Saturday, 3 October 2026

Ukrainian forces reportedly struck oil infrastructure in Russia's Volgograd and Samara regions overnight, with fires reported at facilities in both regions, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Ukrainian activist Serhii Sternenko and the Exilenova Plus monitoring channel identified the likely targets as the Volgograd Oil Refinery and the Samara oil distribution station.

Regional governors said Russian air defenses shot down Ukrainian drones over several regions of western and southern Russia from Thursday evening into Friday, with no casualties reported.

Russia's Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 227 Ukrainian drones during Thursday over more than a dozen regions, including the Moscow region and Crimea, and over the Black Sea.

The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is weighing a further cut to the number of emergency diesel generators kept in automatic standby, as diesel fuel supplies at the site remain a concern, according to the IAEA.

Diesel reserves at the plant are low after it leaned on its emergency diesel generators for nearly three weeks during an extended loss of off-site power in August and September, the IAEA said. Efforts to rebuild those reserves have been hampered by military activity in the area.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said prompt fuel delivery would have a large positive impact on nuclear safety at the site. "I call on all sides to work with the IAEA to achieve this goal," Grossi said.

Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Karim Badawi said Egypt can link oil, gas and mineral output from across Africa to regional and global buyers through its existing energy assets.

Those assets, as Badawi described them, cover gas networks, the LNG plants at Idku and Damietta, pipelines, petroleum ports, refineries and petrochemical complexes.

African producers could route crude through Egyptian refineries to process, blend, store and ship it there, Badawi said, letting the continent capture processing revenue instead of only selling raw crude abroad.

Badawi tied that offer to geography, noting that ports, storage and pipelines sitting on both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea connect Egypt to international shipping and trade routes.

The U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund (URIF) approved a batch of new investments across energy and critical minerals, the fund said in a press release.

URIF's debt financing covers DTEK's 200 MW/400 MWh battery storage system, built across six sites in Ukraine, according to the release.

The fund will set up a joint investment platform with Ukrainian company BGV Group Management, the release said. The platform targets a portfolio of early-stage mining projects across Ukraine within the country's critical minerals sector.

URIF also took an equity stake in a multi-site distributed combined heat and power (CHP) cogeneration platform. That stake funds construction and operation of local energy hubs meant to restore electricity and heat supply damaged by the war, according to the release.

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 would expand federal transmission authority through four grid policy provisions, according to the Niskanen Center. The bill is sponsored by Senators Mike Lee, Shelley Moore Capito, Martin Heinrich, and Sheldon Whitehouse.

The legislation directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to set standards for interregional transmission planning and cost allocation, the Niskanen Center said.

The bill would grant FERC enhanced federal backstop siting authority for lines over 230 kV. Under that provision, developers could apply to FERC and state regulators at the same time, according to the Niskanen Center.

To clear the backlog of power plants waiting to connect, the bill would require FERC to initiate a rulemaking obliging grid planners to use software automation on interconnection queues, the Niskanen Center said.

The Group of Seven will start releasing 100 million barrels of fuel at once and keep drawing on reserves for four months, the bloc said in a Friday statement. Its members are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S.

Diesel will lead the drawdown, with a front-loaded release in the first 20 days by G7 members and partners, the group said.

The seven governments also agreed to coordinate maintenance schedules at their refineries to avoid simultaneous shutdowns and lift utilization rates at plants that turn crude into gasoline and diesel.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has ordered officials to prepare an energy-resiliency policy package by August, according to Event Registry.

Event Registry reported that new nuclear reactor construction is likely to feature as a primary recommendation in that package.

The move follows the war in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz energy crisis, which have returned nuclear power to the center of energy security debates in Japan and across Asia, according to Event Registry. The same crisis has quickened efforts to diversify and stockpile energy supplies.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Air Resources Board joined a coalition of 25 states, counties, and cities in suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its rescission of three main aspects of the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards, according to the office of Attorney General Bonta. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The EPA rule change repeals protections against greenhouse gas emissions from coal-, oil-, and gas-fired power plants, according to the attorney general's office.

Bonta and the coalition asked the court to vacate the EPA's rescission of the 2024 standards and restore the agency's greenhouse gas emission standards.

California and the coalition allege that the rescission of the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards violates the Clean Air Act.

GCC countries have awarded more than USD 417 billion in oil, gas and petrochemical contracts since 2017, averaging over USD 46 billion annually, according to MEED.

