UK
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Nuclear
BWRX-300 SMR Reaches Regulatory Milestone in UK
The GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) has completed Step 2 of the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process in the UK.
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Energy Storage
BESS: Storing Potential for the UK’s Energy Future
The UK’s battery storage capacity is set to triple by 2030 and could reach 50 GW by mid-century—a transformation that will reshape how the nation powers itself. This explosive growth isn’t just about
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Hydrogen
Hydrogen Powering UK Airport Through CHP Unit
A novel hydrogen combustion engine technology trial, led by EMEC at Kirkwall Airport in Orkney in the UK, was completed in October. This marks the first time hydrogen has been used to meet both the power and heat demands of a commercial airport in the UK.
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Gas
Jawa Satu: The World’s Largest Single-Shaft Gas Power Plant
Indonesia’s 1,760-MW Jawa Satu pairs world-record single-shaft scale with liquefied natural gas–to-power integration. A POWER Top Plant winner, it reinforces reliability for the nation’s most critical
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Energy Storage
Highview Power’s Two UK LAES Projects Advance in Ofgem’s Cap and Floor Scheme
Ofgem, the UK’s energy markets regulator, has deemed Highview Power’s proposed 3.2-GWh liquid air energy storage facilities at Hunterston and Killingholme eligible under its cap-and-floor regime, advancing them toward a final decision in Q2 2026. Alongside the 300-MWh Carrington project under development near Manchester, Highview’s portfolio is poised to provide more than 7 GWh of […]
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Trends
Two More UK AGR Nuclear Plants Get Further Lifetime Extensions
EDF will extend the lifetimes of two UK nuclear power plants—Heysham 1 in Lancashire and Hartlepool in Teesside—by an additional 12 months to March 2028 in a bid to secure the country’s energy security as it faces a looming nuclear capacity cliff and heightened reliance on imported gas. The French-owned utility confirmed that 1.2-GW Heysham 1 in […]
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Nuclear
Policy Shift, Private Sector Drive Put Nuclear Recycling Back on the Table
Over nearly five decades, nuclear waste has been treated as an intractable problem, locked in dry casks, relegated to repositories that are slow to materialize, and generally viewed as a costly liability
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Finance
POWER Digest [September 2025]
Hitachi Energy, E.ON Ink $700M Deal to Strengthen German Grid. Hitachi Energy, the world’s largest transformer manufacturer, has signed a deal worth up to $700 million with German utility E.ON to supply
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Renewables
UK Officials Support New 1.5-GW Wind Farm Off Coast of Lancashire
The British government has approved plans for a 1,500-MW wind farm off the coast of Fylde in Lancashire, in northwestern England. The Morgan Offshore Wind Project will feature 96 turbines, each with about 15.6 MW of generation capacity. The installation is sited just more than 20 miles off the Fylde coast. Plans call for an […]
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Workforce
BP Cutting More Than 6,000 Jobs, and Thousands of Contractors, as Part of Cost Reductions
Global energy giant BP said it would cut thousands more jobs by the end of this year, as the company continues to reduce its renewable energy plans to focus more on its longtime core business of oil and gas production. UK-based BP, which has its U.S. headquarters in Houston, Texas, has said it plans to […]
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Energy Storage
Europe’s Biggest Battery Supports More Renewable Energy on the UK Power Grid
Zenobe, a grid-scale battery storage specialist, and Wartsila Energy Storage have launched a project designed to store excess power from several offshore wind farms in the North Sea.
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Renewables
SSE Moving Forward With Major Scottish Offshore Wind Farm
Scottish energy giant SSE said it has government approval to develop an offshore wind farm that at present would be the largest such installation in the world.
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Renewables
LS Power Acquiring bp’s U.S. Onshore Wind Business
A leading developer of North American power and energy infrastructure projects said it has an agreement to acquire several U.S. onshore wind farms from a UK-based energy group. LS Power and bp Wind Energy North America announced the deal on July 18. LS Power said the deal comprises about 1,700 MW of operating onshore wind […]
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Hydrogen
Black & Veatch Completes FEED Study for UK Hydrogen Project
Infrastructure developer Black & Veatch announced the company has completed execution of a front-end engineering design (FEED) study for the Whitelee Green Hydrogen Project near Glasgow, Scotland. Whitelee is a proposed development by owner ScottishPower Energy Retail Limited. The contract was awarded to Black & Veatch in October 2024. The first phase of the project, […]
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Solar
UK’s Largest Solar Park Enters Commercial Operation
A global energy infrastructure management group said one of its solar-plus-storage projects in the UK is now online. Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners on July 1 said the 373-MW Cleve Hill Solar Park has started commercial operation, and represents the largest solar power and energy storage installation built to date in the UK. Quinbrook on Tuesday said […]
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Data Centers
UK’s National Grid Investing Billions for Substation Site to Power Data Centers
National Grid in the UK has begun construction of a new Uxbridge Moor substation complex in Buckinghamshire, a project designed to connect more than one dozen new data centers to the electricity provider’s network.
