www.teitimes.com

January/February 2026 • Volume 18 • No 10 • Published monthly • ISSN 1757-7365

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES is published by Man in Black Media • www.mibmedia.com • Editor-in-Chief: Junior Isles • For all enquiries email: enquiries@teitimes.com

Special Interview Asia’s energy ywheel

The energy transition is seen by many as one

of the biggest economic opportunities of the

21st century. But there can be no transition

without transmission. TEI Times speaks to

Hitachi Energy’s Niklas Persson. Page 11

Asia’s energy transition has become a massive

industrial ywheel that has nally overcome initial

friction, with innovation in nance and nancing

tools seeing the region become a rule-shaper

instead of a rule-taker. Page 14

News In Brief

EU Grids Package crucial for

Europe’s competitiveness

and energy security

The backbone of European energy

system, the grids infrastructure,

will be modernised and expanded

to “unleash its full potential” when

the proposed European Grids Pack-

age and Energy Highways pro-

posal becomes law.

Page 2

Offshore wind projects

challenge Trump ‘stop-work’

order

Offshore wind developers in the US

continue to challenge a “stop-work

order” issued by the Trump admin-

istration that forced major US off-

shore wind projects under con-

struction to pause work while

federal agencies review alleged

national security issues.

Page 4

Philippines baseload coal

red generation grows, even

as renewables accelerate

Despite its energy transition ef-

forts, the Philippines is projected

to remain one of Southeast Asia’s

largest coal consumers through

2030, according to the Internation-

al Energy Agency.

Page 5

Offshore wind achieves CfDs

up on 2022 prices

The UK’s latest offshore wind auc-

tion, Auction Round 7 (AR7) has

awarded 8.4 GW in Contracts for

ifference Cfs to six xed-

bottom offshore wind projects, and

 W for two oating wind

projects.

Page 6

Egypt-Saudi $1.8 billion grid

project set to launch

The Egyptian government has an-

nounced that the electricity inter-

connection project between Egypt

and Saudi Arabia has entered its

nal stage, paving the way for

launch early this year.

Page 7

ABB deals strengthen grid

offerings

Global technology company, ABB,

has expanded and deepened its of-

fering and expertise in grid electri-

cation and automation through

deals that will help it take advan-

tage of the changing network needs

of an energy sector in transition.

Page 8

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Electricity produced from wind and solar overtook coal red generation for the rst three

quarters of 2025 – the rst time this has happened for a sustained period. The milestone

came as coal demand plateaued, with predictions of consumption edging downwards from

2030. Junior Isles

Renewable energy industries react to US withdrawal from UNFCCC and IRENA

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY

TIMES

Final Word

Pouring cold water on

renewables makes no

sense, says Junior Isles.

Page 16

Solar and wind not only kept pace with

global electricity demand growth, they

surpassed it across a sustained period

for the rst time in , signalling that

clean power is now steering the direc-

tion of the global energy system.

According to UK-based energy

think-tank Ember, solar and wind sup-

plied 17.6 per cent of global electricity

in the rst three uarters of , up

from . per cent over the same pe-

riod last year, pushing the total share

of low-carbon sources to 43 per cent.

The rise of “electrotech” – solar,

wind, batteries and electried trans-

port, heating and industry – became

the dominant engine of global energy

growth, led by China’s emergence as

the world’s rst electrostate. As AI

and data centre demand grew, clean

power and strong grids became the

new competitive edge for modern

economies.

At the heart of this shift is solar,

whose growth was more than three

times larger than any other source of

electricity so far in , conrming

its role as the dominant force reshap-

ing the global power system.

In addition to China, solar power

also gained momentum in regions

once seen as peripheral, from Central

Europe to Africa, while BRICS na-

tions crossed a major milestone by

generating more than half of global

solar power. Rapid advances in bat-

tery technology and a decline in prices

brought around-the-clock solar into

credible, near-commercial reality,

opening the door to fossil-free basel-

oad power in sunny regions.

