in caisson dock construction, Hydrogen Fuel News reported.

Red Eléctrica has completed construction of the new 66 kV San Isidro substation in Granadilla de Abona, in southern Tenerife, according to the company. The subsidiary of Redeia is responsible for the operation and transmission of electricity in Spain.

The project represents an investment of EUR 6.8 million, Red Eléctrica said. It is included in the list of initiatives eligible for European Union NextGenerationEU funding under the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

The substation uses gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) technology, which allows it to be integrated compactly within a building, according to the company. Red Eléctrica said the approach reduces both the land footprint and the visual impact.

The scope of work includes an approximately 200-metre double-circuit 66 kV transmission line. The line provides incoming and outgoing connections for the substation from the existing 66 kV Granadilla-Arona line, according to Red Eléctrica.

The facility has four bays dedicated to the Arona and Granadilla lines and other functions, the company said.

President Donald Trump's attacks on clean energy have not spelled disaster for the energy transition but have hurt job prospects for Americans, according to Canary Media.

The analysis, published as part of Canary Media's "Chart of the Week" series, frames its jobs assessment over the period from January 2025, when Trump took office for his second term, through May 2026.

Yamaha has entered India's premium electric scooter market with the Aerox-E, an electric version of its sporty maxi-scooter, according to Electrek.

The Aerox-E runs a 9.4 kW electric motor producing 48 Nm of torque, according to Electrek. Yamaha claims a top speed of 95 km/h (59 mph).

Power comes from two removable 1.5 kWh batteries providing a combined 3 kWh, Electrek reported. Yamaha claims up to 117 km (73 miles) of range on the Indian driving cycle, with a full charge from empty taking around 3 hours and 10 minutes on the supplied dock charger.

Test riders in Indian media suggest real-world range may land closer to 80 km (50 miles) in Eco mode rather than the full 117 km claim, according to Electrek.

The scooter is priced at 282,000 INR (roughly USD 2,950), which sits above several established premium electric scooters in India, Electrek reported.

The Aerox-E batteries do not appear to follow the Honda MPP e: swappable battery standard, which a consortium of motorcycle makers including Yamaha had previously backed as a unified swappable battery standard, according to Electrek.

Energy Substantiation has issued a token called WTIC that each stand for a single barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude, according to Rigzone. The startup markets the token as claimed on physical oil holdings rather than futures or other derivatives, a departure from oil exchange-traded funds and crypto perpetuals.

WTIC carries an on-chain value near $80,000, Rigzone reported. Energy Substantiation plans to list the token on LMAX and add a further $1 million in liquidity.

The firm is coordinating with roughly a dozen commodities companies and oil suppliers, one of them a major trading house, said co-founder JP Thieriot, who added that talks with additional exchanges and market makers are underway.

Oil enters the system when suppliers bid barrels through a reverse Dutch auction, pricing them below the day's market rate, according to Rigzone.

Token holders can cash out at the daily spot closing price, though Energy Substantiation anticipates few buyers will call for actual barrels of crude.

Tokenized WTI and Brent perpetual futures now rank as the two busiest commodity products on Hyperliquid, according to Rigzone.

Drax biomass power station was the United Kingdom's largest emitter for the eleventh year running, with record emissions of 14.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, according to analysis from think tank Ember reported by CleanTechnica.

Drax collected a record GBP 999 million in subsidies last year, according to CleanTechnica. The plant is the UK's largest emitter.

EU energy ministers extended a derogation that lets Malta's planned Melita TransGas Pipeline keep its Project of Common Interest status and stay eligible for EU funding, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

Under the EU's TEN-E Regulation, Malta retains that status and remains in the running for grants from the Connecting Europe Facility, Hydrogen Fuel News reported.

The pipeline is designed to be hydrogen-ready, according to the outlet.

Preparatory studies for the project have received around EUR 4.5 million in funding over several years, Hydrogen Fuel News reported. The decision keeps the project moving forward.

The IEA committed $900 million in fresh funding for clean cooking across Africa, building on the $2.2 billion pledged at the inaugural Africa Clean Cooking Summit in Paris in 2024, Climate Home News reported.

Executive director Fatih Birol told the gathering that 3.4 billion people worldwide, the majority in Africa, lack access to affordable LPG amid the current supply crisis. He said fuel reserves in many countries have dropped below 15 days.

Roughly 30% of global seaborne LPG trade moves through the shipping route off the coast of Iran, Climate Home News reported.

Of the earlier pledges, about $750 million has already reached recipients in 22 African countries.

