Power Markets

Constellation Energy announced on Tuesday that the U.S. nuclear regulator had approved a?20-year renewal of licenses for its Clinton clean energy center and?Dresden?clean energy center. The U.S. power company will invest over $370 million in relicensing the nuclear plants, to increase efficiency and reliability. The company stated that the approvals would allow Clinton to "operate until 2047" and Dresden reactors through 2049 and 2051. After decades of stagnation in the U.S., nuclear power has experienced a surge. This is due to data centers that are used for artificial intelligence and electrification. In May, President Donald Trump signed executive orders directing...

NextEra Energy announced on Monday that it has expanded its partnership between Alphabet’s Google Cloud and NextEra Energy to increase data center capacity. Meta also secured over 2.5 gigawatts in clean energy contracts across the U.S. In premarket trading, shares of NextEra rose 2.7%. The companies, under the new agreement with Google Cloud will build multiple new data centres of gigawatt scale (GW), each with its own generation and capacity. NextEra plans to launch a product powered by AI in mid-2026. The AI-powered solution will predict equipment problems, optimize crew scheduling, and improve grid reliability during storms and with aging...

Constellation Energy, a U.S.-based power company, announced on Friday that it had reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the conditions necessary to complete the previously disclosed $16.4 billion purchase of Calpine Corporation. Calpine must also divest four of its generating assets located in the Mid-Atlantic Region. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved the deal. The deal announced in January is one of the largest acquisitions in the U.S. Power Industry. It comes at a period of increasing electricity demand driven by the proliferation and energy-hungry AI Data Centers and the electrification and transportation of buildings...

The U.S. Department of Energy announced on Tuesday that it would provide up to $850 million in support of the development of small modular nuclear reactors by Tennessee Valley Authority and Holtec. The Trump administration and nuclear firms believe SMRs can help provide electricity in the U.S., where demand for power is increasing for the first time since two decades due to artificial intelligence mining, electric vehicles and cryptocurrency mining. SMRs are said to save money because they will be manufactured in factories. There are no such reactors under construction in America, and there is some doubt about their ability...

The Trump administration asked a federal judge to overturn the 2024 limits on soot for factories and power plants. It also delayed by three-years a deadline set for coal plants to remove coal waste. Critics have called these moves a clear retreat from public health protections. Soot is linked to cardiovascular disease and asthma. The EPA of President Joe Biden said that the stricter standard of 9 micrograms of CO2 per cubic meter last year would prevent more than 800,000. This included 2,000 hospitalizations and 4,500 premature death. Trump has pushed for the revival of coal. In a Monday filing,...

On Friday, U.S. president Donald Trump and New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mahmdani both agreed that New York utility Con Edison must lower its rates. The Republican President and the new democratic socialist mayor met at the White House to discuss concerns about cost of living. Trump said, "We're going to have talk with them (Con Edison)." We have to convince Con Edison to lower their rates. Mamdani replied, "Absolutely." Both men were successful in their recent election campaigns when it came to the issue of affordability and inflation. The company responded to a question by saying: "We are excited...

U.S. legislators warned against a nuclear arms races in the Middle East following the announcement by the United States and Saudi Arabia that they had signed an initial agreement for civil nuclear energy collaboration. U.S. Energy Sec. Chris Wright, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum signed an initial agreement for civil nuclear cooperation on Tuesday, as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made his first White House trip in over seven years. The countries have been in talks about nuclear power cooperation for many years, including under the former president Joe Biden. Progress has...

Anfield Energy announced on Wednesday that it had applied to the state for approval to restart the JD-8 uranium-vanadium mine, which was previously producing in Colorado. This will allow the company to resume production in the second quarter of 2026. Due to the poor market conditions that made production uneconomical, JD-8's uranium-vanadium project is currently inactive. The Burnaby-based Canadian company has submitted its application at a time when the Trump administration is intensifying efforts to boost U.S. security of energy by reducing reliance on imported Uranium and revitalising nuclear sector. The federal government has increased its support for restarting nuclear...

