BHP will suspend its domestic nickel operations, including the country's only nickel smelter. A global oversupply has crashed nickel prices, driven by Chinese projects in Indonesia. A review of the suspension is scheduled for February 2027. Since 2020, BHP has invested $3 bln in Western Australia Nickel to service the electric vehicle market.

Countries in eastern Europe plan to build a dozen new nuclear reactors, with a value of €130 bln, but the question is, who will pay for them. Governments need to step in. EU will likely approve state aid for the next budget cycle 2028-34 by June 2025. But inadequate supply chain, and a shortage of experts and contractors will also slow down the projects.

Concerns over Trump presidency and high interest rates caused a clean energy sell-off in the US. Clean energy stocks have tumbled 28% since July last year. Low valuations have prompted takeovers by buyout groups. New equity raised by energy transition companies in the public markets has also fallen, from $68 bln in 2022 to $33 bln in 2023.

The biofuel sector is battling cost overruns, engineering shortcomings, and a glut of biofuels. They are up to six times as expensive as fossil fuels. The oversupply in China has depressed prices elsewhere. Many biofuel companies have already declared bankruptcy. Demand for biofuels remains low, while oil consumption is rising.

Chinese solar industry is grappling with a deepening glut after production outstripped demand in recent years. Major firms reported losses as they were forced to sell below costs. An oversupply of products is unlikely to ease for up to two years. Fierce competition at home has pushed many Chinese solar companies to seek higher premiums overseas.

Investors rush to get their hands on the juicy yields in the era of interest rates. The yield spreads between corporate and government bonds have become unusually slender, especially for bonds with longer maturities. Pension funds and insurance companies are more interested in yields in comparison with shares than in spreads.

A government decree will require installations of at least 2.1 metres above ground on land zoned for agriculture, to allow cultivation underneath. This will be 20-40% more expensive than normal ground-mounted installations. The decree also bars farmers from leasing their land to solar developers and instead requires them to invest in projects themselves.

ESG equity funds suffer net $40bn of outflows in 2024 globally, the first sustained exodus. Over the past 12 months, ESG funds made an 11% return, compared with 21% for conventional stock funds. Scandals such as one at German asset manager DWS also hit investors' appetite. But ESG bond funds have have raked in $22bn this year.

Canadian infrastructure giant Brookfield and the investment fund Temasek are in talks to take over Neoen, in a deal valuing the French company at €6.1bn. Neoen has 8 GW of wind, solar and battery projects up and running or under construction, and 20GW under development. Brookfield is a major renewable developer with a pipeline of about 157GW.

In May 2023, the contract for the power station was signed with the US consortium Westinghouse-Bechtel. The capacity of the three reactors will be 3750 MWe. Geological surveys are expected to last until the end of the year. The commissioning of the first unit is planned for 2040. By 2045, nuclear will account for 20% of Poland's electricity generation.

US wind power slipped in 2023 due to weaker-than-normal Midwest breezes despite the 6.2 GW added capacity, showing the challenge of integrating volatile renewable energy sources into the grid. The capacity factor for the country’s wind fleet (how much energy it’s generating versus its nominally possible output) declined to an eight-year low of 33.5%.

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.