Thursday, 8 October 2026

Doral Renewables LLC said the Mammoth South, Mammoth Central I and Mammoth Central II solar phases in Winamac, Indiana, have a combined capacity of 900 MWac and are imminently reaching commercial operation.

The three phases coming online complete the 1.3 GW Mammoth Solar complex, which Doral Renewables described as one of the largest operational solar projects in the country.

According to Doral Renewables, the three phases now coming online were constructed over 18 months.

Southeast Asia's energy ministers gathered in Manila for energy security talks aimed at reducing the region's dependence on supply chains disrupted by the US-Israel war with Iran.

The meeting comes as the war pushed oil prices above USD 100 per barrel.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations imports more than 55 percent of the crude used by its refineries from the Middle East.

The bloc is accelerating regulatory work on a power grid designed to connect the electricity networks of all 11 member countries.

A North Carolina-based developer is exploring an early-stage nuclear energy facility in Amherst County, Virginia, according to WSET. The company presented the idea to county leaders as an early-stage project that could bring major power generation and new jobs.

The developer is evaluating a site for a small modular reactor under what it calls the Beck Creek Energy Project, according to WSET.

The project's informational website says the plant could generate up to 650 MW of power.

GX Power plans to begin hosting public open houses about the project in November, in partnership with the regional business alliance, according to WSLS.

Air Products will design, build and operate an air separation unit fed by liquefied natural gas in Malaysia, under a deal struck with a joint venture that Petronas Gas Berhad leads, Investing.com reported.

Daily output from the unit is set to top 600 tons of liquid oxygen, nitrogen and argon.

The site chosen is the Pengerang LNG regasification terminal in Johor.

Startup is slated for early 2027.

The S&D Group in the European Parliament called for a fundamental change in Europe's energy policy so that cheaper clean energy reaches Europeans' electricity bills.

The group said renewables are already lowering wholesale electricity prices, particularly in countries where gas less often sets the price. Yet households and businesses still face high bills because Europe remains dependent on expensive and volatile fossil fuels, while taxes, levies and network costs add further pressure, according to the S&D Group.

Fidias Panayiotou said the government of Cyprus had failed its citizens, who are paying some of the highest electricity bills. He linked the burden to the country's reliance on fossil fuels, saying that 20% of electricity bills goes toward paying for CO2 emissions through the EU emissions trading system.

Scout Clean Energy has signed a virtual power purchase agreement with Oracle covering a majority of the output from its operational 300 MW Ranchero Wind Farm in Crockett County, Texas, according to enidnews.com.

The deal forms part of Oracle's investment in more than 1.7 GW of renewable energy projects in Texas, according to enidnews.com.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association recommended that truckers avoid using red-dyed diesel under the executive order, saying the wider use of the fuel would provide minimal relief.

"Market stability is essential to bring down costs for the long haul," the association said.

The group urged truckers to wait and see whether Illinois issues its own waiver on red-dyed diesel, according to Truckers News. The association said the executive order does not make clear how the deferred federal diesel tax of 24.4 cents per gallon will be collected once the federal waiver expires on December 31.

The order defers the federal fuel taxes rather than suspending them outright, according to freewhitewater.com. Unless Congress passes legislation, the deferred taxes will eventually come due, which the outlet said amounts to storing up bigger bills and accounting burdens for truckers later.

Minnkota Power Cooperative plans to build a natural gas-fired power plant in Cass County, North Dakota, drawing fuel from a planned pipeline carrying gas from the western part of the state.

Minnkota CEO Mac McLennan estimated construction would cost USD 1 billion in an interview.

The plant would likely run a single gas-fired turbine capable of producing 400 MW, McLennan said.

McLennan said the project is possible because of the Bakken East Pipeline, which will move natural gas from McKenzie County in the Bakken oil-producing region to eastern North Dakota.

A 250 MW solar park that powers the AMAALA destination in Saudi Arabia now hosts a sand gazelle breeding programme run by the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve.

The reserve said 38 gazelles, comprising 33 females and five males, were introduced into the plant in May 2026.

