Power Markets

The Industry Ministry in Seoul announced that TerraPower and South Korea’s SK Innovation had signed a preliminary agreement on small modular reactors. This will allow the SK Group affiliate to participate in TerraPower's domestic and international projects. According to the ministry, Bill Gates and Chey Tae Won, Chairman of SK Group, signed the agreement at a Seoul meeting with Industry Minister Kim Jung Kwan. According to the ministry, the deal allows SK Innovation (the parent company of South 'Korea's biggest oil refiner) to participate in developing 'TerraPower's SMR project in the United States as well as overseas. The ministry did...

The CEO of X-energy, a small?nuclear energy company that is trying to build the next generation of these plants, announced?on thursday that his?company was told by U.S. Department of Energy it would receive up to an additional $1 billion of public funding in Texas for a joint project with Dow Inc. Clay Sell, CEO of Dow, said on an earnings call that the total public funding for this project in Seadrift will be $2.15 billion by 2021. DOE's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program is supporting the project. This program aims to "accelerate" the deployment of small nuclear reactors by forming cost-shared...

Constellation Energy, a power company, announced?on Thursday that it would sell a?gas?plant in Texas to LS Power, for $860 millions, and increased its current-year earnings forecast due to robust demand. Shares rose 1.3% in the morning trading. Constellation has completed its $16.4 billion acquisition of Calpine assets by selling Brazos Valley Energy Center to LS Power. Constellation is the largest nuclear power company in the U.S. Constellation has been expanding its fleet beyond nuclear, and its Calpine purchase adds a large portfolio of gas-fired generators, which gives it greater flexibility in markets with high demand, such as Texas. On a...

Constellation Energy, a power company, announced on Thursday that it would sell a 'gas plant' in Texas to LS Power. It also increased its forecast for current-year earnings on the 'back of robust power demand. In premarket trading, shares of 'the company' were up 5%. Constellation must complete its $16.4 billion acquisition of Calpine assets by selling the Brazos Valley Energy Center to LS Power. Constellation is expanding beyond its nuclear fleet. Its Calpine purchase has given it a gas-fired portfolio, which gives them more flexibility in markets with high demand like Texas. Joe Dominguez, CEO of the company, said:...

TAE Technologies, a developer of fusion energy, announced on Wednesday that it had signed a deal with Black Moon Energy, whose private company could 'provide helium-3 as a fuel option in the future for its planned power plant. Nuclear fusion is still a long way from commercial power plants. Developers are still trying to prove the performance of reactors, attract capital, and ensure long-term supply. TAE has raised over $1 billion from Alphabet, Google, and Chevron. It is planning to build its first fusion plant, Da Vinci. The power plant will be able to generate 50 megawatts of electricity. Site...

Cuba's electrical grid collapsed again on Monday. State-run media reported that the government was attempting to reestablish the system after a nationwide blackout occurred on Sunday. Cuba's old power generation system is being severely strained by fuel shortages, deteriorating facilities and the U.S. oil blockade. In recent months, blackouts that affect the entire island, which is home to about 10 million people, are becoming more frequent. Cuba experienced three outages in nine days?in July. Then, on Sunday night just before 11 p.m. In a social media post, Lazaro Alonso, the director of news at Cuba's government-run TV, said: "Despite the...

Ameren’s proposed mega?gas facility for the Midwest will still?leave the utility with a lack of?the?power and reserves required to meet the surging demand for data centers, according to the company's analysis ahead of an important approval process next week. The projected shortfall highlights the mounting strain on U.S. electricity grids, as demand for data centers grows faster than generation and transmission capacities needed to support them. Ameren, based in St. Louis, is in a rush to complete the project after signing contracts this year with Amazon and Alphabet’s Google to supply electricity to their data centers being developed in rural...

NextEra Energy and Brookfield are building a $100 billion campus of data centers at an 'ex-uranium enrichment site' in Paducah, Kentucky. The soaring demand for electricity in the United States is driving companies to invest heavily into artificial intelligence data centres and other technologies that strain an aging U.S. electric grid. NextEra is the largest U.S. power company and will provide 2.6 GW in battery storage and 2 gigawatts (GW) of natural gas to support the datacenter. Brookfield, on the other hand, will own and operate the 1.8 GW campus. One gigawatt can power approximately 750,000 homes. The campus will...

