Thursday, 23 July 2026

The U.S. Department of Energy issued an emergency order requiring the Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (SPP) to run specified generating units and keep them operating as needed to hold reliability during a stretch of hot weather. DOE acted on a request from SPP.

Under the order, SPP can call on backup generation resources as a last resort ahead of declaring an Energy Emergency Alert (EEA) 3, or while an EEA 3 is in effect.

The order took effect when issued on July 20, 2026, and lapses at 11:59 PM ET on July 21, 2026.

DOE estimates that more than 35 GW of unused backup generation is available nationwide, the pool the order lets SPP draw from.

Secretary Wright said the administration is tapping unused backup generation to keep power supply reliable.

Windey Energy has bought a former Siemens Gamesa wind turbine factory in Camaçari, Bahia, and will use it to assemble battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Brazil, ESS News reported. The purchase establishes a local manufacturing base for the Chinese company.

The company estimates it will spend up to BRL 100 million (USD 18 million) over three to five years, ESS News reported, with more than BRL 30 million committed in the first year.

Windey first weighed producing wind turbines at the site, then switched to battery storage as grid constraints and renewable energy curtailment raised demand for flexibility solutions, according to ESS News.

Early output will come from a 1,500 sqm production area, where Windey plans to assemble units using battery packs imported from its facilities in China, ESS News reported. Deliveries of the first locally assembled systems are expected in the first quarter of 2027.

A later expansion phase could lift annual production capacity from an initial 1.5 GWh to between 5 GWh and 7 GWh, according to ESS News.

Windey has already booked its first commercial and industrial storage sale in the country, a 2 MWh system for shopping centers aimed at cutting peak electricity demand, delivered with local integrator 499 Solar, ESS News reported.

The Camaçari site covers 25,000 m² and comes with offices, cranes, and production facilities already in place, ESS News reported. Windey said that existing infrastructure reduces the time and capital needed to start local BESS manufacturing.

Idemitsu Australia is proposing a 108 MW/864 MWh vanadium flow battery with eight hours of storage at a former coal mine site in Muswellbrook, New South Wales, according to ESS News.

The project would sit at the Muswellbrook Coal Mine, with up to 200 MW of bidirectional inverter capacity to let the system charge or discharge over shorter periods when market conditions allow, ESS News reported. It will connect to the grid via Ausgrid's 132 kV Sandy Creek substation.

Idemitsu expects construction to begin in early 2028, with a build phase of about two years, according to ESS News.

Idemitsu said vanadium redox flow batteries offer a non-flammable electrolyte, negligible degradation over 30 years, and flexible storage duration, with capacity extendable by adding electrolyte. The company said the vanadium electrolyte used in the battery will be manufactured in Australia.

The flow battery is one of several storage and generation projects planned for the site. Idemitsu is working with OX2, which has commenced construction of a 135 MW solar farm and a 135 MW/270 MWh battery project at the site, ESS News reported.

Idemitsu is also collaborating with AGL to build a 400 MW pumped hydro project at the mine site, which would provide up to eight hours of energy storage.

A 60 MWh solar-plus-storage site in Portugal has entered service under Prosolia Energy, ESS News reported. The Albispark asset ties a 34.4 MWp solar array to a 15 MW battery rated at 60 MWh, feeding directly into the 150 kV transmission grid.

Trina Storage delivered the batteries at Albispark, per ESS News.

Across the border in Spain, Grenergy closed a EUR 100 million senior non-recourse package for its Oviedo standalone battery project, ESS News reported. Banco Santander and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) arranged the funds, which cover credit facilities.

Grenergy locked in a 10-year financial tolling deal for Oviedo in February with an international investment-grade energy company, and that contract runs from 2028. The developer sees the plant starting up in the first half of 2027.

Oviedo sits within Grenergy's standalone storage platform, which spans nearly 30 GWh across six European markets, according to ESS News.

Red Eléctrica has brought into service the expansion of the Betxí substation, a 220 kV facility in the province of Castellón, according to the company's press office.

The transmission operator, a subsidiary of Redeia responsible for power transmission and system operation in Spain, said the upgrade mainly aims to boost the flow of electricity from the transmission grid to the distribution network.

According to Red Eléctrica, the project increases capacity to absorb growing demand from the industrial sector, particularly the ceramics sector, and from residential consumption in Plana Baixa.

The initiative was authorised in April 2024 as part of the Specific Amendments to the current Energy Planning framework, the company said.

Europe could install 25 GW of wind and solar at existing hydropower sites across seven EU countries without building extra grid capacity, according to a new Ember report.