Clean cooking access in sub-Saharan Africa extended to nearly 12 million people in 2024. Population growth kept outpacing that gain, with the count of people still relying on more polluting fuels climbing by roughly 14 million last year.

Kenyan President William Ruto identified financing as the central obstacle, saying Kenya alone needs about $1 billion to meet its clean cooking targets.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright pointed to the United States as the largest producer and exporter of LPG, and said the Trump administration now ranks wider access to clean cooking fuels as its top international energy priority.

Israel Natural Gas Lines has finished expanding the pipeline network that carries Israeli gas into Egypt, Rigzone reported.

The upgrade lays a 46-kilometer subsea segment between Ashdod and Ashkelon, pushing East Mediterranean Gas Pipeline capacity to about 850 MMcfd, or roughly 8.5 Bcm per year.

That added throughput lets the Leviathan gas and condensate field ship up to approximately 6.5 Bcm per year to Egypt, according to Rigzone. The field already sends about 2 Bcm per year to Egypt through the Jordan North export pipeline.

The amended export deal steps up in increments. Its first tranche lifts flows from 450 MMcfd, about 4.7 Bcm per year, to 650 MMcfd, about 6.7 Bcm per year, Rigzone reported.

The pipeline work sits alongside a $2.36-billion final investment decision at Leviathan. NewMed Energy said on January 16, 2026, that the consortium had agreed the FID for stage 1 of Phase 1B, according to Rigzone. That stage targets production capacity near 21 Bcm per year and is due onstream in the second half of 2029.

Ownership of the field splits between NewMed Energy at 45.34 percent, operator Chevron at 39.66 percent through Chevron Mediterranean Ltd, and Ratio Energies LP at 15 percent, Rigzone reported.

The Environmental Defense Fund, Sierra Club and Earthjustice filed a motion on behalf of Florida Rising asking the Department of Energy to reconsider an emergency order keeping a Florida coal plant running, according to Inside Climate News. The groups argue the order fails to show that an emergency actually exists.

The order forces the Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) to keep operating a plant it had planned to retire. According to Inside Climate News, OUC had planned to move one of two coal-fired plants at the Stanton Energy Center into extended cold shutdown by the end of May, part of a 2020 plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

The DOE emergency order took effect June 4 and remains in place through Sept. 1, Inside Climate News reported. The order cited a shortage of facilities and anticipated growing demand from a data center industry in the state. It also noted a February cold snap that strained OUC's resources and forecasts for an especially hot summer.

OUC is Florida's second-largest municipal utility, serving more than 288,000 customers in Orange and Osceola counties, according to Inside Climate News.

The advocacy groups say OUC's financial reports indicate coal has been its most expensive fuel per megawatt-hour in recent years, costing more than natural gas or solar.

The Trump administration faces similar challenges in Colorado, Indiana, Michigan and Washington, where emergency orders also reversed plans to wind down coal plants, Inside Climate News reported.

Arizona's environmental regulator is set to grant Energy Fuels Resources Inc. a 10 percent increase in permitted arsenic thresholds at a uranium mine, lifting both a monitoring well's alert level and the aquifer limit under a revised Aquifer Protection Program permit, according to Inside Climate News.

The permit change moves the well's alert level to 0.05 mg/L from 0.04 mg/L, and the allowable aquifer arsenic concentration to 0.055 mg/L from 0.05 mg/L, Inside Climate News reported.

The well sits at a mine inside a national monument nine miles from the Grand Canyon's south rim, where arsenic readings have climbed since 2025 and topped the permitted alert level four times, according to Inside Climate News.

Randall Matas of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality said permitted facilities are not accountable for naturally occurring arsenic, describing the readings as arsenic drawn toward the mine by a hydraulic sink pulling off-site water inward rather than contamination leaving the site.

Energy Fuels runs the only operating uranium mill in the United States, the White Mesa facility in Utah, which turns ore into yellow cake, according to Inside Climate News.

Last month, the Department of Defense committed a $725 million conditional loan to Energy Fuels to expand domestic rare earth processing at the mill site, Inside Climate News reported.

The company's proposed Roco Honda mine in New Mexico has entered the Trump administration's fast-tracked permitting queue, even though it falls inside the Mount Taylor Traditional Cultural Property, sacred to several regional tribes, according to Inside Climate News.

