Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a start-up founded by MIT scientists is planning to build its first fusion power plant with a 400 MW capacity in an industrial park near Richmond in the early 2030s. It has not yet secured regulatory approval. It is first building a pilot machine in Massachusetts that will demonstrate the feasibility of its technology in 2027.

When the wind was barely blowing, they announced a cut off in electricity production and then offered to keep producing at a higher price to meet a potential shortfall they helped create. The price was £3,105 per MWh, more than 10 times the intraday market price. The plants are owned by Vitol and the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.

German power prices spiked to above €1,000 per MWh as wind generation receded. Imports surged to the highest in a decade, prompting gas- and oil-fired plants to step in and meet the demand. Germany has spent more on renewable energy than almost anyone else in the world, but the market is at the mercy of intermittent power generation.

Norway wants to cut the interconnector to Denmark and renegotiate links to Germany and the UK. A lack of wind in Germany will push electricity prices in southern Norway to $1.18 per kWh on Thursday, 20-times their level last week. Critics argue that Norway should only send electricity abroad after it has ensured low prices at home, as it used to be the case.

The new British government aims to reform rules on planning and connecting to the power grid to reach the goal of relying less than 5% of the time on natural gas for electricity generation by 2030 to reduce price volatility. The estimated investment requirement is £40 bln per year. This includes 50 GW of offshore wind, more than triple today’s level.

With just a laptop and a smartphone an expert can bypass firewalls in panels and turn them off, tipping the supply-demand balance for the power network to the point that it shuts down. The EU suffered over 200 cyberattacks on energy infrastructure last year. Motivation could be ransom payments, market manipulation or military (Russia).

Out of 84 submitted projects, the Australian government selected 19 solar, wind and battery projects by Neoen, BP, and billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Squadron Energy totalling 6.4 GW. Subsidies will be provided through the Capacity Investment Scheme criticised by the opposition, which promises to promote nuclear power, if it wins the 2025 election.

Because of the thousands of wind turbines in Sweden, electricity prices dip below zero for hours or days. This reduces returns and is discouraging investors. Subsidies for new projects ended 3 years ago. No new turbines have been ordered in Sweden since the first quarter. A further worry for the wind industry is the government’s plans for new nuclear.

Due to rising costs, Ørsted has had to pause significant projects in offshore wind and hydrogen. It had locked in electricity prices on large projects before the costs increased. In the US, it overestimated the federal government tax credits. It is now trying to raise $16.1 bln by the end of the decade by selling stakes in wind farms and other assets.

The tender for three wind farms didn’t offer subsidies or fixed prices like some others in Europe and in the UK. That left developers susceptible to market prices that can hit zero or even turn negative when conditions are windiest. Danish company Orsted also cited high interest rates, inflation and supply-chain bottlenecks as reasons for not bidding.

Britain has huge offshore wind farms in the north, but when they produce at maximum, the grid can't deliver that power to cities down south. Wind farms sell output in advance on the wholesale market, but that does not take into account grid limitations. As a result, the grid operator pays them not to run and it also has to pay gas-powered plants to run.

French officials are drawing up plans for an interest-free loan to state-owned power utility EDF to finance six new nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 10 GW that will cost over €50 bln. The plans include a long-term guaranteed price for the power generated, known as a contract for difference (CfD) and needs to be cleared by the European Commission.