Oil and gas represents the largest share of the UAE's planned energy investment, according to EICDataStream data cited by Zawya. Upstream projects account for almost 40% of estimated capital expenditure.

The Saskatchewan Party government said it will build two nuclear reactors in northwestern Saskatchewan, with the first expected to come online by 2042.

The provincial government set a goal of 2,600 MW of nuclear generation on Saskatchewan's grid by 2050, enough to power about 2.6 million homes.

SaskPower selected a site at Rafferty Reservoir near Estevan for further study as the potential home of the province's first small modular reactor (SMR), a plan the city is welcoming, according to CTV News.

All three candidates running for governor of Maine agree that energy affordability is a priority, according to The Maine Monitor.

The average cost of heating oil recently reached a record of more than USD 6 per gallon, The Maine Monitor reported. That figure sits behind a race in which the candidates diverge on how to hold costs down.

Democrat Hannah Pingree and independent Rick Bennett believe energy affordability and climate action can be pursued together, according to The Maine Monitor.

Republican Bobby Charles said the state should focus on affordability while supporting both renewable energy and fossil fuels, including new natural gas pipelines, The Maine Monitor reported.

The shared emphasis on affordability spans the field despite the different paths each candidate favors.

A review by DeSmog found that AI is moving deeper into the operations of large oil and gas producers, used to locate and extract more hydrocarbons rather than cut emissions. Drawing on company announcements, industry presentations, and other public material, DeSmog traced AI across seismic exploration, drilling, equipment monitoring, and field development at Aramco, Chevron, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies.

The applications DeSmog documented run from mapping seabeds and pinpointing new oil reservoirs to gauging well abandonment risks, inspecting facilities, and speeding regulatory paperwork.

Equinor re-scanned the Norwegian continental shelf using new seismic technology and AI, yielding 27 new oil discoveries, Hege Skryseth, the company's executive vice president and chief technology officer, said during a June presentation at Equinor's Capital Market Day.

Those gains carry a climate cost. One study estimated AI could lift global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions by between 1.2% and 4.8%, with productivity gains in fossil fuel production driving most of that rise.

Arizona has joined about 20 other states in suing the Trump administration over its efforts to eliminate emissions standards for fossil fuel power plants, according to KJZZ.

Maine joined 20 other states and several cities in the challenge, which targets the repeal of EPA rules limiting greenhouse gas emissions from coal and natural gas power plants, according to Fox23 Maine.

Arizona and other states and cities asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to strike down the EPA's decision, arguing it was made illegally, according to KJZZ.

Nigeria's state oil company, NNPC, reported an after-tax profit of about USD 5.43 billion for 2025, according to africa.com.

The result marked a 33% increase from the previous year, africa.com reported.

NNPC Chief Executive Bayo Ojulari attributed the rise to tighter operational discipline, efficiency improvements and continued investment in infrastructure and assets, according to africa.com.

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has launched CRIMSON-1, a satellite carrying locally developed perovskite solar cells and artificial intelligence (AI) designed to analyse images directly in orbit, according to NTU Singapore.

The satellite launched on 1 October aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the Transporter-18 rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, United States, NTU Singapore said.

CRIMSON-1 will gather performance data on lightweight perovskite solar cells in space while testing technology that could help future spacecraft analyse raw data before transmitting it to Earth, according to NTU Singapore.

In Low Earth Orbit, the satellite will test the cells' physical durability and efficiency and measure how much electrical power they generate, NTU Singapore said.

Connecticut's average diesel price was about USD 6.47 per gallon on Thursday, according to AAA, just below a record set days earlier.

Regional distillate inventories have fallen sharply heading into winter. New England held 2.5 million barrels of distillate fuel in the week ending Sept. 25, down from more than 12.6 million barrels in the corresponding late September week of 2020.

Katie Childs said market backwardation, a structure in which near-term prices sit above later-dated ones, has helped keep inventories low even as winter approaches.

Stanbic Bank Kenya Limited will act as Receiving Bank and Custodian Bank for a proposed programme that would let Kenyan investors buy into the Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals FZE initial public offering through the Nairobi Securities Exchange, according to khusoko.com. The role is subject to regulatory approval and final terms.

The programme targets up to USD 300 million in participation from Kenyan investors, according to kenyaonlinenews.com.

Egypt is developing two large standalone battery energy-storage projects at Benban, the solar-generation complex in Aswan Governorate. The projects are named Nefertiti and Horus.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development describes Nefertiti as a 500 MW/1,000 MWh standalone battery energy-storage system.

