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.

Output shrank to about 37 TWh after two stations closed. The UK wants to build as much as 24 GW of new nuclear capacity by 2050, with 6 GW in the next decade at a cost of more than £150 billion. “With revenues materializing around a decade after the Final Investment Decision, few banks are willing to consider financing nuclear power.

Small module reactors suffer financing setbacks and regulatory headwinds. Shares of NuScale are down 70% this year. A $1.8 bln deal for X-energy to go public collapsed. Oklo plans to go public and raise $500 mln via SPAC, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission denied its permission, saying it did not provide enough information on its reactor design.

Naarea has already raised €50 mln from a handful of French family offices. The molten salt fast neutron reactors the size of a bus will burn plutonium and radioactive waste, have a 40MW electricity output and produce heat as well. Ceramic will prevent corrosion from the liquid fuel, something that has hampered the development of such reactors in the past.

Enel is planning to cut renewable investments (from €17 bln to €12.1bln), spend more on grids and pledged more fiscal discipline, under the new management. Italy will account for 49% of investments. Enel’s debt was €69 bln at the end of 2022 and should be cut by €11.5 bln by the end of 2024. The group will exit Argentina, Peru and Romania.