As renewables, including solar,

wind, hydro and smaller sources such

as geothermal, generated more elec-

tricity than coal for a sustained period

for the rst time, the International En-

ergy Agency reported that global coal

demand reached a plateau in .

The IEA’s Coal ’ report found

that global coal demand was on course

to rise by . per cent in  and is

forecast to fall through the end of this

decade as competition intensies with

other power sources – including re-

newables, natural gas and nuclear.

In India, an early and intense mon-

soon season resulted in a decline in

annual coal use for only the third time

in ve decades. In the nited tates,

higher natural gas prices and policy

measures that slowed coal plant retire-

ments lifted coal consumption, which

Continued on Page 2

The US government’s announcement

that it is withdrawing from the UN

Framework Convention on Climate

Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergov-

ernmental Panel on Climate Change

(IPCC) highlights the Trump admin-

istration’s disregard of the existential

risks facing the people of the United

States and around the world, accord-

ing to Climate Rights International.

The UNFCCC and the IPCC are

among the 66 international agree-

ments and bodies from which the US

announced its withdrawal earlier this

month. The UNFCCC is the main

global treaty coordinating global ac-

tion to combat climate change, and

the IPCC is the scientic body tasked

with assessing the science of climate

change. Its work, to which American

scientists have been major contribu-

tors, forms the scientic backbone

for international climate negotiations

and policy development. The US an-

nounced its withdrawal from the

landmark Paris Agreement just after

Donald Trump was inaugurated as

President in January .

With this decision, the US will be-

come the only country on Earth not

party to the UNFCCC. The US is

also withdrawing from a range of

other international bodies related to

the environment, energy policy, and

climate, including the International

Renewable Energy Agency and the

Renewable Energy Policy Network

for the 21st Century.

The Global Renewables Alliance

said the decision by the US to with-

draw from the UNFCCC, IRENA

and several other international con-

ventions represents “a step away for

the US Administration” from multi-

lateral cooperation on climate change

mitigation and the energy transition,

at a time when international coordi-

nation “is critical for delivery at

speed and scale”.

Bruce Douglas, CEO of the Global

Renewables Alliance, said: “The re-

newable energy transition is the

economic opportunity of the century.

By stepping away, the US is choos-

ing to miss out on jobs, investment

and industrial growth that are already

reshaping the global economy. The

rest of the world is moving forward,

together.”

The Alliance noted that the US is

one the world’s largest carbon emit-

ters and highly vulnerable to the

damaging effects of climate change,

making this decision “a setback for

the world and for ordinary Ameri-

cans”. It said, however, that global

momentum remains strong, as 198

countries continue to work together

through the UNFCC, “driving eco-

nomic growth, energy security and

shared prosperity. And the econom-

ics of clean, affordable renewables

mean that companies and consumers

continue to choose technologies like

solar and wind”.

REN21 called the decision “unfor-

tunate” but said the move does not

alter the global trajectory towards

renewables. The energy transition is

already underway and continues to

accelerate, driven not by ideology,

but by economics. Renewable ener-

gy delivers greater energy security,

shields economies from volatile fuel

prices, creates jobs, reduces environ-

mental damage, and supports more

peaceful and euitable development

pathways.

Rana Adib, Executive Director of

REN21, said: “Renewable energy is

the strongest economic choice coun-

tries, sub-national governments, cit-

ies, and citizens can make today. It is

the best option for energy security,

the smartest investment for long-

term prosperity, and a critical foun-

dation for protecting nature. The

shift to renewables is happening

globally; it is no longer optional or

reversible.

“It is happening because it makes

economic sense and because societ-

ies need reliable, affordable energy

in a changing world.”

Clean energy “steering

direction” of global energy

system

Photo by Kindel Media

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

The backbone of European energy sys-

tem, the grids infrastructure, will be

modernised and expanded to “unleash

its full potential” when the proposed

European Grids Package and Energy

Highways proposal becomes law.

