London Stock Exchange will offer trading of traditional financial assets on the blockchain. LSE stressed that it is not building anything around crypto-assets. It is using digital technology to make the processes of issuance, trading, reconciliation and settlement that are slicker, smoother, cheaper and more transparent, initially for the private markets.

The last US-owned enrichment plant closed in 2013. Rosatom is the only company that does everything in-house, from ore extraction to fuel enrichment. Its main competitors are European companies Orano and Urenco. Most vulnerable are small modular reactors that rely on uranium enriched to higher levels. Rosatom supplies all of such fuel to the US.

Money-market fund assets climbed to an all-time high of USD 5.57 trillion. Reasons: the economic outlook and Federal Reserve's decision to raise its interest rate to 5.5%, the highest in 22 years. Money funds have been quicker to pass on the benefits to investors than banks. Investors can earn more than 5% on risk-free assets like Treasury bills.

Compared to the US, European banks face less competition for the €9 trillion of consumer deposits. They offer 2% on 1-year deposits. Money-market funds invest in short-term debt instruments, offer liquidity and an average 3.4% yield, but manage only €1.5 trillion, almost all of it institutional money. In the US, a third of the $5.5 trillion comes from retail customers.

Wind turbine maker Vestas warned of supply chain issues and a slowdown in approvals for new wind power projects as it returned to a quarterly loss. It increased its price for onshore and offshore turbines to €1.04mn per MW from €0.97mn last year. Orders for its turbines rose by 8% in MW. Its warranty costs were up 39% and amounted to 4.5% of revenue.

Vattenfall spent years planning 140 turbines off England's east coast. Now it stopped the project. Surging costs of turbines, labour and financing rendered it unviable given the low price locked in for its electricity. The cost of building offshore wind farms has climbed 40% this year and they are vulnerable to rising interest rates due to high upfront investments.

Major European electricity interconnections are behind schedule because of “cable market congestion”. Raw materials such as copper are in short supply and 3 manufacturers, Italian Prysmian, Danish NKT and French Nexans control 75% of the market. Analysts doubt production capacity will align with the pace at which new projects need to be built.

Wind farm projects are getting cancelled, major developers are pulling out, and investors are questioning whether it will ever turn a profit. Equipment costs have risen and central banks have put up interest rates. A study last month estimated that a 3.2 percentage point increase in the cost of capital would raise the price of German offshore wind by 26%.

The UK announced £157 million in grants to support nuclear power generated by small modular reactors, so the UK can hit its target of providing up to a quarter of its electricity from domestic nuclear energy by 2050. The government remains committed to “mega projects” like EDF's Sizewell C, for which it provided a £700 million investment.

While many investors snapped up money market products to take advantage of rising rates, BlackRock’s president Rob Kapito expects much of these $7 trillions are poised to shift into bonds. “There are trillions... that are ready, when people feel rates have peaked, to flood the market and we need to position ourselves to capture that,” said Kapito.

High inflation and rising interest rates are driving up the cost of miniature atomic reactors. More than 80 unique small modular reactor, or SMR, designs are under development, resulting in sprawling supply chains and caps on scaling up production. The anticipated average generation cost surged from $55 a MWh in 2016 to almost $120 a MWh.

A review of issues at subsidiary Siemens Gamesa found a "substantial increase in failure rates of wind turbine components". Siemens Energy warned that costly problems could last for years and estimated that component failures may be occurring in 15% to 30% of its installed fleet of turbines. The additional costs may exceed €1 billion.