Wildlife-proof fencing around the panels allows the gazelles to feed, breed and explore without predation pressure.

The project hopes the population can grow to more than 500 animals, which would then be used to reestablish a strong population within the reserve.

Foss & Company closed a USD 58 million tax equity investment to finance a utility-scale battery energy storage project developed by GridStor in Hidalgo County, Texas, according to citybiz. The deal marks the second transaction between the two companies.

The financing was structured as a partnership flip transaction and will generate Section 48 Investment Tax Credits, citybiz reported.

GridStor's battery energy storage system is scheduled to enter service in October 2026.

Every Baltic Exchange suezmax index reached an all-time high on Monday, according to Lloyd's List's Greg Miller.

Miller wrote that the tanker market's cascade effect had intensified, with record strength in very large crude carriers spilling into suezmaxes. He added that rising suezmax demand was in turn dragging up aframaxes.

Purvah Green Power has signed a power purchase agreement with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for a 175 MW inter-state transmission system-connected wind project in India, according to Energetica India. The agreement sets a tariff of INR 3.85/kWh.

Separately, Torrent Power announced the termination of a 300 MW wind power PPA previously entered into with SECI, according to EquityBulls.

A timed flexible electricity connection at Translink's Short Strand Bus Depot in Belfast can power up to 75 electric vehicles daily, according to NIE Networks and Translink, who describe it as Northern Ireland's first such connection.

The deal ties Translink's bus charging to overnight hours, when the source says demand on the electricity network runs much lower. That window let NIE Networks draw on spare capacity already in place and connect the depot without major construction works.

Translink had gone to NIE Networks for extra capacity to electrify its bus fleet. Early assessments found that a conventional connection would have meant sizeable upgrades to the local network and a wait of up to two years.

DNV cut its long-term clean hydrogen forecast by 29% and its carbon capture storage forecast by 15% compared with its 2025 outlook, according to the Norway-headquartered classification society.

Both technologies are still projected to grow rapidly from current levels, DNV said, but stronger policy support is needed to push financing and scale up deployment globally.

Energy-importing countries are scaling clean energy three times faster than exporters, according to DNV.

Johan Sverdrup crude reached a record premium of US$24 per barrel to Brent, according to a Wood Mackenzie analysis.

The premium widened as Saudi Arabia's suspension of its East-West pipeline pushed European medium-sour crude prices above US$140 per barrel, with refiners seeking alternatives, according to Wood Mackenzie.

UltraTech's installed green energy capacity now stands at 2,024 MW, and themachinemaker.com reports the producer is the first cement company in India to pass 2 GW of green capacity for captive use.

The company commissioned 116.55 MW of wind capacity at its inter-state transmission system-connected wind-solar hybrid project in Barmer, Rajasthan, alongside 10 MW of waste heat recovery capacity at Sarlanagar Cement Works in Karnataka.

The current portfolio splits into 1,580 MW of renewable energy capacity and 444 MW of waste heat recovery capacity. Those sources together cover about 48% of UltraTech's power requirements.

European and British wholesale natural gas prices edged higher as cooler forecasts for Northwestern Europe countered steady additions to continental storage, according to Investing.com.

The Dutch front-month contract, the regional benchmark, rose 1.5%, according to Investing.com. In Great Britain, the equivalent wholesale gas contract gained 0.5%.

Updated weather models predicting cooler temperatures across Northwestern Europe drove the slight gains, offsetting ongoing injections into continental storage reserves.

European Union gas storage caverns remained in their pre-winter accumulation phase, sitting at 73% capacity, according to Investing.com.

Brent crude was hovering around USD 101 per barrel while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded near USD 90 per barrel, according to polyestertime.com.

The outlet attributed the elevated valuations to persistent geopolitical friction between the United States and Iran. It reported that vulnerability in the Middle East supply corridor was embedding a persistent risk premium across global commodity exchanges.

polyestertime.com said energy traders, governments, and consumers were preparing for prolonged economic friction as the two benchmarks held near those levels.