Announced by EU President Ursula

von der Leyen in her State of the Union

2025 address, the proposal has now

moved to the European Parliament and

the Council of the EU for review, with

nal approval expected around the end

of 2026 or early 2027.

The EU Grids Package will enable

energy to ow efciently across all

Member States, integrating cheaper

clean energy and accelerating elec-

trication. This will help lower en-

ergy prices and support affordable

living for all Europeans. Importantly,

it will ensure secure and reliable sup-

ply as Europe moves away from Rus-

sian energy imports to achieve energy

independence.

The Package is designed to address

the most urgent infrastructure needs

that require additional short-term sup-

port and commitment for implemen-

tation. They were selected based on

their strategic importance to complete

the Energy Union and on the level of

political support from the EU needed

for their successful implementation.

Despite the progress achieved with-

in the current EU legal framework,

the EU has not reached the level of

interconnectivity among Member

States that would enable a genuine

Energy Union, as several Member

States are not on track to meet the 15

per cent interconnection target by

2030.

This lack of energy integration is

damaging EU industry competitive-

ness. In 2024, industrial electricity

prices in the EU reached €0.199 per

kWh, compared to €0.082 in China

and . in the . In the rst half

of 2025, the average electricity price

for EU consumers varied from

€0.3835/kWh in Germany to €0.1040/

kWh in Hungary, while non-house-

hold electricity prices ranged from

€0.2726/kWh in Ireland to €0.0804/

kWh in Finland. The Commission

says a key reason for this disparity is

the insufcient level of investment in

and integration of the bloc’s infra-

structure.

Dan Jørgensen, the EU Commis-

sioner for Energy warned that the big-

gest danger to the bloc’s decarbonisa-

tion and energy security goals was the

slow construction of its power grid.

He told the Financial Times: “In Eu-

rope, it’s a huge problem and we lose

billions every year in lost value be-

cause of curtailment and bottlenecks.”

Costs from grid congestion reached

€5.2 billion in 2022, and could rise to

 billion by , according to g-

ures from the EU energy regulator

ACER. Further, a report by the Ger-

man think-tank Agora Energiewende,

said the EU could save more than €560

billion between 2030 and 2050 if EU

countries co-ordinated their energy

infrastructure planning across sectors.

Commenting on the proposal, infra-

structure expert Taco Engelaar, Man-

aging Director at Neara, said: “Geo-

politically, boosting interconnection

is both a necessity and a risk. Intercon-

nected grids can cause problems to

rapidly spread – as we saw in Spain

and Portugal. And mean any hostile

activity could have a cascading effect

across the bloc. As Jorgensen says, our

strategic connections have also be-

come strategic targets.

“But the solution to these threats is,

ironically, deeper integration. Done

right, it can safeguard the continent

from supply challenges if we create

more routes to stability when one area

is hit by an issue, and reduce the vul-

nerability of vital energy hubs across

the Baltics and through Poland by

ensuring they have multiple routes of

connection, creating a safety net that

supports independent and resilient

national systems. Interconnectivity

done right is a game-changer, done

wrong it’s a danger. We can’t afford

to fumble this.”

n The European Union has agreed to

phase out Russian natural gas imports

by late 2027 as part of an effort to end

the bloc’s decade-long dependency on

Russian energy. Representatives for

EU governments and the European

Parliament reached an agreement in

early December on proposals set out

by the European Commission in June

last year to end shipments from the

EU’s former top gas supplier following

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Under the agreement, the EU will

permanently halt the import of Russian

gas and move toward a phase-out of

Russian oil. Liueed natural gas

(LNG) imports will be phased out by

the end of 2026 and pipeline gas by the

end of September 2027.

had been on a downward trajectory

for the previous 15 years. After two

years of double-digit declines, coal

demand in the European Union

shrank only modestly. At the same

time, in China, coal use remained

broadly unchanged from its 2024

level.