Cape Town's municipal authorities have approved the proposal of?Equinix to build two data centres within the city despite protests by environmental groups and activists over water use, electricity consumption, and other aspects. The U.S. listed company's planned development of the King Air Industria region is a significant step forward, especially as the demand for data centre infrastructure in Africa continues to rise. The proposed data centres are expected to need around 170 megawatts in power, making it one of the biggest projects being planned for South Africa. Teraco is Africa's biggest data-centre provider. It has stated that it has 189...

Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone's CEO, said that the company is addressing the social and environmental implications of artificial intelligence, as opposition to the construction of data centers in the United States grows. Blackstone and private capital firms pour tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure and businesses that are aiming to increase computing capacity and run models that consume a lot of power. A June /Ipsos poll found that the deeply divided American electorate was united by their opposition to the construction of data centers. Only 14% said they would "support" a facility being built for technology companies in...

Donald Trump, President of the United States, said on Thursday that a deal between the U.S. Saudi Arabia's participation in the Abraham Accords is a condition for a deal with?Saudi Arabia. The material will not be enriched. The U.S. reached an agreement with Saudi Arabia on civil nuclear energy, which allows the kingdom to enrich uranium using U.S. technology and build nuclear reactors. The technology is available without the need for UN inspections, which Washington had previously demanded of Iran. The Civil Nuclear Deal (There won't be any enrichment !)...) The deal will only be approved for non-military uses, such...

The Trump administration said on Wednesday that it would consider putting nuclear energy projects in federal waters, as part of a broader?plan to increase domestic energy production and accelerate deployment of advanced 'nuclear technology. Marine Minerals Administration (MMA),?which oversees the development of the?U.S. The?Outer Continental Shelf's said that it had signed an agreement to coordinate the oversight of offshore nuclear projects with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Interior Department has been taking a series of steps to open federal waters for industrial activities. This includes space launches and mining. However, it has also tried to aggressively block the development of offshore...

The Electricity and Renewable Energy Ministry in Egypt announced on Friday that the rates would remain unchanged for households within the first consumption category, but increase them by an average of 12 percent for all other residential customers. The ministry stated that it had approved the new accounting rate "in order to ensure the stability and financial sustainability" for Egypt's electricity and renewable energy network. This includes production, transmission, and distribution. Egypt spends about 100 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) a year to bridge the gap in production costs and consumer tariffs. The state subsidy is shrinking with increasing household consumption....

The production at Libya's El Feel?oilfield has been halted, while that at the?Wafa?oilfield?was partly stopped on Tuesday. State oil firm NOC said protesters stormed Mellitah Oil and Gas Complex and disrupted operation. In a press release, the Libyan government at Tripoli stated that security forces had regained full control of a complex owned by a joint venture between Italy's Eni and?NOC, and gas supply to power plants has resumed. Mellitah runs El Feel. It has a normal capacity between 80,000?bpd to 90,000bpd. Since the 2011 uprising in Libya against Muammar Gadhafi, Libyan oil production has?been?subjected to repeated closures due to...

On Friday, President Donald 'Trump said he wouldn't go ahead with a civil nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia unless?Saudi Arabia agreed?to a re-normalization of relations with Israel in accordance with the Abraham Accords. The U.S. Department of Energy announced on Wednesday that Energy Sec. Chris Wright and Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, his Saudi counterpart, had signed an accord on the development of commercial nuclear reactors in oil rich Saudi Arabia. It said that Congress would review it. Since his first term, Trump has worked on a deal to build a nuclear power plant in Saudi Arabia. Joe Biden, the former...

Israel is worried about the'start of an arms race in the Middle East' after a deal between the United States & Saudi Arabia was announced on Wednesday. The agreement allows the kingdom to build nuclear power plants using American technology and enrich uranium. The?agreement announced on Wednesday, which needs Congressional approval to be implemented, is intended to allow Saudi Arabia to develop a civil nuclear programme. The Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Defence and Foreign ministers, have not yet commented on this deal. Critics say that it compromises Israel's long-term interests. "The nuclear deal that's coming together between Israel and...