Origin Energy Ltd is seeking environmental approval for a major expansion of the battery precinct at its Eraring power station on the New South Wales Central Coast, according to Kalkine Media. The project would make the site home to the largest battery in Australia.

The expanded facility would rank as the largest battery in Australia and overtake a recently completed system in Saudi Arabia, Kalkine Media reported.

Eraring Battery 1 is operating at 460 MW and 1,770 MWh, according to GreentechLead. Origin lists the combined Battery 1 and Battery 2 development at 700 MW and 3,160 MWh when complete.

The Linux Foundation has started OpenGrid, a project to build open source infrastructure for power grid planning.

Rather than replace the grid-planning tools that utilities and operators run today, OpenGrid aims to connect them through a shared data and interoperability layer, according to the Linux Foundation. The foundation says the project should let planners move between the commercial and open source software they already use, which it expects to cut the time, cost and technical hurdles of planning for rising electricity demand.

The first application, called the OpenGrid Translator, is under development for release in 2027. It is designed to pass data and models between widely used commercial platforms and open source tools.

The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) reiterated that consumers with rooftop renewable energy generating systems can simultaneously use Open Access and Net Metering under the amended Distribution Open Access (DOA) Regulations, according to Saur Energy.

In a separate matter, MERC disposed of a petition filed by Carbonminus Maharashtra One Private Limited (CMOPL) against Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd. (MSEDCL), according to Solar Quarter. The dispute concerned the implementation timelines of a 730 MW grid-connected solar power project.

Global oil prices climbed after a surge in maritime attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Event Registry.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported nine attacks recorded in the strait so far this month.

Singapore shares opened lower on Wednesday, pulled down by rising oil prices as risks to Middle East energy flows outweighed any hints of improved supply.

Crescent Energy has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Devon Energy's Eagle Ford assets for an estimated net purchase price of USD 3.85 billion, according to World Oil.

The deal adds approximately 68,000 boed of production to Crescent Energy's South Texas operations, World Oil reported.

Crescent Energy expects the acquisition to generate approximately USD 140 million in annual synergies through drilling and completions, lease operating expenses, and marketing efficiencies, according to World Oil.

Finnish startup Truman Data has opened its Energy Coop virtual power plant platform to its first customers in Finland, offering a revenue-sharing model for property owners and municipalities as an alternative to long-term battery-as-a-service contracts, according to ESS News.

The company does not sell or own battery hardware, instead taking a share of what customers earn and helping them arrange financing for battery systems, ESS News reported.

Truman Data said data from a 70-building municipal pilot showed optimization cut annual electricity costs by 11.4%, according to ESS News.

Lamprell has signed an agreement with International Maritime Industries (IMI) to fabricate offshore structures, including a production platform and jackets, at IMI's Ras Al-Khair facility in Saudi Arabia, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The fabrication forms part of an offshore engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) project being delivered by Lamprell, OEDigital reported.

The deal is the first offshore production platform and jacket fabrication scope undertaken at IMI's Ras Al-Khair yard, extending the facility's work beyond shipbuilding, according to OEDigital.

Clearway Energy Group has started construction on the 650 MW Swan Energy Center in Bates County, Missouri, according to Solar Builder, which cited an announcement by officials on Oct. 6.

The project carries a total price tag of about USD 1.5 billion, and Clearway has closed financing for it, Solar Builder reported.

Construction is expected to create up to 500 jobs at peak activity, with Blattner Energy serving as construction partner, according to Solar Builder.

Clearway officials expect the Swan Energy Center to begin commercial operations in 2028, Solar Builder reported.

Voltix has opened its first public fast-charging station for electric heavy goods vehicles in Vierzon, France. According to the company, the facility is currently France's highest-power truck charging station, offering up to 1.5 MW per charging point.

The station starts with four charging points, with plans to expand to eight over the long term. Each charging point carries both CCS and MCS connectors, according to electrive.

The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners in Indiana unanimously rejected a 200-megawatt solar project on Sept. 28, according to Inside Climate News.

In Montgomery County, utility-scale solar projects are officially listed as undesirable land uses alongside adult-oriented businesses, Inside Climate News reported.

