Countries like France and Poland support nuclear, while Germany and Austria oppose it. Ursula von der Leyen said that only “cutting edge” nuclear technology such as small modular reactors might get access to simplified rules and incentives in the EU’s net zero Industry Act and that it would not be eligible for all the benefits of the legislation.

Energy regulator Ofgem plans to tackle the practice that involves generators warning the electricity system operator that they are turning their power plants off at times of peak demand and then offering to keep them running in exchange for a “balancing” payment. This created £525m of extra revenue in 2018-2022, over 90% of it in the last two years.

Last Energy Inc., a startup developing advanced, smaller nuclear power plants, completed four deals to build 34 reactors in Europe. It expects to install the first 20MW plant in 2025. It is one of the companies seeking to manufacture reactors in factories and assemble them on-site, to build them faster and cheaper than conventional nuclear power plants.

The government is in talks with the country’s second-biggest coal miner LEAG to end production by 2030, eight years earlier than planned, despite protests by some of its 7,000 employees. Three years ago, it promised LEAG €1.75 billion to get out of coal by 2038. It reached an agreement in October with the largest utility RWE AG to exit coal in 2030.

The EU will make it harder to get public contracts and subsidies for those using imports from China. The EU wants to “de-risk” its exposure to China, which supplies most solar panels and is increasing its share in wind turbines and electric vehicles. The EU also wants to increase domestic mining of lithium and other minerals used in green technology.

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.