Together, Nefertiti and Horus will form Egypt's first standalone utility-scale energy-storage facilities. The two projects mark a move beyond adding renewable generation toward the storage infrastructure that makes that generation more flexible.

Intelligence reviewed by European partners outlines a reported Russian plan to use up to 1,000 missiles, drones and bombs against Ukraine's critical infrastructure, according to Memesita. The document describes an effort to force the collapse of the country's energy system.

The reported campaign would hit electrical substations, hydroelectric and thermal power plants, and boiler houses, according to RBC-Ukraine.

The plan seeks to force Ukraine's three operating nuclear power plants to shut down by striking the distribution substations that connect them to the grid, RBC-Ukraine reported.

According to Memesita, the plan prioritizes Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa, where the stated objective is to reduce electricity supplies by 90%, cut heat supplies by up to 90%, and disrupt sewage systems.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects global data-center electricity consumption to roughly double to approximately 950 TWh by 2030. Electricity use from AI-focused data centers is expected to triple over the same period, according to the IEA.

The agency says the power density of AI servers increased elevenfold between 2020 and 2025, and it expects a further fourfold increase by 2027. A single hyperscale AI-focused facility can reach 100 MW or more.

The UK Foreign Office said Russia is attempting to build a new shadow fleet to circumvent sanctions and sustain revenue from its gas exports.

Russia has reportedly built at least two new tankers, each about 300 meters long, to carry liquefied natural gas (LNG) through the Arctic, according to the Foreign Office. Both vessels entered service earlier this year.

Britain imposed sanctions on eight additional vessels, including the Russian-flagged LNG tankers Alexey Kosygin and Konstantin Posiet.

Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles attacked strategic facilities in Russia's Samara Region on the night of Friday, October 2, according to charter97.org.

Japan announced additional sanctions against Russia the same day, targeting a shadow fleet of vessels that transport sanctioned Russian oil, according to semasocial.com.

The Japanese measures restrict the provision of services to 35 vessels, the Foreign Ministry said in reporting cited by semasocial.com.

The average UK diesel price reached 199.35p per litre, according to the RAC, surpassing the previous record set in 2022.

UK diesel has risen by 59p per litre, or just under 40%, since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East in February, the RAC reported.

The price pressure has been linked to severe disruption of oil shipping routes and refineries, including the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global oil supply.

In Australia, the national median diesel price stood at $2.88 per litre, with some stations charging more than $3, according to news.com.au.

India's petrol sales rose 7.2% and diesel sales rose 4.9% year on year in September, while aviation turbine fuel sales were flat and LPG sales fell 9%, according to Event Registry.

Average daily US fuel oil supply ran 5% higher in September than in August, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Platte River Power Authority marked the completion of a major solar project in Severance, Colorado, east of Fort Collins, on Wednesday.

The Black Hollow Sun project carries a capacity of 257 MW and will supply electricity to Longmont, Estes Park, Loveland and Fort Collins.

The completion coincided with the end of coal extraction elsewhere in the state. The last coal was scooped from the open-pit Trapper Mine, adjacent to the Craig Generating Station, on Sept. 25, after 49 years of operation.

Renewables supplied more than 50% of Colorado's electricity over the previous 12 months, according to Energy Information Administration data.

Euro zone inflation reached 3.8% in September, up from 3.2% in August, according to Eurostat figures cited by joe.ie. The rise was driven largely by a Middle East-fuelled jump in oil and gas prices.

The September reading beat the 3.6% forecast of economists and marked the fastest pace in three years, joe.ie reported, citing the Irish Times.

Switzerland recorded a separate inflation figure for the same month. Consumer prices there increased 1% from a year earlier in September, according to MenaFN.

Azerbaijan and Greece discussed expanding cooperation in energy, transport, trade, investment and emerging technologies at the sixth meeting of their Joint Commission on economic, industrial and technological cooperation in Athens, according to MENAFN.

The bilateral meeting between Theoharis and Shahbazov focused on energy, trade, investment and connectivity, and examined prospects for further developing economic relations.

In the energy sector, the two countries highlighted the strategic role of the Southern Gas Corridor and the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector in strengthening Europe's energy security and diversifying gas supplies, according to MENAFN.

Dandelion Energy and Lennar have completed nearly 100 homes at the base of Colorado's Front Range, each fitted with a ground-source heat pump, according to Grist.