Commissioners said their rejection was influenced by concerns that the project may reduce nearby property values and change the character of the area, according to Inside Climate News.

Eni CCUS Holding has completed installation of the Douglas CCS platform in Liverpool Bay, which the company describes as the world's first purpose-built offshore platform dedicated to carbon capture and storage for industrial decarbonization, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital. The venture is jointly owned by Eni and BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners.

The platform will act as the offshore hub of the Liverpool Bay CO2 transportation and storage system, which forms the backbone of the HyNet industrial decarbonization cluster, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The structure comprises a 1,885-tonne topside, a 1,755-tonne supporting jacket and eight foundation piles with a combined weight of 730 tonnes, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The facility was delivered in less than 18 months from contract award, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

SLB signed a 15-year agreement with TotalEnergies to deploy its DrillPlan digital well planning and engineering solutions across TotalEnergies' global upstream portfolio, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The agreement supports TotalEnergies' move to a standardized digital planning environment that integrates subsurface data with well design, engineering and construction planning, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

The deployment will integrate TotalEnergies' existing workflows and internally developed digital processes with SLB's technology.

The European Commission is reportedly weighing quotas on imported Chinese hybrid vehicles rather than a per-vehicle special tariff, according to electrive. The approach would mirror steps Canada has taken on electric cars from China.

Under the reported plan, a defined volume of Chinese hybrids could enter the EU at the regular 10% car tariff, with an additional tariff of unknown size applying to imports above that volume.

The move follows a sharp rise in shipments. Imports of hybrid vehicles from China climbed from 3,800 vehicles in October 2024, when anti-subsidy tariffs on electric cars took effect, to around 50,000 units by July 2026, electrive reported.

TenneT Germany has signed on as a development sponsor for Frequensea's subsea cable decommissioning tool, alongside DEME and Subsea Cable Assets (SCA), according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital. The device targets buried offshore cables and is designed to pull them up with less disruption to the seabed.

At its core is a patented vibration-induced fluidisation method that loosens the soil gripping buried cables, umbilicals and pipelines, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital. The developer says the lower soil resistance lets smaller vessels handle recovery while cutting energy use.

TenneT Germany, an offshore transmission system operator, will feed in its subsea power cable expertise during the tool's development.

Once a testing programme at Deltares wraps up, TenneT Germany intends to weigh the technology for decommissioning offshore cables in the North Sea.

Mercedes-Benz Cars delivered 68,400 battery-electric vehicles globally between July and September, according to electrive. That figure marked a 61% increase over the same period a year earlier.

The company's electric share in the passenger-car segment rose from 9.6% in Q2 2025 to 16.8%, electrive reported.

German cybersecurity firm Jakkaru discovered an authentication flaw in Sungrow's iSolarCloud platform that exposed connected devices and prompted an emergency patch, according to pv magazine.

The vulnerability allowed access to platform accounts without the required authentication, pv magazine reported, citing research by Jakkaru.

An independent security researcher working with Jakkaru reported the flaw to Sungrow on Aug. 22, according to pv magazine.

Sungrow said it reproduced the attack and deployed an emergency patch across all iSolarCloud levels on Aug. 25, resolving the underlying cause the same day, pv magazine reported.

Senior climate officials have promised to strengthen efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, despite an expected overshoot, and to help Pacific islands adapt to rising seas and other impacts, according to Climate Home News.

More than 30 leaders, ministers, climate negotiators and international development bankers travelled to Tuvalu before attending the pre-COP31 talks in Fiji, Climate Home News reported. Schoolchildren told the visitors how warming-driven droughts, heatwaves and storms are affecting their education.

Australia and Pacific nations sought to use the pre-COP to stress the urgency of climate action to officials from around 50 countries who travelled to the region, according to Climate Home News.

Excelerate Energy has awarded Seatrium a contract to turn an LNG carrier into a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), with a further conversion that the buyer can take up later, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

The award is Seatrium's first FSRU conversion job for Excelerate Energy, according to OEDigital. Engineering is due to start in the fourth quarter of 2026, and the converted vessel is set for delivery in 2028.