PKR Offshore, the offshore wind arm of Marco Polo Marine, has agreed to charter two commissioning service operation vessels (CSOVs) to Siemens Gamesa for offshore wind work across Asia, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

The deal is non-exclusive. It commits PKR Offshore to supplying two upcoming CSOVs for a series of Siemens Gamesa wind projects in Taiwan.

The framework runs from 2029 across an initial two-year term, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital. The contract also lets the parties begin in 2028 and adds extension options ranging from one to three years.

One of the two vessels, CSOV Plus, is being built at Marco Polo Marine's Batam shipyard in Indonesia, with handover due in the second quarter of 2028.

Both CSOVs will carry Siemens Energy's BlueDrive PlusC hybrid propulsion system, which the report describes as intended to lift fuel efficiency and cut emissions.

PKR Offshore's other vessel, the CSOV Wind Archer, has been in service since it won its first charter in Taiwan in April 2025.

The two companies plan to extend the arrangement, deploying PKR Offshore's CSOV fleet on Siemens Gamesa projects in South Korea and Japan.

The European Commission opened consultation on draft rules for its fourth European Hydrogen Bank auction, a round scheduled for end-2026 that carries a EUR 500 million budget and pays winners a fixed premium tied to verified output over ten years, according to pv magazine.

The budget splits into two tranches, pv magazine reported. About EUR 350 million targets production of renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) hydrogen, while EUR 150 million covers RFNBO hydrogen and, alternatively, electrolytic low-carbon hydrogen.

Under the draft, at least 75% of a project's electrolyzers must be sourced from outside China, and the origin of key components faces further limits, according to pv magazine.

The premium mechanic mirrors the third auction, which closed in May with EUR 1.09 billion split among nine projects in seven countries, pv magazine reported. Those awards ran from EUR 0.44/kg to EUR 3.49/kg.

Subsidy levels have climbed across earlier rounds. The second auction, opened in December 2024, backed 15 renewable hydrogen projects across the European Economic Area (EEA) with EUR 992 million and premiums between EUR 0.20/kg and EUR 1.88/kg, according to pv magazine.

The program's opening round began in November 2023 with a ceiling of EUR 4.50/kg for renewable hydrogen, pv magazine reported. It drew 132 bids covering 8.5 GW of electrolyzer capacity and handed nearly EUR 720 million to seven projects in Finland, Norway, Portugal and Spain.

Petrobras has completed the acquisition of a 75% interest and operatorship in Block 3 offshore São Tomé and Príncipe, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital. The purchase expands the Brazilian state-controlled company's exploration portfolio in Africa.

Following completion, the Block 3 consortium consists of Petrobras as operator with 75%, Oranto with 15%, and the National Petroleum Agency of São Tomé and Príncipe with 10%, per Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

Petrobras had previously disclosed the transaction on April 17, 2026, according to the same outlet. Oranto sold its 75% interest to Petrobras while retaining a 15% share in the block.

Petrobras said the deal aligns with its strategy of replenishing oil and gas reserves by exploring new frontiers in Brazil and abroad, as set out in its Business Plan.

TCL Zhonghuan will spend CNY 1.4 billion to switch 20 GW of its TOPCon cell output over to back-contact (BC) production, according to pv magazine. Of that total, 6 GW sits at the Quzhou site and 14 GW at Xinzhou.

Work on the cell lines is set to start in July 2026, pv magazine reported. Those converted lines should enter production ramp-up by the close of the third quarter of 2026.

Full output at the reworked plants is targeted for the end of the first quarter of 2027, according to pv magazine.

Separately, the module side of the overhaul spans five locations: 3 GW at Quzhou, 4 GW at Yixing, 8 GW at Jingshan, 9 GW at Tianjin, and 1 GW at Zhangzhou, pv magazine reported.

Norwegian energy companies Eviny and Statkraft plan to merge their fast-charging operations, with Eviny acquiring Statkraft's subsidiary Mer in exchange for shares, according to electrive. The deal is subject to antitrust approval.

The combined business will be named Eviny Elektrifisering and based in Bergen, electrive reported. Eviny will hold 57 per cent of the merged entity and Statkraft 43 per cent. The two companies say the tie-up will create the largest fast-charging provider in the Nordic countries.

According to electrive, the new company's market share is expected to reach 24 per cent in Norway and 14 per cent in Sweden.

Henrik Sætness, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development at Statkraft, said the charging market is in a consolidation phase where scale and cost efficiency are becoming increasingly important for profitability. Eviny CEO Ragnhild Janbu Fresvik said the merged company will double its revenues while reducing costs.

