Friday, 25 September 2026

Northern Ireland has enough sustainable feedstock to produce 8 TWh of biomethane a year, covering almost half of the region's economy-wide gas demand and more than the entire gas load of homes and businesses, according to a Green Gas Taskforce report cited by Bioenergy News.

South of the border, Padraig Fleming told Enlit that Ireland's biomethane sector is gaining momentum, but said new support and investment will be key to reaching 5.7 TWh by 2030.

Richard Kennedy, chief executive of Carbon AMS, told Radio Kerry that farmers in Kerry could help end Ireland's reliance on imported natural gas. Carbon AMS is developing Ireland's first agricultural biomethane plant, according to the broadcaster.

OX2, the wind developer owned by private equity firm EQT, has handed over the Green Breeze wind farm in Romania to its owner, Nala Renewables, according to Event Registry.

The site has a capacity of 99.2 MW and is now in commercial operation. Green Breeze is OX2's first project in Romania to reach that stage, per the same report.

Ørsted and Nuveen Infrastructure have inaugurated Borkum Riffgrund 3, a 913 MW offshore wind farm in Germany, according to reNEWS.

The two partners each hold a 50% stake in the project, which sits about 72 kilometres off the German North Sea coast.

Ørsted described Borkum Riffgrund 3 as its largest offshore wind farm in Germany, saying annual output can cover the electricity consumption of almost one million German households.

Uzbekistan is putting USD 20 million into a new manufacturing facility in the Andijan district that will build equipment for small and micro hydropower plants, according to Trend.

The project is scheduled to reach full capacity in 2027, Trend reported. At that point, annual output is set at 100 small hydropower plant complexes, alongside micro-hydropower equipment, machine tools and electrical products, with the yearly production valued at about 70 billion soums, or roughly USD 5.9 million.

UzDaily reported that the site is expected to create 200 jobs.

The UK government has issued guidance setting the Renewables Obligation level for the 2027 to 2028 period along with the calculation methodology underpinning it, according to UK DESNZ.

The Renewables Obligation scheme places an annual requirement on UK electricity suppliers to present a specified number of Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) per megawatt hour of electricity supplied to their customers during each obligation period, with Ofgem acting as the scheme's administrator, per UK DESNZ.

Norwegian energy services firm Otovo and EV charging installer InCharge Energy have formed a partnership offering a single service relationship covering solar, battery storage and EV charging equipment, according to Solar Builder.

Under the arrangement, each company can offer the other's preventative maintenance plans for renewable energy projects, Solar Builder reported, citing officials.

Otovo is contributing its Endurance AI platform to the tie-up, using it to log, dispatch and close jobs across the two firms against a single site record, per Solar Builder.

Combining the two companies' service footprints produces a network of more than 100,000 renewable energy assets, according to Solar Builder.

Researchers in South Korea have developed a method to upcycle high-purity silver nanoparticles reclaimed from end-of-life silicon solar panels into electrocatalysts for high-rate carbon monoxide production, according to PV Magazine.

The recycled-silver gas diffusion electrode carries a rough surface texture that, PV Magazine reported, helped prevent flooding inside the electrolyzer.

In testing, the end-of-life silver electrode ran continuous CO2 electrolysis for more than 600 hours in a 10 cm² zero-gap cell at a current density of 100 mA/cm², per PV Magazine. Pushed to 200 mA/cm², the electrode operated for 55 hours while holding carbon monoxide selectivity at around 95%, the outlet reported.

Germany, Austria and Luxembourg have launched a dual-auction mechanism to accelerate the European market expansion of renewable electricity-based sustainable aviation fuel (eSAF), according to PV Magazine.

Germany will contribute up to EUR 2 billion to the program, while Austria and Luxembourg will each provide up to EUR 60 million, PV Magazine reported.

The scheme is designed to connect eSAF producers with buyers, with public subsidies covering the residual price gap between supply and demand.

Ormat's Dixie Valley geothermal project in Nevada was selected for up to USD 25 million in DOE funding, according to Investing.com. The company's Cove Fort geothermal project in Utah was selected for up to USD 9.7 million from the same program.

Investing.com reported that the funding remains subject to completion of award negotiations with DOE.

Some solar panels in Australia are being discarded when they are only two years old, according to RenewEconomy.

A photovoltaic expert cited by RenewEconomy said a retirement fee could address the practice of retiring panels so early in their working life.

RenewEconomy did not attach a volume, jurisdiction-specific rule, or fee design to the proposal in the cited reporting.

EWS partly credited shading and microclimate changes beneath its tracking photovoltaic arrays for a higher winter wheat yield recorded at an agrivoltaic site, according to PV Magazine.

The company said the result is still under evaluation. EWS also noted that agricultural yields depend on multiple factors and that longer-term research is needed to establish the effects of agrivoltaics on crop output.

A turbine blade at the Vineyard Wind 1 project broke apart on July 13, 2024, roughly 15 miles off the southwest coast of Nantucket.

Six public beaches on the island's south shore were closed to swimming after debris washed ashore, according to CBS News Boston as cited in the reporting.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement suspended construction and power generation across the entire Vineyard Wind 1 project within days of the failure, not just at the damaged turbine. The suspension held for six months and lifted in mid-January 2025.

A year after the failure, in July 2025, Nantucket and turbine manufacturer GE Vernova announced a $10.5 million settlement.

In a separate development, Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport Ismail Vadi launched an R80 million road rehabilitation project between Bronkhorstspruit and Ekangala, in the City of Tshwane. Vadi said the D670 road carries heavy traffic volumes, particularly coal trucks running between mines and power stations, and has deteriorated to the point of requiring major rehabilitation.

Jacobs has extended its engagement on thyssenkrupp Steel's direct reduction iron (DRI) project in Duisburg, Germany, as construction progresses toward first iron production at the facility, according to Chemanalyst.

Under the extended scope, Jacobs will continue to provide project management office, construction management and assembly management services for the hydrogen-capable plant, Chemanalyst reported.

Once completed, the Duisburg plant is expected to produce approximately 2.5 million metric tons of direct reduced iron per year, giving thyssenkrupp Steel a lower-carbon ironmaking route, according to the same report.