Seatrium's scope runs from the regasification plant and LNG transfer and cargo handling gear through to electrical and automation systems, plus marine modifications and supporting infrastructure.

The reworked ship will hold 170,000 cubic meters of LNG and run on tri-fuel diesel-electric generation with reliquefaction technology, OEDigital reported.

Nala Renewables has issued a notice to proceed for construction of the 125 MW / 250 MWh Nala Vuolijoki battery energy storage system in Finland, according to ESS News. The company said the notice to proceed marks the project's transition from development into construction, describing Nala Vuolijoki as one of the largest BESS projects in Finland to start construction.

Despro was appointed engineering, procurement, and construction management contractor and will provide local engineering support, according to ESS News. Destia Oy will serve as balance-of-plant contractor, while Sungrow will supply the battery storage technology.

The project secured long-term financing from Rabobank.

Schools could lead the transition to electric buses in India's private sector, a World Bank expert said, according to electrive. The argument rests on how school fleets operate and the land those institutions control.

India has 1.6 million privately operated buses, electrive reported. Between 30 and 35 per cent of them are used for school transport and fall under the education institution category.

Dr Parashar noted that school buses typically run 50 to 60 kilometres a day, according to electrive. The vehicles also sit idle for several hours between their operating periods, leaving time to charge even with an AC charger.

Schools fare better than other private operators on charging because they typically have land available on their premises where charging infrastructure could be installed, according to electrive.

Adding on-site battery storage to a modeled German solar project raises its forecast annual spot-market revenue from EUR 250,000 to EUR 400,000, according to ESS News. The analysis treats a photovoltaic-only system as the base case, with spot-market revenue of EUR 250,000 and EUR 145,000 under Germany's renewable energy subsidy program, the EEG.

With a co-located battery energy storage system (BESS), EEG revenue climbs to EUR 155,000, ESS News reported. The revenue uplift comes from charging the battery during periods of negative pricing and discharging during higher-priced evening hours, according to ESS News.

Beyond the revenue gain, co-locating solar and storage can cut both capital and operating costs through shared infrastructure, ESS News said, while allowing more efficient use of existing grid-connection points.

Lengthy permitting timelines in the German BESS market can make retrofitting battery storage to existing solar parks an attractive option, according to ESS News.

Tata Power has partnered with Norway-based renewable energy technology company Ocean Sun to run a 300 kWp membrane-based floating solar pilot in India, according to pv magazine.

The pilot will be conducted at Tata Power's Mulshi reservoir in Maharashtra, pv magazine reported.

Ocean Sun's technology places solar PV modules on a thin, hydro-elastic membrane that floats directly on the water surface, rather than on interconnected pontoon structures used by conventional floating solar systems, according to pv magazine.

The project will evaluate the technology under Indian conditions for performance, reliability, cost competitiveness and scalability, pv magazine reported.

China holds more than 900 GW of annual solar cell production capacity against global demand of about 590 GW, according to pv magazine, a gap wide enough that excess capacity will only gradually leave the market.

S&P Global Energy expects continued industry consolidation and low global prices, with prices increasingly diverging across regions, according to pv magazine.

The main forces behind module pricing are excess capacity, low utilization, technology changes, Chinese tax and efficiency policies, and fragmented trade rules, according to pv magazine.

Rather than a single global price recovery, pv magazine reports that commodity markets will stay under pressure while protected markets pay premiums for compliant, locally produced or traceable modules.

Australia registered 311.8 MW of small-scale solar capacity in September 2026, according to pv magazine. That marked a 7.29% increase on the 290 MW installed during the previous month.

The gain in rooftop installations came on the back of a battery rebate scheme, according to pv magazine.

The small-scale solar segment covers systems from 0 to 100 kW.

Environmental groups and residents are urging Pennsylvania regulators to widen the protective buffer distances between gas wells and homes, schools and water sources, according to Inside Climate News.

A coalition of environmental and community groups held an event at the state capitol to draw attention to their concerns, Inside Climate News reported. The coalition is pressing for larger minimum setbacks between wells and sensitive sites.