The Trump Administration announced on Tuesday that it had loaned Constellation Energy Corp. $1 billion in order to restart the nuclear reactor of a Pennsylvania facility formerly known by the name Three Mile Island. Constellation and Microsoft signed a contract in 2024 to restart an 835 megawatt reactor that shut down in 2019. This would offset Microsoft’s data center energy use. The plant's other unit, now called the Crane Clean Energy Center after a 1979 accident that froze the nuclear industry, was shut down in 1979. The U.S. is experiencing its first increase in power demand since the 1990s, thanks...

The U.S. Ambassador to London attacked Britain's nuclear policy on Wednesday in a rare and strong criticism, just before a decision is expected on the development of the site in North Wales. The UK is expected to announce on Thursday that its first small modular reactor nuclear power plant will be located on Anglesey Island, a North Wales island, where an old nuclear station closed in 2015. The United States was pushing for an extensive nuclear project. On Wednesday, Ambassador Warren Stephens made a strong rebuke to Britain's decision. Stephens stated that he was "extremely disappointed" by the decision. "There...

The U.S. Energy secretary Chris Wright stated on Monday that the Department of Energy Loan Programs Office would be used most for nuclear power plants. LPO offers hundreds of billions in funding aid including loan guarantees to projects that are unable to obtain bank loans. During the first term of President Donald Trump in the White House he only used the LPO to finance reactors at Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant in Georgia. Wright said at a conference for the American Nuclear Society that "by far, the most important use of these dollars will be to build the first nuclear power...

A drone attack overnight by Ukraine temporarily interrupted power and heating in Voronezh (southwestern Russia), a regional governor reported on Sunday. Alexander Gusev, Governor of Voronezh Region, said that the attack on Voronezh - the administrative center for the entire Voronezh area - did not result in any injuries. He added that electronic warfare systems suppressed several drones, which sparked a fire in a utility building. The fire was quickly put out. Gusev stated that safety measures caused a brief change in the central heating temperature in some homes as well as short power outages in certain parts of the...

An official from the China National Nuclear Corporation's (CNNC) research arm said that China would begin commercial operation of the Linglong One small modular reactor in the first half of 2026. The APC100 reactor, also known as APC100 was the first SMR approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2016. The first project to use the Linglong One technology, CNNC's project on China's island of Hainan began in 2021. Wang Zhenqing of the China Institute for 'Nuclear Industrial Strategy', spoke at an international energy conference in Beijing. SMRs can be built faster and smaller than traditional reactors, and...

U.S. utilities are racing to sign supply deals with data-center operators as the artificial-intelligence boom sparks a surge in power demand, setting the stage for higher profits in the coming quarters. Goldman Sachs reported in May that data centers will account for 8% (compared to 3%) of the electricity generated in the U.S. in 2030. Here are some of the deals that utilities have announced for 2024 and 2025. NextEra Energy has expanded its partnership to Alphabet’s Google Cloud in order to increase data center capacity across the U.S. by multiple gigawatts, and improve energy infrastructure. Meta Platforms has signed...

Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki stated on Friday that the restart of Hokkaido Electric Power Co.'s Tomari Nuclear Power Plant in northern Japan was considered a real option at this time. Suzuki said he would take a final decision about the restart of the project after completing on-site inspections, and collecting feedback from the surrounding communities. The Nuclear Regulation Authority of Japan approved a safety assessment for Tomari's 912-megawatt reactor No. The final step in the 12-year-long process of restarting Tomari's reactor No. Suzuki stated that, given the regulatory approvals, the new emergency response plan of the government, and the expectation...

On Friday, a Japanese regional governor will be expected to announce whether he is willing to allow a partial restart at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear plant, which is the largest in the world, as Japan attempts to revitalize its nuclear sector while reducing fossil fuel imports. The approval of Niigata Prefecture governor Hideyo Haazumi will remove the final major obstacle for Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) in its plans to restart Kashiwazaki and Kariwa's two biggest reactors. TEPCO would be able to restart its power plant for the first time since March 2011, when the tsunami destroyed Fukushima Daiichi. This...

