Investments in renewables fall due to rising interest rates and higher materials costs to less than half of the planned $1 trillion a year. Unlike power stations that require fuel, the majority of the cost for renewables comes upfront. This makes the sector sensitive to changes in financing. Higher interest rates affest winds, solar, as well as energy storage.

The European Commission has proposed a plan to make Europe independent from Russian fossil fuels. REPowerEU will seek to diversify natural gas supplies, speed up the roll-out of renewable gases, and replace gas in heating and power generation. This can reduce EU demand for Russian gas by two thirds before the end of the year.

Under the EU’s current energy market design, electricity prices are tied to gas prices, which meant the squeeze on gas supplies also pushed up electricity costs. Germany and the Netherlands opposed changes. EU countries will, instead, support: long-term “power purchase agreements”, cuts to consumption at peak times, and electricity storage.

New rules could sharply reduce the volume of bonds that qualify for a green label. So far, dirty industries could raise cash to fund a small part of their activities. To be labelled “green” under the new rules, 85% of the funds raised by the issuance must be allocated to activities that align with the EU’s taxonomy, which defines sustainable investments.

In 2030, demand for electricity in Germany will be around a third higher than today. A fleet of new power stations running on imported natural gas should generate electricity when wind and sun aren’t available and they might be converted to run on hydrogen later on. The government is struggling to find investors willing to take on such costly projects.

Higher interest rates have increased interest in so-called liability management to reduce debt and cash flow pressure on companies. Liability management includes suspending dividends, selling assets, amending debt documents and discounted bond buybacks. Italian energy company Enel plans to sell assets worth €21 billion to reduce its debt ratio.

The law empowers local authorities to create preferred go-to and no-go areas for renewable projects, and to financially benefit from them. Energy company Neoen said the definition of go-to zones will take years to emerge and put many developments on hold. The law also introduces a “visual saturation” criteria, which will effect new wind farms.

High materials costs and slow approvals for new wind power projects reduce profitability. Danish wind farm developer Orsted announced a €335 million impairment on a US offshore project due to “unprecedented cost inflation”. Supply-chain issues, inflation, competition from China and lower demand drove turbine makers to cut jobs last year.

For a few hours last week, British consumers were asked to turn the lights off. There was a financial incentive offered. Less reliable renewable sources and the switch to electric cars and home heating will make this even more common. Home owners might hand over some control of their power use to suppliers, allowing them to switch off things remotely.

Turbine failures are on the rise in Europe and North America. This effects turbines of all three largest manufacturers: General Electric, Vestas, and Siemens Gamesa. A recent report says production issues may be to blame for the mysterious increase in failures. This issue comes on top of uncertain supply chains and fluctuating material pricing.

The EU is trying to de-link gas prices from that of electricity and rethink the use of the Netherlands’ Title Transfer Facility price, which is based on pipeline supplies, as the continental benchmark for gas. Other European indexes such as Iberia’s Mibgas, which doesn’t take into account import prices, have experienced a lesser impact.

Britain’s wind farms produced a record amount of electricity, cutting demand for natural gas just as the temperatures start to drop. The UK’s fleet of wind farms generated more than 20 GW on Wednesday, according to National Grid Plc. In the coming years, the UK government aims to expand its offshore wind capacity to as much as 50 GW by 2030.