The coalition filed a petition for rulemaking with the state Department of Environmental Protection's Environmental Quality Board two years ago, asking regulators to evaluate whether the existing setback requirements could be expanded, according to Inside Climate News.

DEP spokesman Neil Shader said the agency is continuing to review the petition.

Constellation Energy Corporation shares rallied 12.2% in the last trading session to close at USD 300.4, according to Yahoo Finance.

The stock stayed in focus as progress on the Crane nuclear plant restart and electricity demand tied to artificial intelligence reinforced the appeal of round-the-clock carbon-free power, according to Kalkine Media.

Constellation Energy's long-term agreement with Google supports 890 MW of incremental nuclear capacity across PJM, according to Yahoo Finance.

Finance ministers, central bankers and development leaders are set to gather in Bangkok for the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings from October 12 to 18. The meetings will test the global finance response to energy, debt and climate pressures.

The gathering comes as countries face fossil-fuel supply disruptions, rising debt burdens, higher financing costs and increasingly severe climate impacts.

The Bangkok meetings are expected to pressure international financial institutions and their shareholders to show how finance can support economic investment, climate resilience and energy security.

The G7 political commitment to release oil covers as much as 100 million barrels of crude and diesel, but its country allocations, product split and tender schedule have not been made public, according to FXStreet.

Some of that proposed 100 million-barrel release may consist of volumes already designated under the IEA's 400 million-barrel March release but not yet delivered, according to a separate report cited by FXStreet.

In corporate oil and gas, Viva Energy said regional refining margins are expected to remain above long-term averages for the rest of its financial year, according to Kalkine Media.

South Korea's government unveiled a 1,000 trillion won ($747 billion) energy transition and decarbonisation strategy running through 2035, according to the Economic Times Energy report on Wednesday.

The K-GX, or Korea-Green Transformation, plan combines 200 trillion won in fiscal spending with more than 790 trillion won in climate finance and 220 trillion won in private-sector investment, the Economic Times Energy report said.

The strategy targets 100 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, according to Oilprice.

Under the plan, electric and hydrogen vehicles are set to exceed 70% of new vehicle sales by 2035, Oilprice reported.

South African fuel prices rose again on 7 October 2026, with petrol 93 up R3.12 per litre and petrol 95 up R3.33 per litre, according to justmoney.co.za.

Inland 95 unleaded petrol reached R30.25 per litre in October, according to the same report.

The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources attributed the increase to higher international oil and petroleum-product prices, the rand-dollar exchange rate and other factors, according to justmoney.co.za.

A federal judge has temporarily halted several state lawsuits against the company building a major liquefied natural gas terminal under construction in Cameron Parish, according to The Current.

Plaintiffs filed the suits in state courts, alleging that construction of Venture Global's CP2 is damaging estuaries, killing oysters and harming seafood catches, according to The Current. The Current reported that CP2 is a USD 30 billion facility adjacent to the USD 10 billion terminal the company already operates.

In late July, U.S. District Court Judge Cain ordered all other related litigation over CP2 construction to be paused, according to The Current.

Canada's Conservatives are calling for an Emergency Fuel Relief Plan to eliminate federal taxes on diesel and raise domestic production of refined fuel, according to CKOM.

The Conservative motion sets a target of boosting Canadian diesel production to one million barrels per day, according to BarrieToday.

The party wants federal taxes on diesel fuel ended until Canada Day, according to BarrieToday.

The motion also seeks tax relief for building diesel infrastructure, including pipelines, refineries, rail and storage, according to BarrieToday.

Mark Carney's Canadian government wants to cut major-project reviews to one year while advancing a West Coast oil pipeline, expanding LNG exports, and offering larger tax deductions for wells, pipelines, and processing facilities, according to Energy News Beat.

In July, Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith discussed fast-tracking the proposed 775-mile pipeline, capable of carrying one million barrels of crude oil a day.

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson warned of increased oil-spill risk to the Salish Sea in his first public comments on the project, according to The Daily World.