The ground-source systems use less electricity than the most efficient air-source heat pumps, Grist reported. The outlet said the technology could help Colorado reduce peak energy demand and avoid building new gas pipelines while meeting its climate goals.

The Ken Caryl Ranch development is part of an initiative Dandelion Energy launched with Lennar in 2025, according to Grist. The program aims to install geothermal heating and cooling in more than 1,500 Colorado homes over two years.

FedEx has ordered 2,000 all-electric box trucks from Harbinger in a deal reportedly worth more than USD 300 million, according to Electrek.

Harbinger estimates each electric Class 5 and 6 medium-duty box truck will cut FedEx fuel costs by around USD 20,000 a year compared with the diesel vehicle it replaces. The company says the trucks are built for a functional service life of 20 years.

Across the full order over that service life, projected fuel savings reach USD 800 million, which Electrek frames as a return on investment of about 166%. That estimate sets the reported deal value of more than USD 300 million against the lifetime diesel savings.

LG Energy Solution will supply round battery cells measuring 46 millimeters in diameter and 100 millimeters in height for Mercedes-Benz's next-generation electric vehicles, according to a media report cited by electrive. electrive described the 46 by 100 millimeter dimension as a novel format.

The Elec reports plans to establish the first production line for the 46100 cells at LG Energy Solution's plant in Wrocław, Poland, with Mercedes-Benz as the customer. The Elec attributed the account to industry insiders.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission wants to eliminate a rule that lets shareholders formally petition companies, according to Inside Climate News. The mechanism has served as one route for shareholder advocacy groups pressing for more action on climate and sustainability.

Investor and advocacy groups warn that the move would impede efforts to pressure public companies to account for climate risks that could affect their operations, Inside Climate News reported.

An SEC spokesperson said in a statement that the agency's proposal would give states both the legal clarity and the motivation to implement their own ideas for a shareholder proposal framework.

Under the proposed change, shareholders could still submit proposals, but what happens next would sit with each company, according to investor advocates cited by Inside Climate News.

Water, the EV charging brand of South Korean renewable energy company Brite Energy Partners, plans to open 23 new fast-charging sites along highways across South Korea, according to electrive. The company has already opened the first site ahead of the scheduled October start, electrive reported.

The expansion will add 123 chargers along South Korean highways, according to electrive.

Once all 23 new stations are open, Water expects to have 397 chargers at 73 highway rest areas across South Korea, electrive reported.

An international research team examined installing photovoltaic systems between railway tracks in South Korea as a way to expand solar generation without competing for scarce land, according to pv magazine.

Suitable sections of five surface railway corridors could host more than 8.5 MW of photovoltaic capacity, pv magazine reported, pointing to existing transport infrastructure as a route to solar deployment in densely populated areas.

The researchers estimated annual generation from the proposed railway systems at 9.95 GWh, with a capacity-weighted capacity factor of 13.4%, according to pv magazine.

Six South Carolina counties imposed moratoriums on AI data centers in September, according to Charleston City Paper, lifting the number enacted since January to 13. At least two more counties are weighing similar measures, the outlet reported.

The Charleston City Paper described the moratoriums as part of a grassroots backlash against AI data center development spreading across the state.

In Wisconsin, labor groups have put forward a separate plan tied to rising power demand. Climate Jobs Wisconsin's proposal calls for 35 GW of new carbon-free energy generation by 2035, more than double the state's current capacity, according to Finance & Commerce.

The proposal also seeks to roll back policies restricting workers' rights enacted over the past years, Finance & Commerce reported.

Wisconsin's electricity demand is projected to rise about 40% by 2032, driven partly by AI data centers, electrification and electric vehicles, according to Finance & Commerce.

The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Ireland, together with the European Commission, agreed on a joint response to a US demand that they open their diesel reserves, according to newsukraine.rbc.ua.

Washington requested that European countries release 120 million barrels of diesel over six months, according to Sunday Guardian.

The United States threatened a potential temporary ban on US diesel exports if European countries did not immediately release a portion of their emergency fuel stocks, Sunday Guardian reported, adding that the European Union rejected the warning.

The US supplies more than half of Europe's diesel imports, according to newsukraine.rbc.ua.

Vedanta Oil and Gas is raising investment in its mature Rajasthan fields to arrest natural reservoir decline and lift crude output from existing wells, according to Event Registry.

The company is targeting production of more than 150,000 barrels per day from Mangla, up from about 80,000 bpd currently, according to Event Registry.

