Sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) impose penalties on borrowers when they fail green goals, but they don't need to invest the money into green projects. Enel missed its 2023 GHG emissions target and will pay €83 mln more on the €10 bln worth of SLBs. It’s the most significant penalty yet in a market whose first bond was issued by Enel in 2019.

The project called “Green Volt” off the coast of Scotland will include 35 floating turbines with the nominal output of 560 MW and will provide electricity primarily to offshore oil and gas platforms. The project owners are Flotation Energy and Vargronn. The current biggest development, off the coast of Norway, has only 11 turbines and 88 MW nominal output.

New York State ended talks with developers for three offshore wind power projects after GE Vernova offered smaller turbines, because its 18 MW units are not available. Authorities said this "materially altered" the plans. Supply chain problems and rising interest rates are forcing project cancellations and billions in writedowns by developers.

US-backed company Verde will invest $1 bln in a disused Romanian mine and new processing facilities. It intends to start production in2027 and reach 90,000 tonnes a year, half of EU's needs and 9% of global production. Over 90% of EU’s magnesium (crucial for making lightweight aluminium alloys used in cars and packaging) is imported from China.

During Europe’s energy crisis, Steag was asked to bring five of its coal-fired power stations back online and the Federal Network Agency now wants them to remain on standby until 2031 to help keep the lights on. Steag can claim reimbursements from the grid operator, but cannot sell the electricity on the market. This is not economically viable.

In 2021, Us scientists produced more energy from fusion than the reaction consumed. A third of 39 fusion companies said commercial viability would be demonstrated between 2031 and 2035. One obstacle will be the lack of readiness in supply chains to provide the engineering, materials, and expertise required to roll out a fusion solution at scale.

The EU installed 16 GW of new wind capacity in 2022, but should be building over 30 GW a year to meet its own 2030 targets. It is expected to install 98 GW by 2027. 75% of that will be onshore, while the UK is leading in offshore wind installations. Wind energy generation in Europe has increased from 370 TWh in 2018 to 489 TWh in 2022.

In Spain, wind parks aged 15 or older are half of the 30GW total. Their lifespan is 20 years. They are in prime sites with the strongest winds. Replacing them with bigger wind mills increases generation, but is costly. Replacing just blades, gearboxes and generators is cheaper. The internal rate of return of new projects in Spain has plunged to 6%.

When there is more wind power than the grid needs, wind farms are paid to switch off. In 2022, about £800 million. Consumers are forced to cover these rising costs. Wind farms get paid more, if they overestimate their production. Some provide honest estimates, but those that cheat make millions in profits, while consumers struggle with energy costs.

France’s state-run utility EDF announced an increase in the cost of its Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in the UK to £46 bln and a delay to 2030. France is pressing the UK to help plug the multibillion-pound hole. Britain’s five nuclear power stations account for 14% of the country’s electricity mix. By the end of 2028, only one of those will still be open.

Electricity production will need to increase from 2,905 TWh in 2021 to 6,922 TWh in 2050 because of electric vehicles and heat pumps, according to the European Commission. This will require investment in the energy system of €1.5 trillion per year and 500,000 tons of copper, 80,000 tons of lithium and 60,000 tons of cobalt, according to a study.

Fog in Hungary in the morning predicts the spike in intra-day electricity prices. Algorithms buy power contracts and make money, when prices rise. Traders in Denmark are using the upheaval of the green energy transition and Russia's war. Five years ago, they made $100 mln per year, now it is $5 bln and European consumers are paying the price.