Finnish utility Fortum’s CEO expects a surplus of Nordic power supply to tighten in the coming decade, with an expected doubling in demand by 2040 making investments in new production and storage assets more attractive. montelnews.com/news/df45e6d...

Spain’s battery storage capacity could soar from under 100 MW currently to 7.2 GW in 2030, but developers faced a “challenge” in financing this infrastructure, consultancy Aurora Energy Research said on Tuesday. montelnews.com/news/b6e9421...

Europe’s flagship carbon price could reach EUR 100/t during the first quarter of next year – a surge of around 24% – as the market braces for supply deficits over the next two years, consultancy ICIS said on Tuesday. montelnews.com/news/b0b3ea9...

Flexibility tools such as storage and demand adjustments may help to moderate price spikes on Europe’s cross-border balancing power mechanism Picasso but national guidelines are preventing all TSOs from using them, said industry participants. montelnews.com/news/88b7dca...

Qatar can afford to flex its muscles over EU climate rules affecting its LNG business as exports to Europe remain uneconomical and Red Sea shipping threats continue, observers have told Montel. montelnews.com/news/8fb23d0...

Germany’s government aims to hold the first tender in a scheme to create at least 8 GW of new gas-fired power plants in March or April next year, economy and energy minister Katherina Reiche said in Berlin late on Monday. montelnews.com/news/cb8b15a...

A change in European policy focus from sustainability to security of supply means the continent will need Norwegian oil and gas for longer than expected, Equinor CEO Anders Opedal said on Tuesday. montelnews.com/news/8175c0a...

Acer will decide by February on changes to rules for assessing European power generation adequacy needed to enable fast-track approvals for national capacity remuneration mechanisms, the EU energy regulatory agency said on Monday. montelnews.com/news/38d6fd5...

A government-commissioned review has concluded that the UK is now the most expensive place globally to build nuclear power plants, the Financial Times reported on Monday. montelnews.com/news/9aad839...

A Finnish court has rejected an appeal raised by power grid operators over the country's new grid rules. montelnews.com/news/5845e72...

The latest monthly auction for gas supplies from the Balkans to Ukraine held on Monday attracted bids for 59% of capacity offered – almost double that of last month. montelnews.com/news/b2634f4...

French Prime minister Sebastien Lecornu will “take decisions” about the country’s long-awaited 10-year energy roadmap “by Christmas”, he said on Monday. montelnews.com/news/f0f6b35...

French TSO RTE is set to publish new forecasts for power demand by 2035 that are up to 9% – or about 60 TWh – below previous estimates, Montel has learnt. montelnews.com/news/f8a74bc...

As smaller players struggle to secure financing and amid falling capture rates due to green saturation, European banks are taking more flexible risk approaches to power purchase agreements (PPAs), industry observers have told Montel. montelnews.com/news/daab592...

Germany’s coalition government has reaffirmed the possibility of returning reserve power plants – mainly coal units – to the market as part of an election pledge to help stabilise power prices, the economics ministry told Montel on Friday. montelnews.com/news/2d079c4...

The outcome of the COP30 UN climate summit secures only the “very minimal basis for global climate action”, an official from the European Parliament said in the wake of the two-week talks. montelnews.com/news/4ad52dc...

The latest draft text coming from the UN climate talks in Brazil on Friday omits reference to a roadmap that transitions away from fossil fuels, despite having previously been included in earlier drafts. montelnews.com/news/9db0de8...

Including permanent carbon removals in the EU ETS could be a game-changer for Norway’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) plans, its energy minister Terje Aasland said on Friday. montelnews.com/news/01b61ff...

Germany is on track to add 2.8 GW of new conventional power plant capacity next year, data from the energy regulator BNA showed on Friday. montelnews.com/news/4cccf96...

France will cut taxes on power bills for businesses and industry from next year, the minister of public accounts, Amelie de Montchalin, said late on Thursday. montelnews.com/news/1c0b118...

EU nations remain reluctant to bring the phase-out of Russian gas pipeline imports forward by a year to 2027 as proposed by MEPs, an EU source told Montel. montelnews.com/news/8234340...

German reforms to limit power prices for industry and boost gas-fired generation risk hampering the growth in renewable energy the country needs, energy expert Claudia Kemfert told Montel’s Plugged In podcast this week. montelnews.com/news/9220dce...

The Nordic market for long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) shrunk from 13 TWh in 2021 to 8 TWh in 2024, a 43% decline, consultancy Afry said on Friday. montelnews.com/news/60d50e3...

Italy’s intention to keep its coal plants available until 2038 rather than closing them by the end of this year could create “a big headache” for the country regarding EU regulations, an analyst told Montel. montelnews.com/news/70d7649...

High electricity prices are weighing on Italy’s hydrogen plans, potentially slowing the launch of new projects and jeopardising the country’s ability to meet its 2030 targets, said think tank Agici on Thursday. montelnews.com/news/465fc04...

Swedish truck manufacturer Volvo faces grid restrictions to supply for its battery factory set to open in 2030, with only 60 MW available until power grid bottlenecks are fixed in the first half of the 2030s, said power distributor Ellevio on Thursday. montelnews.com/news/dbf371e...