To reach that level, Vedanta plans to deploy enhanced recovery techniques including polymer flooding, alongside well interventions and other measures aimed at improving output from existing assets, according to Event Registry.

Oil prices rose for a second straight session on Tuesday as concerns over potential supply disruptions from the Middle East outweighed signs of a recovery in the region's crude exports, according to the San Antonio News.

Reuters reported that Brent crude futures rose 0.6%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 0.8%.

In later trading, Brent crude slipped 0.03% to USD 102.28 a barrel after edging higher earlier in Asian trading, while WTI fell 0.2% to USD 92.68, reversing small early gains, according to The Arabian Post.

The Arabian Post reported that prices had initially fallen before concerns over refined-fuel availability and Middle East security drove a rapid reversal.

Bloom Energy Corporation shares rose 4.3% during Friday trading, according to themarketsdaily.com. The stock traded as high as USD 297.59 and last changed hands at USD 289.4840.

Virginia's newly released energy blueprint targets up to 5 GW of non-combustion gas resource capacity from 2029 through 2035, according to blockonomi.com.

RBC Capital maintained its Outperform rating on Bloom Energy with a USD 335 price target, citing the Virginia blueprint, according to blockonomi.com.

A Kitimat-Stikine regional district director accused BC Hydro of deceiving the public about its planned transmission-line route through Thornhill, British Columbia, a line intended to supply power to large-scale northwestern B.C. industrial projects.

James Cordeiro said BC Hydro was employing a bait-and-switch tactic to shield the public from what it actually intends to do.

The regional district board said BC Hydro's preferred route would affect two public-use facilities, the Skeena Golf and Country Club and the Terrace Rod and Gun Club. Both clubs said the proposed route would disrupt their current operations and result in financial impacts or losses.

Diesel prices are rippling through Canada's supply chain, leaving businesses to absorb rising expenses while police in Alberta investigate a string of unusual fuel thefts, CTV News reported.

Evelyne Nyairo, who founded the Calgary-based skincare firm Ellie Bianca, told CTV News that costlier transportation hits nearly every stage of her operation.

Patrick De Haan tied the diesel increase to several global supply pressures on refined fuels: tensions between the United States and Iran, restrictions through the Strait of Hormuz, lower refinery output from China, and Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries.

Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Inc. and its authorized dealer Briggs Equipment UK delivered a hydrogen fuel cell-powered ReachStacker to the Port of Tilbury in Essex, U.K.. The partners said the machine is the first hydrogen fuel cell-powered container handler deployed and fully operational in a real-world U.K. port application.

In a separate delivery, Hyster supplied a hydrogen fuel cell-powered ReachStacker to Rotterdam Shortsea Terminals in the Netherlands as part of a joint initiative examining the role of hydrogen in port and logistics decarbonization.

The Rotterdam unit runs on a 60-kilowatt Nuvera fuel cell engine that converts hydrogen into electricity to support a 130-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery, according to the delivery announcement.

Stakeholders representing eight shareholder companies in Kazakhstan's major oil projects are studying the feasibility of expanding oil exports westward through the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan, according to Arab News.

Kazakhstan sends more than 80 percent of its crude exports through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Arab News reported. The consortium operates a pipeline more than 1,500 km long that connects western Kazakhstan's major oil fields with a terminal near Novorossiysk on Russia's Black Sea coast.

EWE, RWE and Vattenfall are selling their shares in the alpha ventus offshore wind farm to Ocean Breeze Energy, according to Windtech International.

Separately, Vattenfall has finished all 14 turbine foundations at its 63 MW Clashindarroch 2 wind farm in Aberdeenshire, reNEWS reported. The foundation work ran across an 11-week construction programme.

JERA is establishing an oil storage company to manage the national petroleum stockpiling bases it operates in Japan, according to Oilprice. The new entity will exclusively handle operation of those reserve sites.

JERA Group subsidiaries currently run four national petroleum stockpiling bases in Japan, at Tomakomai-Tobu, Akita, Fukui and Shibushi, Oilprice reported.

The company says the structure is intended to strengthen safe and stable operations and to transfer and advance operational expertise, according to TokenPost.

The oil stockpiling business is expected to transfer to the new company around April 2029, TokenPost reported.

The energy market fallout from the Strait of Hormuz crisis is hitting diesel markets hardest, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told a G7 Leaders' video meeting. He joined the call to discuss conditions across global energy markets and the heavy strain on diesel supplies.