The additions would rely on grid connections already in place at those hydropower sites, the report found.

Elisabeth Cremona, Energy Infrastructures Lead at Ember, said political ambitions mean nothing if clean electrons are stranded in connection queues.

EnerVenue introduced the Energy Rack, a 150 kWh DC storage unit built around NASA-derived Aqueous Metal Cell technology, according to ESS News.

The cell chemistry traces back to nickel-hydrogen batteries that NASA first developed, hardware that has flown in space for more than three decades, ESS News reported. EnerVenue said the metal-hydrogen design is rated for up to 30,000 cycles and carries a 30-year design life in utility-scale service.

A company spokesperson put the cell at 30,000 charge cycles against roughly 4,000 for a lithium-ion cell of the kind commonly deployed, and said it uses no lithium or rare earth materials.

Each modular unit runs at up to 1,500 Vdc and tips the scales near 5,000 kg, EnerVenue said. Rack-level round-trip efficiency reaches at least 85%, with charge and discharge rates supported up to 10C.

Under UL 9540A testing, EnerVenue said the system showed no fire risk from thermal runaway, an outcome the firm expects to ease permitting and trim balance-of-system and insurance costs.

Firmed renewables now average around 50% of total supply in the Australian electricity market, helping the country avoid the wholesale price surge hitting gas-reliant regions, according to the IEA's Electricity Mid-Year Update 2026.

The report was released on Thursday. In the European Union and Japan, average spot wholesale electricity prices rose by more than 30% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2026, the IEA said.

Spikes in LNG prices tied to the Strait of Hormuz crisis have raised the cost of gas-fired electricity generation, which in turn pushed up wholesale electricity prices in several regions from March onward, according to the IEA.

Australia moved in the opposite direction, according to RenewEconomy. The shift to renewables has helped send wholesale electricity prices lower because the market relies much less on peaking gas or costly coal.

That outcome rests on a buffer of firmed renewables averaging around half of total supply in the national market, the IEA report found.

Canada announced CAD 5.9 million for PEI Energy Corporation to advance the Prince Edward Island-New Brunswick Interconnection Expansion Project, according to Natural Resources Canada. The announcement was made by Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.

The money funds preparatory work ahead of construction by 2028, Natural Resources Canada said. That work covers engineering studies, marine surveys, environmental assessments, stakeholder and Indigenous engagement, regulatory work, and preliminary transmission route and substation design.

The project would build two new 200-megawatt, 138-kilovolt submarine cables between the two provinces, according to Natural Resources Canada. It also includes transmission upgrades and the modernization of substations in both provinces.

The Government of Canada identified the interconnection expansion as one of five priority transmission projects at the Energy and Mines Minister's Meeting in June 2026, Natural Resources Canada said.

The investment comes from Natural Resources Canada's Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program, a CAD 4.5-billion program that supports grid modernization, energy storage, and non-emitting electricity generation projects across Canada.

National electricity demand is expected to double by 2050, according to Natural Resources Canada.

The Premiers of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island signed a Memorandum of Understanding to advance Maritime Regional Electricity Co-operation and System Integration, according to Natural Resources Canada. The agreement was signed on the margins of the First Ministers' Meeting in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, with support from the Government of Canada.

Natural Resources Canada said electricity demand is expected to double by 2050, and that the challenges facing the grid in 2026 have outgrown province-by-province approaches.

Over the past five years, energy costs in Atlantic Canada have increased significantly, outpacing growth in median household incomes and GDP, according to Natural Resources Canada.

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson said building a more efficient and better-connected electricity system is essential to energy security, economic growth and the affordable cost of living Canadians expect.

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt described New Brunswick as the Maritimes' energy hub, citing the province's leadership in nuclear energy and stronger electricity interties across the region. Holt said New Brunswick is well positioned to help build a cleaner, more affordable, reliable and resilient electricity system.

GAC Aion and CALB are extending the battery warranty on affected Aion S vehicles from eight years or 150,000km to eight years or 300,000km, according to electrive.

The reported problems cover swollen battery cells, leaks, insulation faults, and range losses, electrive said. Complaints have been rising since the beginning of the year, particularly in vehicles with mileages between 150,000 and 300,000km.

According to CarNewsChina, 182 complaints about the Aion S were lodged on Chinese consumer platforms within a fortnight. Reports indicate a relevant Aion S vehicle population of around 213,000 cars, per electrive.

No official recall has been issued, electrive reported.

CALB's first European battery cell factory is under construction in Sines, Portugal, and is scheduled to start operations in 2028 with an initial annual capacity of around 15GWh, according to electrive.