EU power capacity mechanism costs are projected to total EUR 5.4bn this year, down 16% from EUR 6.5bn in 2024, the bloc’s energy regulatory agency Acer said on Thursday. montelnews.com/news/fddd00b...

Europe must continue to import Russian LNG throughout next year to prevent the risk of a surge in gas prices, said the CEO of French energy firm TotalEnergies. montelnews.com/news/a86bf49...

Forecasters now predict a colder than expected winter for Europe, with temperatures revised down around 4C from prior long-range forecasts, raising concerns over Germany’s gas supply amid already depleted stocks, market participants told Montel this week. montelnews.com/news/8b0dcaf...

EU sanctions on Russian LNG imports from 2027 will prohibit companies within the 27-nation bloc from diverting cargoes to non-EU destinations, while affected companies can declare force majeure, the European Commission confirmed to Montel. montelnews.com/news/373e5fa...

A proposed change to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG) reporting standards could seriously undermine the value of guarantees of origin (GOs) from Norwegian hydropower plants, producers told Montel. montelnews.com/news/78cb0b2...

France should cut taxes on power bills to speed up the country’s energy transition, an executive at state-owned utility EDF said on Wednesday. montelnews.com/news/a17c825...

The CEO of UK energy regulator Ofgem said on Wednesday the country’s market-led energy model is no longer capable of delivering the infrastructure needed for the energy transition, echoing recent sentiments expressed by market participants. montelnews.com/news/51ac319...

Tension between Europe’s climate goals and its industry could likely only be bridged by a new tax that affected imports and domestic production equally, the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) said on Wednesday. montelnews.com/news/0fb5260...

Germany’s power market has largely weathered balancing price spikes related to the European Picasso system, thanks mainly to its liquid intraday market, a manager of the balancing unit at German TSO TransnetBW told Montel. montelnews.com/news/0325630...

Spain has seen a slowdown in the renewables power purchase agreement (PPA) market as contracts failed to match buyers’ needs, while they were also unable to adapt to curtailments and low prices, an Engie executive said on Wednesday. montelnews.com/news/3e1a695...

Germany confirmed on Wednesday that it aimed to set a power price cap of EUR 50/MWh – the minimum allowed by the EU – when it launches its state subsidy for industry next year. montelnews.com/news/c01e0b8...

Investment in battery storage in the Nordic and Baltic regions is increasing to curb the trend of below-zero prices as renewable interest picks up amid a stronger demand outlook, industry participants told an Estonian conference. montelnews.com/news/fb85bf7...

Europe’s energy storage capacity is on track to more than double by 2030, consultancy LCP Delta and sector association Energy Storage Europe said on Wednesday. montelnews.com/news/82386bb...

Increasingly frequent periods of negative power prices in Europe show that renewable generators need better incentives to reduce their output when demand is low, said the region’s electricity grid operators. montelnews.com/news/26b9b4d...

EU member states’ national biomethane targets fall around 25% short of the bloc’s goal to produce 35bcm of the renewable gas by 2030, a deputy head at the European Commission’s energy directorate said late on Tuesday. montelnews.com/news/def4e6d...

Column of the Week: Top 5 trends since Europe’s shift to 15 minute trading montelnews.com/news/14db04e...

Germany risks slowing investment in renewable energy unless it keeps a looming switch in support schemes as minimal as possible, Montel Energy Brainpool said in a study released on Tuesday. montelnews.com/news/08936c7...

The alignment of EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) benchmarks to the EU ETS, as outlined in a recent draft European Commission document, will be “more demanding” for importers from 2026, consultancy ClearBlue Markets said on Tuesday. montelnews.com/news/028620b...

The voltage on the Spanish power grid on the day of the April blackout was “crazy”, while grid stability was a “serious problem” that eventually led to the mass power outage, university experts told the Genera energy fair in Madrid on Tuesday. montelnews.com/news/1335a71...

LNG vessels are still largely avoiding journeys to Europe via the Suez Canal despite easing tensions in the Middle East as the threat of attacks lingers, analysts told Montel. montelnews.com/news/19766ed...

Around a dozen faults by generators caused the 28 April blackout in the Iberian Peninsula, rather than a failure of the power system itself, the head of TSO Red Electrica's parent firm Redeia said on Tuesday. montelnews.com/news/0900f10...

The EU’s push for global carbon pricing to achieve climate goals more cheaply found support in an international coalition set up at the COP30 UN conference this month but could also dilute its domestic efforts to cut emissions, analysts said. montelnews.com/news/33c5a94...

Ukrainian energy firm DTEK has opened a new “northern” supply corridor for US LNG, receiving its first cargo via Lithuania’s Klaipeda terminal, amid efforts to diversify gas routes as Russian attacks continue to threaten the country’s energy system. montelnews.com/news/be1423e...

Italy is yet to roll out is power price discount scheme for industry despite having secured final EU approval, prompting accusations authorities are stalling while competitor Germany launches its own support, observers told Montel this week. montelnews.com/news/f86f0a2...