An official of the South Korean Fire Department said that on Friday, at least three people had died following the collapse of an enormous structure at a South Korean power station that was being prepared to be demolished. Kim Jung-shik told reporters that two other workers were found under the rubble, and it was presumed they had died. Two others are still missing. On Thursday afternoon, workers were removing parts of a massive steel structure that was a decommissioned heating system when it collapsed. The footage from the scene shows the structure toppled and mangled, surrounded by other structures. Rescuers...

Customs data released on Friday showed that China's imports of coal in October were down 10% from the previous year, due to a holiday which reduced the number working days during the month. Imports will be supported in 2025 by the winter restocking of products during the last two months. Imports in October fell from 46.25 to 41.74 millions metric tons, a drop of almost ten percent. Imports in September reached 46 million metric tonnes, a record high for nine months. Feng Dongbin is vice-general manager of Fenwei Digital Information Technology. He said that imports decreased sequentially, and also from...

Donald Trump, the U.S. president, will host five leaders from Central Asian countries at the White House this Thursday. The U.S. is seeking to gain influence in the region that has been dominated for decades by Russia but increasingly courted and influenced by China. The talks are taking place as the competition for Central Asia’s mineral resources intensifies. Western nations want to diversify their supply chains and move away from Moscow or Beijing. The U.S., in particular, is seeking new partnerships to secure vital minerals, energy supplies and overland trading routes that circumvent geopolitical competitors. The C5+1 platform, which was...

The prices of the main grades in seaborne thermal coal have been recovering modestly from their four-year lows. However, the gains come at the expense of volume as major importers reduce demand. According to analysts DBX Commodities, China, India and South Korea are on course for lower coal arrivals in September than October. The prices of the main Australian and Indonesian grades have been rising since early June after a downward trend that began in October 2023. The lower prices in July and August did increase import demand, but the higher prices are now causing buyers to pull back. DBX...

Kansai, Japan's largest nuclear power company, revised its profit forecasts for the fiscal year that ends in March next year by 65 billion yen, to 360 billion ($2.4 billion), due to an increase in electricity demand. Kansai, a company in which activist investor Elliott from the United States has recently become a major minority shareholder, raised its forecast for the full year dividend to 75 yen, up from 60 yen. The nuclear capacity factor (which measures how much of total nuclear power capacity available is actually used) was left unchanged at around 80% from the previous forecast. Kansai's net profit...

Open Interest (ROI), your indispensable source of global financial commentary, is Open Interest. The prices of seaborne thermal coal have been recovering modestly from their four-year lows in Asia, but this is at the cost of volume as major importers reduce demand. According to analysts DBX Commodities, China, India and South Korea are on course for lower coal arrivals in September than October. The prices of the main Australian and Indonesian grades have been rising since early June after a downward trend that began in October 2023. The lower prices in July and August did increase import demand, but the...

A lobby leader said that the nuclear industry in Japan wants more support for building new reactors under the newly elected pronuclear prime minister Sanae Takaichi. This includes state-run auctions of capacity, according to a Thursday statement. Only 14 of the 54 reactors that operated in Japan prior to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 have been brought online. Takaichi said reviving the nuclear power was key to Japan's security. Japan has focused on restarting reactors that have been shut down - the government extended the operating life from 40 to 60 year - and only one new plant is...

Industry and government sources claim that India's private power producers are urging the government to allow the importation of equipment from China. They say the domestic resources available in the country are not enough and expensive, and the country is looking to increase its coal-based generation. India's Ministry of Power, as part of its "Make in India", mandated that homemade equipment be used in 2021. The initiative was designed to boost local manufacturing. This programme was also launched at a time of high diplomatic tensions between China and India. According to a letter that was reviewed by, the Association of...