Eviny is developing a fast-charging network with 142 locations as part of the Deutschlandnetz in Germany, and is collaborating with partners including Grr Garbe Retail, electrive reported.

In Norway, 97.6 per cent of all newly registered passenger cars were battery-electric in the first half of 2026, according to electrive.

Chevron Corp has signed an agreement to supply 46 petajoules of natural gas to Alinta Energy Pty Ltd over five years, according to Rigzone. Supply to the Perth-based utility, sourced from Chevron's Western Australian projects, will start July 2027, a joint statement said Wednesday.

The deal continues a supply relationship that began in 2020, when Chevron executed a seven-year agreement to supply 20 petajoules per year of Western Australian gas to Alinta, Rigzone reported. That earlier arrangement drew on the Wheatstone project.

The new agreement expands sourcing to include production from the Gorgon and North West Shelf projects alongside Wheatstone, according to Rigzone. Gorgon and Wheatstone together provide approximately 40 percent of Western Australia's domestic gas supply, Chevron Australia president Balaji Krishnamurthy said.

The Wheatstone project includes a two-train liquefied natural gas facility with a capacity of 8.9 million metric tons per annum and a domestic gas plant that delivers up to 230 terajoules per day, Rigzone reported. Gorgon has three liquefaction trains with a combined capacity of 15.6 million metric tons per annum and a domestic gas plant that supplies up to 300 terajoules a day.

Alinta and LNG Japan Corp announced a separate deal earlier this week under which Alinta committed to buying 30 petajoules of gas from the Scarborough field offshore Western Australia, according to Rigzone.

Central and western Europe are on track to finish 2026 with irradiance running above the seasonal norm, with pockets landing around 5% higher, according to a Solcast forecast reported by pv magazine.

The projection extends beyond Europe. Solcast expects the final six months of the year to deliver above-normal irradiance across much of Southeast Asia, northern South America and eastern Australia, and it flags Southeast Asia as the region where its models line up most closely and North America as the area carrying the widest uncertainty.

Solcast built the outlook by lining up seasonal forecasts for the back half of 2026 from four meteorological centres: ECMWF, UKMO, JMA and NCEP. According to pv magazine, those centres agree that El Nino will strengthen into a strong to very strong event by late 2026, running alongside elevated sea surface temperatures worldwide.

Europe's positive irradiance swing from the first half of the year is forecast to hold through year end, concentrated across central and western areas, with some finishing near 5% above normal.

Solcast generates the figures by tracking clouds and aerosols globally at 1-2km resolution, with a typical bias under 2%.

New solar additions in Switzerland dropped to 1.33 GW in 2025, compared with 1.8 GW the year before, according to Swissolar figures reported by ESS News. Swissolar attributed the pullback to uncertainty over the country's energy and electricity policies, calling it the first yearly drop in new photovoltaic installations since 2017.

Battery demand ran the opposite direction. Swissolar reported that lithium-ion storage demand grew 70% against the prior year. Volumes sold rose to 490.1 MWh in 2025 from 287.4 MWh in 2024.

By the close of the year, the country operated 338,270 photovoltaic systems with a combined 9.5 GW of installed capacity, ESS News reported. Output from those systems approached 8 TWh, a 33.3% gain over the prior year, and covered 13.71% of national electricity consumption.

Among new capacity, commercial and industrial installations led at 547 MW, ahead of multifamily buildings at 204.4 MW, per the Swissolar data.

BYD Energy Storage has been contracted to supply 11.275 GWh of battery storage for Masdar's Round the Clock (RTC) project in Abu Dhabi, according to Electrek.

The RTC project pairs a 5.2 GW solar array with a 19 GWh battery system, which Electrek describes as the world's largest combined solar-plus-storage plant.

BYD's portion covers a single battery station rated at 1,644 MW / 11,275 MWh and uses the company's Haohan storage system, according to BYD. The remaining 7.5 GWh of the project's storage was signed by Sungrow in an earlier phase, according to Electrek.

When Masdar unveiled the RTC project in early 2025, it named CATL as its preferred battery supplier, according to Electrek.

The Haohan system uses BYD's 2,710 Ah Blade Battery, which the company says has more than 300% higher capacity than legacy grid-storage cells. BYD says the system is rated IP66 for dust and sand and built to operate from -30°C to 55°C.

BYD recently landed a 12.5 GWh grid-storage contract in Saudi Arabia, according to Electrek.

Porterville Unified School District in California is adopting solar power, battery energy storage, and electric school buses, according to CleanTechnica.

