Chinese shipments of yttrium oxide to the United States fell to just 10 metric tonnes in April 2026, down from 60 tonnes in March, even as Beijing pledged to “address” US supply‑chain concerns following the May 14–15 Trump‑Xi summit. The Ministry of Commerce said on May 20 that it would work with the US on […]
Plug Power announced on May 20, 2026 that the 30 MW Barrow Green Hydrogen project in Cumbria, UK, has reached final investment decision, with Plug supplying GenEco PEM electrolysers. The plant will supply roughly 100 GWh/year of green hydrogen to Kimberly-Clark’s Andrex and Kleenex factory in Barrow-in-Furness. The project is delivered by GHECO, a joint […]
Andhra Pradesh’s State Investment Promotion Board, chaired by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, on May 20, 2026 allocated the 2,250 MW Gandikota-2 pumped storage project to Adani Hydro Energy Eleven, a subsidiary of the Adani Group. The project, sited at the Lord Balaji Donthi Kona PSP Park in YSR Kadapa district, has a 72-month construction […]
At the 2026 Pacific Offshore Wind Summit on May 20, 2026, state and industry leaders praised California for advancing its offshore wind plans despite federal headwinds. The state has released a $228 million first installment from the $475 million Proposition 4 port-infrastructure bond, while the California Energy Commission has committed $42.75 million to upgrade waterfront […]
On May 20, 2026, the European Commission’s DG Energy published an overview of national emergency measures taken by EU member states to protect consumers and industry from rising energy costs. The publication accompanies the Commission’s “AccelerateEU” Communication, which targets rising energy costs amid volatile fossil-fuel markets and aims to accelerate the clean-energy transition. It complements […]
On May 20, 2026, the IEA’s Global EV Outlook 2026 projected that combined BEV and PHEV sales will reach 23 million in 2026, representing exactly 28% of total global car sales. Rhodium Group and MIT data released the same day show U.S. EV consumer spending was down 23% year-on-year in Q1 2026 after federal tax […]
On May 20, 2026, Iberdrola Chairman Ignacio Galan told the European Round Table for Industry plenary in Gothenburg that electrification is the key to Europe’s industrial growth. Born in Salamanca in 1950, Ignacio Galán has managed leading companies in various industrial and technological sectors throughout his career, profoundly transforming the profile of each one thanks to his forward-looking vision […]
On May 19, 2026, Australian energy-storage developer Enervest announced it had acquired the 300 MW Northern Border Battery, a project in development, from a Sydney-based developer. The transaction expands Enervest’s pipeline as Australia continues to lead OECD residential and grid-scale battery deployment. The deal lands the same week the Bloomberg NEF dataset projected 158 GW […]
On May 19, 2026, France’s Chantiers de l’Atlantique and partners launched the RHODE project to develop floating HVDC electrical connections for large-scale offshore wind farms. The R&D programme will design floating converter platforms able to evacuate gigawatt-scale power from deep-water sites where fixed-bottom HVDC stations are not feasible. It complements the parallel push by State […]
Grid data released on May 19, 2026 showed India curtailed 300 GWh of renewable energy in the first quarter of 2026 because of transmission constraints. The curtailment comes as India accelerates its renewables auctions but lags in evacuation infrastructure for solar-rich states such as Rajasthan and Gujarat. India added renewable capacity at the fastest growth […]
On May 19, 2026, Ford Energy — the wholly-owned battery-storage subsidiary of Ford Motor Company — and EDF Power Solutions North America announced a five-year battery energy storage system supply agreement. The deal follows Ford Energy’s launch earlier in May 2026 of a new containerized BESS product, repurposing EV-battery manufacturing capacity for stationary storage as […]
Figures released on May 19, 2026 showed Australia has surpassed 400,000 home battery storage installations under the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program. The program subsidizes behind-the-meter residential batteries, which combined with rooftop solar form the backbone of consumer-side virtual power plants. The figure marks a step-change since the program’s launch and underscores Australia’s distinctively DER-centric […]
On May 19, 2026, German discount retailer Lidl began selling a 2.24 kWh balcony PV battery for EUR 299, with 1,000 W input and 800 W output. The Lidl unit is compatible with most balcony PV systems and is optionally app-controlled. It is the latest in a wave of mass-market plug-in solar products in Germany, […]
On May 18, 2026, DTE Energy issued a request for proposals for 1 GW of new wind and solar capacity in Michigan, with projects required to be operational by December 31, 2029. Projects must interconnect to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) or DTE’s distribution system; bids are due August 13, with contracts to be […]
On May 18, 2026, the European Commission announced it would continue to monitor the oil market and prepare a coordinated response to jet-fuel supply pressures. The Commission’s action follows volatility in distillate markets after the escalation in the Iran conflict that began in mid-2025 and continues to affect Strait of Hormuz shipping; Saudi Aramco recently […]
On May 17, 2026, the White House published a fact sheet announcing that following the May 14–15 Trump–Xi summit in Beijing, China agreed to address U.S. concerns over supply-chain shortages of rare earths and other critical minerals, including yttrium, scandium, neodymium and indium. The agreement also created a new U.S.-China Board of Trade and a […]
According to the PJM Independent Market Monitor’s Q1 2026 State of the Market Report, published May 15, 2026, wholesale power prices rose from $77.78/MWh in Q1 2025 to $136.53/MWh in Q1 2026, a 75.5% increase. The report identifies data center load growth as the primary reason for recent and expected capacity market conditions, including total […]
On May 14, 2026, the IEA Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA-PVPS) released its 13th annual Snapshot of Global PV Markets, finding global cumulative installed PV capacity reached approximately 2,974 GW by end-2025, with annual installations of about 698 GWp. The report flags that more than 300 GW of installed PV is now more than a […]
On May 14, 2026, Spanish developer and IPP Zelestra energised its 1 GWh battery energy storage system in the Atacama Desert, Chile. The project is one of the largest single BESS assets operational in Chile and is designed to absorb daytime solar surpluses that have driven negative prices in the Sistema Electrico Nacional grid. Zelestra […]
On May 14, 2026, Casella Waste Systems and Waga Energy held a ribbon-cutting for their new renewable natural gas (RNG) facility at the Chemung County Landfill in Elmira, New York. The plant operating since January 2026 uses Waga’s WAGABOX landfill-gas upgrading technology and has a design capacity of 610,000 MMBtu RNG/year, with year-one projections of […]
Nucor raised its consumer spot price for hot-rolled coil by USD 10 per short ton in a customer letter dated 18 May 2026, bringing the headline offer to USD 1,090 per short ton. Its West Coast joint venture California Steel Industries lifted to USD 1,140 per short ton. Delivery lead times held at 3 to […]
Swedish steelmaker SSAB approved a SEK 3.3 billion (~USD 349 million) investment in a new quenching and tempering line at its Oxelösund plant, with production starting in 2030 and initial capacity of about 100,000 tonnes per year. The line will expand SSAB Special Steels’ output of Hardox 500Tuf wear steel and Armox armour steel — […]