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Renewables
POWER Digest [May 2025]
Major German BESS Project Closes Financing. Energy transition bank NORD/LB announced it has closed an €87 million ($94 million) financing package with Nofar Energy for construction of a 104.5-MW/209-MWh
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T&D
Heathrow Airport Transformer Fire Prompts Urgent Inquiry, Exposes Cracks in Grid Resilience
One week after a catastrophic fire at the North Hyde electrical substation plunged the UK’s flagship Heathrow Airport into chaos, questions are mounting about what went wrong—and what the incident reveals about the vulnerabilities in Britain’s aging power infrastructure. A massive explosion and fire that erupted around 8:20 p.m., on Thursday, March 20, at the […]
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Energy Storage
UK Groups Supporting 2.2 GW of Battery Energy Storage in Spain
Two European companies announced an agreement to jointly develop as much as 2.2 GW of battery energy storage system (BESS) projects across Spain.
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Solar
UK IPP Acquires Two U.S. Solar Farms Built by Qcells
A UK-based independent power producer (IPP) has acquired solar power projects in Virginia and Colorado, both secured with utility power purchase agreements. ContourGlobal, headquartered in London, on Jan. 21 announced the acquisition of the two solar farms, one nearing commercial operation and the other still under construction. ContourGlobal acquired the projects from Qcells, a South […]
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Workforce
BP Cutting Thousands of Jobs in Effort to Reduce Costs
UK energy giant BP said it will cut more than 5% of its global workforce, as the company continues a plan to reduce costs as it transitions to more operations outside of its oil and gas business. The London-based multinational group on Jan. 16 said it would lay off about 4,700 workers, and also cut […]
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Coal
IEA Says Global Coal Use at All-Time High, Will Remain Strong
The International Energy Agency (IEA) in a new report said global use of coal, including for power generation, is expected to reach a record 8.77 billion tonnes this year. The group said China’s continued use of coal in its power plants, along with the impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on global gas markets, means […]
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Hydrogen
Siemens Energy Joins Forces for Bold 100% Hydrogen HL Gas Turbine Leap
Siemens Energy is teaming with UK power giant SSE to develop a combustion system that will allow its flagship SGT5-9000HL gas turbine to run 100% on hydrogen while maintaining the flexibility to operate with natural gas and blends of the two. The two companies on Dec. 9 launched “Mission H2 Power,” a project that will […]
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Renewables
POWER Digest (December 2024)
Egypt Reducing Renewable Energy Target. Karim Badawi, petroleum minister for Egypt, said the country has cut the amount of renewable energy it will likely have online by 2040. Badawi on Oct. 20, speaking at
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Renewables
Shoring Up the Future of Wind Power
Wind power is one of the UK’s most abundant sources of renewable energy. Ensuring wind turbines operate reliably and extending their useful lifetimes are important to achieving a sustainable energy future
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Offshore Wind
Cutting-Edge Process Turns Wind Turbine Blades Into Reusable Materials
A damaged 44-meter turbine blade from Vattenfall’s Kentish Flats Offshore Wind Farm has been recycled by Plaswire, a Northern Ireland-based company. Plaswire has developed a sustainable solution which overcomes the challenge of what to do with scrap wind turbine components. The recycling process will give new life to the old blade, by turning it into […]
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Renewables
Siemens Gamesa Inks $1.3B Wind Turbine Deal with ScottishPower
An offshore wind farm in the southern part of the North Sea will feature turbines from Siemens Gamesa after the company signed a supply agreement with ScottishPower. The deal announced Nov. 11 is for 64 of Siemens Gamesa’s SG 14-236 DD turbines that will be installed at East Anglia TWO, a wind farm located just […]
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Nuclear
UK SMR Competition Narrows Contenders to Four Nuclear Designs
The UK government has narrowed its shortlist of technologies competing in its flagship Small Modular Reactor (SMR) competition to four candidates. On Sept. 25, it announced that Westinghouse, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), Holtec Britain, and Rolls-Royce SMR remain in the running to negotiate potentially multi-billion-pound nuclear technology development contracts under the fast-track initiative aimed at […]
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Commentary
How to Stay in the Renewables Stone Age
In approving the development of a 2,800-acre wind farm across prime agricultural land in the east of England, the UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, has confirmed what those who understand renewable market dynamics have known all along: That the UK’s energy transition policymaking has been flawed and riven […]
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Coal
Price Swings Mean Coal May Replace Natural Gas in European Power Mix This Winter
Higher prices for natural gas across Europe mean some countries, particularly in Eastern Europe, likely will burn more coal for power generation during the upcoming winter season. Coal remains a large part of the energy mix in Germany—the largest energy consumer in Europe—as well as other countries such as Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, […]