The district is working with ForeFront Power on the project, CleanTechnica reported. The combination pairs on-site generation and storage with a shift to electric transport for the district's fleet.

CleanTechnica described the district as quite rural, sitting between Los Angeles and San Francisco, or Los Angeles and Sacramento.

Air conditioning remains rare across Europe even as record heat grips the continent, according to Carbon Brief. The best available estimates cited by Carbon Brief put AC use at about 6% of households in Germany and just 4% in England.

That contrasts sharply with the United States, where more than 90% of households have AC installed, according to Carbon Brief.

The figures come as France, Germany and the UK saw record-breaking heat and thousands of heat-related deaths in summer 2026, Carbon Brief reported, with June temperatures in many regions passing 40C.

Carbon Brief attributed the intensity of the heat to a warming climate, noting Europe now sits around 2.5C above pre-industrial levels.

Sungrow has been contracted to provide 125 MWh of battery energy storage across two grid-supporting sites in Bavaria, Germany, according to ESS News.

At Wutzldorf, the manufacturer is building a 25 MWh battery rated for five hours of discharge, tied into the Bayernwerk distribution network, ESS News reported. That site was structured under Section 11a of Germany's Energy Industry Act (EnWG), and operations are due to begin within weeks, according to the outlet.

The second and larger site sits at Winterschneidbach, where a 100 MWh grid-supporting battery is planned, ESS News reported. Sungrow said equipment deliveries there are set for November.

The Winterschneidbach unit is also configured for five-hour discharge and runs as a pilot project, according to ESS News.

The United States broke a long stretch without new nuclear power plant construction in April, when two next-generation nuclear developers broke ground on their debut plants, according to Canary Media.

The country had spent a yearslong dry spell without building new nuclear plants before that point, Canary Media reported.

Giga Storage will start construction on its 700 MW/2.8 GWh Green Turtle battery project in Belgium in September, with commissioning expected in 2028, according to ESS News.

The construction timeline followed the financial close for the project, which ESS News reported was announced on 10 July and completed on 9 July by Giga Storage alongside a consortium of 10 international banks.

The banks will provide €450 million in foreign equity, according to ESS News, with the remaining funding brought in as equity by InfraVia Capital Partners, the French majority owner of Giga Storage.

The banking consortium comprises Rabobank, Santander, SMBC, Triodos Investment Management, ING, ABN AMRO, a.s.r., Belfius, and HCOB, according to ESS News.

Green Turtle will connect to a 380 kV high-voltage grid via a high-voltage station configured for the project by Belgian grid operator Elia, ESS News reported. After commissioning, Elia will use the storage capacity to help balance the national grid.

Giga Storage is also working towards financial completion of the 350 MW/1.4 GWh Project Albatross battery in Lower Saxony, Germany, according to ESS News. Across its markets, the company aims to have 2 GW of operational storage capacity by 2030.

Murat Kurum, the COP31 president-designate, set out a goal for electricity to supply 35% of the world's final energy by 2035, according to Carbon Brief.

Kurum told Carbon Brief that the "35 by 35" figure rests on analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) of what would keep the 1.5C Paris Agreement target within reach.

Buildings, transport and industry are where the goal will be won or lost, Kurum said, describing them as sectors that together produce around 45% of global emissions.

He cited polling from the We Mean Business Coalition, in which 90% of businesses said they expect to have largely electrified operations by 2035, while 88% said electrification would make them more competitive.

Turkey aims to reach 120 GW of renewable capacity by 2035, Kurum said.

The European Commission will unveil a 2040 electrification target on July 17, Carbon Brief reported, citing Bloomberg, with a leaked draft aiming to halve oil use and cut gas use by two-thirds.

The European Commission is expected to open an in-depth investigation into the merger of Saipem and Subsea 7 once its preliminary review closes on July 22, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The two firms disclosed the tie-up in February last year, combining their offshore energy services operations across drilling, engineering, and subsea infrastructure work for oil and gas projects, OEDigital reported.

Antitrust reviews are running in more than one jurisdiction. The Australian regulator ordered its own in-depth investigation last week, citing concerns that the combination could weaken competition in key offshore oil and gas services, according to OEDigital.

Brazilian authorities cleared the transaction unconditionally last month, a ruling that prompted lawsuits from companies opposed to the merger, OEDigital reported.

The two companies draw on different client rosters. Saipem lists Saudi Aramco, QatarEnergy, and Abu Dhabi's ADNOC among its customers, while Subsea 7 works more with international oil firms including BP and Equinor, according to OEDigital.