Birol said about 325 million barrels have been released under the IEA collective action announced on 11 March. That volume covers more than 80% of the 400 million barrels the action originally pledged.

Middle East crude oil exports have rebounded sharply, but Birol said refined-product flows stay severely constrained. He tied the worsening diesel picture to Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries.

The Supreme Court will hear Suncor Energy v. Commissioners of Boulder County as the first oral argument of its October Term 2026, according to National Review.

The city and county of Boulder, Colorado, brought tort claims in Colorado state court seeking to hold Suncor and ExxonMobil liable for alleged past and future harm from global climate change, National Review reported.

Sen. Kevin Cramer said state and local liability rules in the dispute threaten federalism, according to The Washington Times. Cramer said "lawfare" works by wearing down energy producers.

Finland's Minister of Climate and the Environment Sari Multala will visit Munich on October 5-6, 2026.

The visit is intended to promote cooperation between Finland and Germany in the energy sector.

Multala's discussions with Bavarian officials will cover clean and affordable energy, European competitiveness, the hydrogen economy, energy security and investments in clean industry.

ExxonMobil Holdings Corp. and Chevron Corp. are expected to report third-quarter results on Oct. 30, according to Benzinga. Investor attention centers on refining margins, crude prices, production growth and the effect of geopolitical disruptions on the two companies' global operations, Benzinga reported.

For Exxon, analysts expect earnings of USD 3.40 per share, up from USD 1.88 a year earlier, according to Benzinga. Revenue is projected to rise to USD 94.88 billion from USD 85.29 billion.

For Chevron, analysts expect earnings of USD 4.32 per share, up from USD 1.85 a year earlier, according to Benzinga. Revenue is projected to rise to USD 54.94 billion from USD 49.73 billion.

Global investment in data centers, led by AI infrastructure, surpassed oil and gas industry investment for the first time in 2025, according to Informa Connect.

The top 10 cloud service providers raised their capacity plans by about USD 137 billion, Informa Connect reported. That increase fed a USD 145 billion upward revision in Omdia's 2026 global data center investment forecast.

Across the GCC, 28 of 99 renewable projects under development had reached final investment decision (FID), according to Utilities Middle East. By comparison, two of 39 hydrogen projects and two of 18 carbon capture projects had reached FID.

None of the clean fuels, nuclear new-build, offshore wind or advanced modular reactor and small modular reactor (AMR/SMR) projects listed in the EICDataStream table had reached FID, Utilities Middle East reported.

Representatives from Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and EnergyUnited briefed the Davidson County Board of Commissioners on power generation, energy storage and the need for additional energy capacity in North Carolina, according to The Dispatch. The presentation tied the demand to rapid population and industrial growth across the state.

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright toured Duke Energy's Roxboro coal plant on Friday afternoon and praised coal as a historic energy source, according to WFAE.

Poland's government cut value-added taxes on fuels for the rest of 2026 and pledged to cap pump prices, according to Bloomberg, after the president signed legislation imposing windfall taxes on the energy industry.

The measures are aimed at quickly lowering fuel prices, according to Bloomberg.

Fuel prices jumped 36% year-on-year in September, according to Bloomberg. Over the same period, headline inflation reached a 15-month high of 4%, Bloomberg reported.

The VAT cut on fuels runs for the rest of 2026, according to Bloomberg, alongside the government's commitment to cap prices at the pump.

Battery developers and other generators in Japan must now show legal rights to their project sites to keep a grid connection, according to pv magazine.

At the end of December 2025, about 172 GW of grid-scale battery capacity sat at the connection-study stage and roughly 30 GW at the contract-application stage, while only about 0.64 GW had actually connected, pv magazine reported, citing ministry figures.

The Next-Generation Grid Working Group of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) drafted the requirement, pv magazine said. METI said the measure should keep projects with weak business certainty from sitting on connection reservations, freeing capacity for developers ready to build.

Redwood Materials says it recovers more than 95% of the lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper contained in spent batteries and manufacturing scrap, according to Reuters.

Researchers at the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research demonstrated a solar-panel recycling process that recovers silicon at purity levels of up to 99.998% and silver at 99.7%, with recovery yields of roughly 97%, Reuters reported.

Veolia has developed a process that turns previously unrecyclable fiberglass wind-turbine blades into pellets, according to Reuters. The pellets can replace coal, silica and limestone in cement kilns.