Renewable Energy

NextEra Advances Duane Arnold Nuclear Restart With Federal Loan

NextEra secured a $1.9B federal loan and FERC approval to reconnect Iowa's Duane Arnold nuclear plant, backed by a 25-year Google power deal.

India Order Could Free Up 15.7 GW of Renewable Grid Access

India's regulator told renewable firms to give up transmission rights or post bigger bank guarantees if idle, a move Reuters says could free 15.7 GW.

India's Evening Power Deficit Persists Despite Record Solar Capacity Growth

India hit record electricity demand above 270 gigawatts in May 2026, with evening shortfalls even as solar capacity has expanded rapidly, Reuters reported.

U.S. grid batteries are set to top 100 GW by 2028, changing peak prices

EIA data shows U.S. battery storage reached nearly 52 GW by June 2026, with 54 GW planned through 2028.

NuScale and Nucor’s SMR talks put firm power back in industrial planning

NuScale and Nucor will study SMRs for EAF mills. It’s a live test of how steel, DERs, and managed EV load compete to deliver firm power.

Europe’s 2026 energy planning is drifting back to gas, driven by €62/MWh summer spikes and 15-year supply deals

A hot summer, tighter system margins and slipping policy timelines are pushing European operators to rebalance toward firm gas supply, even as decarbonization roadmaps remain in place.

Utility-scale solar and batteries made up most new U.S. power plant builds in early 2026, and that shifts how operators should buy capacity

EIA’s January–June build list shows solar and storage dominating new projects. For big loads, the procurement question is shifting from megawatts to deliverabil

H1 2026 U.S. grid additions show solar plus batteries has become the default project, and gas is the long-lead counterweight

EIA data shows 368 new utility-scale plants in H1 2026, led by 207 solar and 95 batteries. For operators, the focus is shifting to duration, dispatch rights, and contract terms.

First-half 2026 US grid additions show storage is scaling almost as fast as solar, and that changes how operators should write load and interconnection plans

EIA’s January–June interconnection data shows solar led new US builds, but batteries were close behind, reshaping peak planning, contracts, and queue strategy.

Heat and river constraints are turning Europe’s summer power stack into a gas risk again

August heat is tightening Europe’s power stack: wind dips, nuclear cooling limits and short-term gas outages are pushing TTF back toward recent highs and wideni

Utility-scale solar and batteries dominated U.S. plants that actually came online in first half of 2026

EIA’s January to June data shows 207 new utility-scale solar projects and 95 battery projects, a planning signal for grid operators and large-load buyers writin

AI data centers are cementing natural gas as the U.S. grid's indispensable fuel

Rising AI power demand is reinforcing natural gas's grip on U.S. electricity, with nearly 2,000 gas plants and 3 million miles of pipelines too embedded to disp

Sodium-ion batteries reach commercial scale, easing reliance on China for energy storage

Sodium-ion batteries use abundant, domestically sourceable materials, positioning them as a credible alternative to lithium-ion for grid-scale storage.

AI data center demand is forcing a rethink of every power asset on the US grid

Soaring electricity demand from AI data centers is reviving shuttered plants and spawning record-scale solar projects, but grid buildout costs keep climbing.

The grid investment surge of 2026 is reshaping what utility operators must evaluate now

From a $1B home battery raise to $510M in Mexican renewables financing, capital is flowing fast into grid infrastructure, and operators need to know where it lands.

Shandong HiTHIUM's first LDES integrated industrial park enters production as grid-edge investment accelerates

HiTHIUM's Heze Base goes live, ConnectDER closes a $35M Series D, and Duke Energy rolls out heat-season demand tools, all signals for utility operators.

U.S. wind and solar output climbed 10% in the first half of 2026, outpacing coal and nuclear despite federal headwinds

Wind and solar hit 20% of U.S. electricity generation through June 2026, surpassing both coal and nuclear even as federal incentives expire.

Rolls-Royce reports 50%-plus order surge in data center energy as AI infrastructure demand reshapes power procurement

Rolls-Royce's data center energy orders jumped over 50% in H1 2026, while AI-native platforms are entering renewable and battery R&D workflows at scale.

Data center load is reshaping how U.S. utilities plan, price, and build generation

Exelon cut speculative data center load by 40%, FirstEnergy's contracts surged 50% in Q2, and Texas just approved its first AI co-location site next to a wind f

ComEd's 60-site rooftop solar deal and new Colorado River framework mark a pivotal day for utility operators

Three major utility developments landed July 31: a 44 MW community solar buildout in Illinois, a final EIS for post-2026 Colorado River operations, and a prefer

Data center power demand is forcing utilities to rethink capital plans and grid design in real time

CenterPoint hiked its 10-year capex plan on data center load, while Midwest wholesale prices topped $500/MWh amid heat and wind shortfalls.

Europe's summer power crunch is accelerating battery and solar investment across the continent

Heat waves, nuclear outages, and drought are pushing European power prices to multi-year highs and fast-tracking grid storage projects from Italy to Slovenia.

Renewable energy roundup: Offshore supply chains, storage deals, and output records define July 16

From a 3.2GW Korean offshore cluster to a GB solar output record, July 16 brought a wave of concrete procurement and operational signals.

Clean energy deals dominate this week: hydrogen, storage, offshore wind, and a major Shell divestiture

Five significant energy transition deals closed in July 2026, spanning green hydrogen, battery storage, offshore wind, and renewable portfolio M&A.

Carbon-free generation spending tops fossil fuels at US utilities for the first time

RMI's Utility Transition Hub finds 2024 carbon-free generation investment hit $14.5B, edging past $13.9B in fossil spending.

Energy demand is outrunning the clean energy build: what operators need to know in 2026

Global energy demand grew faster than clean energy additions in 2025, keeping fossil fuels at 86% of supply even as renewables spending hits $2.2T in 2026.

Clean energy investment hits $2.2 trillion in 2026, nearly doubling fossil fuel spending

Global energy investment reaches $3.4T in 2026, with clean energy outpacing fossil fuels nearly two to one, per the IEA's latest report.

Solar hit 8.7% of global power in 2025, but fossil fuels still grew alongside it

The Energy Institute's 75th Statistical Review shows renewables breaking records while global fossil fuel demand also rose, complicating energy procurement stra

Philippines raises renewable energy target to 50% by 2030, signaling major grid shift for industrial operators

The Philippine DOE has lifted its renewable energy target to 50% of the power mix by 2030, with direct implications for energy procurement and grid planning.

Energy transition market reaches $3.17 trillion in 2026 as grid connection backlogs stall 1,650 GW of capacity

The global energy transition market hits $3.17T in 2026, but 1,650 GW of renewable capacity sits in grid connection queues worldwide.