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.

Both developers are asking state regulators to pause review of the contracts. Increases in interest rates, supply chain constraints and inflation have significantly increased the expected cost of constructing the project. They suggest tax incentives and an increase of prices under the power purchase agreements to make the projects viable again.

Poland has chosen Westinghouse to build its first nuclear power plant. Poland is planning to spend $40 billion to build two nuclear power plants with three reactors each, the first one to be launched in 2033 and the second one in 2043. Nuclear power plants will replace the ageing coal-fired plants in a country with some of the worst air pollution in Europe.

Italy withdrew in 2016. The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) protects energy investments by foreign companies. Three energy groups are suing three European governments over the closure of coal power plants. Spain is sued by renewable energy companies after it reduced the subsidies. A process to “modernise” the pact has been under way since 2018.

Just replacing the H2 made from natural gas and coal with green H2 would require 143% of all the wind and solar installed globally to date. Add shipping, steel and energy storage, and it would require five times all the existing wind and solar installations – and that is before decarbonising the electricity supply or hydrogen use in heating and road transport.