The U.S. Energy Department announced on Wednesday that the U.S. has reached an agreement with Saudi Arabia on civil nuclear energy. This deal allows the kingdom build nuclear reactors utilizing American technology, and enrich uranium. The Saudi nuclear deal has been in the making for many years, both during President Donald Trump's administration and that of?former President Joe Biden. The current deal, unlike the Biden plan does not include the so-called Additional Protocol that would allow the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to conduct intrusive quick inspections. The agreement would allow Saudi Arabia to enrich nuclear waste and reprocess...

Rosatom, the state-owned nuclear corporation of Russia, announced 'on Friday' that it has suspended 'the return of their first employees to a construction site for new units at Iran's Bushehr 'nuclear 'power 'plant' following recent strikes against Iran. On Thursday, an Iranian official said that a U.S. missile had hit the perimeter of the facility and hit a military base on the outskirts Bushehr. Alexei Likhachev was quoted as saying that the Russian state corporation chief had halted the progress of his team in Tehran after the attack last night. He said, "We will decide the next steps in the...

Hezbollah stated on 'Tuesday' that it believes Iran won't sign a final deal with 'Washington unless Israel leaves 'Lebanon', after Iran's top diplomat'said Israel's 'continued troop' presence in Lebanon will be considered a violation of the U.S. -Iran Memorandum of Understanding. Israeli troops continue to occupy territory in southern Lebanon they captured during their three-month-long air and ground campaign against Hezbollah. The campaign began when the Iran-backed Hezbollah fired on Israel in support of Tehran, starting in?March 2. The fighting in Lebanon has slowed down but not completely since the Iran-U.S. Memorandum of Understanding. Israel also said that troops will...

Sebastien Lecornu, the Prime Minister of France, said that France would 'continue to only offer limited relief to consumers who are impacted by high fuel prices. Paris, unlike other European countries, has refused to cut fuel taxes despite the fact that the Strait of Hormuz closure has driven oil prices over $100 per barrel. The reason given was the high budget deficit in the eurozone. Lecornu said at a press briefing that "we're not changing our strategy." "We reject any reduction in fuel taxes that is indiscriminate and general." He said that the government instead?extended targeted measures and scaled up...

The?U.S. has?dramatically reduced Iran's ability to threaten its neighboring countries and U.S. interest. A senior U.S. Admiral stated on Thursday that the bombings have slowed down Tehran's defence industry by 90%. Admiral Brad Cooper of U.S. Central Command emphasized 'the tactical success of the military campaign he led against Iran and said that the war has dramatically reduced the danger posed by Iran to the Middle East. Cooper refused to directly address the reports of and other news organizations that Iran had significant drone and missile capabilities. These reports cited U.S. Intelligence sources. Cooper, speaking to a U.S. Senate Committee,...

Axios, citing two U.S. government officials and other sources, reported that the 'White House' believes it is close to reaching an agreement with?Iran over a one-page memo of understanding. This would end the war, and provide a framework for further nuclear negotiations. According to a report, the U.S. is expecting Iranian responses to several key points within the next 48 hours. The report cautioned that there hasn't been any agreement yet, but stated this was the closest parties have been to an accord since the beginning of the war. Axios reported that the deal included, among other things, Iran agreeing...

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump dismissed Iran's military capability and said that?Tehran should "wave the white flag of surrender", but was too proud to do it. Trump told reporters that Iran has reduced its military to "peashooters", and that Tehran wants to make a deal in private despite public sabre rattling. They play 'games', but I can tell you that they are looking to strike a?deal. Who wouldn't want to make a deal, "when your military is totally gone?" He said. Trump praised the U.S.-led blockade on Iranian ports in the area. "It is like a sheet of steel. No...

The government of Sweden announced a spring mini-budget that will slash fuel taxes, and increase electricity subsidies. This is to help ease the burden on households who are paying higher energy costs due to the war in Iran. The additional spending will be 7.7 billion crowns (825 million dollars) ahead of the September parliamentary elections. This is on top of an 80 billion crowns in new spending announced last September in the full year budget bill for 2026. "Sweden's on the right track." The Swedish economy remains strong despite war and uncertainty overseas. We continue to build safety barriers. Since...