By 2030, however, global coal

demand is expected to have ticked

lower, returning to the same level

as in 2023. This is largely driven by

shifts in the power sector, which ac-

counts for two-thirds of total coal

consumption today.

With renewable capacity surging,

nuclear expanding steadily, and a

huge wave of liueed natural gas

coming to market, coal red power

generation is forecast to decline

from 2026 onward. Coal demand

from industry is expected to remain

more resilient.

In China, which currently ac-

counts for more than half of global

coal use, demand is expected to fall

slightly by the end of the decade.

The country continues to deploy

renewable energy capacity at a

rapid pace, with the government

looking to reach a peak in domestic

coal consumption by 2030.

“Despite uncharacteristic trends

in several key coal markets in 2025,

our forecast for the coming years

has not changed substantially from

a year ago: we expect global coal

demand to plateau before edging

down by 2030,” said IEA Director

of Energy Markets and Security

Keisuke Sadamori. “That said, there

are many uncertainties affecting the

outlook for coal, most notably in

China, where developments – from

economic growth and policy choic-

es, to energy market dynamics and

weather – will continue to have an

outsize inuence on the global pic-

ture. More broadly, trends in elec-

tricity demand growth and the inte-

gration of renewables worldwide

could impact coal’s trajectory.”

Should China see faster-than-ex-

pected growth in electricity con-

sumption, slower integration of

renewables, or strong investment in

coal gasication, it could push

global coal demand above the fore-

casts, according to the report.

Major uncertainties also persist

globally over the pace of electricity

demand growth in both advanced

and developing economies, policy

approaches, and the pace of coal

substitution in certain sectors and

regions.

Nicolas Fulghum, Senior Data

Analyst, Ember, said that as 2025

came to an end, the direction of

travel was “unmistakable”.

He said: “Clean power is scaling,

markets are shifting and the electric-

ity system is becoming the centre of

economic strategy – from AI growth

to energy security. In 2026, the chal-

lenge will be turning this momen-

tum into system-level transforma-

tion. Countries that expand storage,

x grid bottlenecks, set higher am-

bition and empower markets to in-

tegrate renewables will shape the

next phase of global leadership.”

Continued from Page 1

Almost 60 major low-carbon hydro-

gen projects, including by oil groups

BP and ExxonMobil, were cancelled

or put on hold last year, as the indus-

try was hit by spiralling costs, policy

uncertainty and a lack of buyers.

The projects that have been cancelled

or paused had a combined annual out-

put of 4.9 million tonnes, according to

data from S&P Global, equivalent to

more than four times the world’s in-

stalled clean hydrogen capacity.

In December BP pulled out of

planned investments in hydrogen

plants in Oman and Teesside in north-

east England, having abandoned a

green hydrogen facility that was set

to be built in Australia. In November

Exxon paused a hydrogen plant in

Texas that would have been one of the

world’s largest.

Cancellations and project delays

highlight issues in scaling up a tech-

nology that has long held promise as

a key way of cutting carbon emissions.

Murray Douglas, Head of hydrogen

research at Wood Mackenzie, said:

“It’s been a challenging year or two

for any company trying to develop

[clean] hydrogen projects. The will-

ingness to pay any sort of green pre-

mium across all low-carbon technolo-

gies has evaporated.”

Wood Mackenzie has tracked more

than 300 cancelled, stalled or inactive

low-carbon hydrogen schemes since

2020.

The EU hopes that its recently pro-

posed EU Grids Package and the En-

ergy Highways initiative will provide

much needed support for the industry.

The Package puts energy infrastruc-

ture at the core of the transition to-

wards more affordable energy neces-

sary to boosting European business

and supporting the implementation of

the Commission’s Action Plan for Af-

fordable Energy.

For hydrogen, the Grids Package

addresses three core aspects of energy

infrastructure: funding mechanisms

for derisking critical cross-border in-

frastructure; accelerated deployment

through streamlined permitting; and

integrated planning and better system

integration.

Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO of Hy-

drogen Europe, commented: “With

the right infrastructure in place, hy-

drogen will help reduce renewable

energy curtailment and deal with vari-

able demand, providing the exibility

the system critically need. But hydro-

gen exibility can only be unlocked

once hydrogen grids and storage sites

are made available to the market.

“This is why we welcome the Com-

missions focus on integrated system

planning and efforts to improve the

time to market. In a truly decarbonised

system, two infrastructures are cheap-

er than one.’’

The European Commission and the

United Kingdom have concluded ex-

ploratory talks on the UK’s participa-

tion in the European Union’s internal

electricity market. The two sides will

now set out the necessary framework

for that participation.

A joint statement of Commissioner

for Trade and Economic Security

aro efovi and  Paymaster

General and Minister for the Cabinet

Ofce The Rt on ick Thomas-

Symonds MP, said: “Closer coopera-

tion on electricity would bring real

benets to businesses and consumers

across Europe, drive up investment in

the North Seas and strengthen energy

security.”

The Commission and the UK will

now proceed swiftly on the UK’s as-

sociation to Erasmus+ and on the ne-

gotiations of the UK’s participation in

the internal electricity market of the

European Union in accordance with

their respective procedures and legal

frameworks and in respect of each

other’s decision-making autonomy.

Responding to the UK-EU joint state-

ment, Adam Berman, Director of

Policy and Advocacy at Energy UK

said: “The announcement is a step in

the right direction towards lowering

energy bills, tackling emissions, and

bolstering our energy security. Coop-

eration with the EU on issues like elec-

tricity trading and carbon pricing will

ensure we can achieve net zero faster

– and at lower cost.”

Well-functioning electricity mar-

kets can be an efcient tool for balanc-

ing supply and demand, coordinating

operational decisions and signalling

investment needs, according to a new

report by the International Energy

Agency (IEA). As electricity systems

transform to handle a broader range

of technologies and growing power

demand, effective market designs for

secure operations and timely invest-

ment are essential, says the report.

The report – ‘Electricity Market De-

sign: Building on strengths, addressing

gaps’ – looks at how wholesale market

designs and the policies that comple-

ment them are performing across Eu-

rope, the United States, Japan and

Australia, and provides insights on

how they can adapt to changing system

needs. It nds that while short-term

markets have performed well in sup-

porting efcient and secure electricity

dispatch, long-term markets have been

less effective in meeting investment

and risk-management needs.

Complementary mechanisms, such

as capacity remuneration schemes and

renewable support programmes, have

played a signicant role in advancing

investment and policy objectives, but

in some cases their design has contrib-

uted to system inefciencies and high-

er costs, the report says.

Headline News

EU and UK work together on electricity market designs

EU says Grids Package crucial

for Europe’s competitiveness and

energy security

The European Commission has proposed its EU Grids Package under the warning that the

“biggest danger” to the bloc’s decarbonisation and energy security goals is the slow

construction of its power grid. Junior Isles

Bumps in the road for hydrogen

Photo by antonio ligno

Fulghum: the electricity system

is becoming the centre of

economic strategy

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

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The UK’s latest offshore wind auction,

Auction Round 7 (AR7) has awarded

8.4 GW in Contracts for Difference

Cfs to six xed-bottom offshore

wind projects, and 200 MW for two

oating wind projects.

WindEurope described AR as one

of the most competitive offshore auc-

tions ever held in Europe”. A record

19 projects with a total potential ca-

pacity of  W were eligible to bid.

The prices guaranteed to project de-

velopers in this auction round range

from -Wh for xed-bottom

offshore wind to  per Wh for

oating offshore wind. The current

wholesale price is between  and

Wh.

The prices for xed-bottom offshore

wind are about  per cent higher than

last year, and roughly  per cent

above prices awarded in . ome

of the 2022 contracts resulted in de-

velopers pulling out or rebidding for

more money.

Jess Ralston, Energy Analyst at the

Energy and Climate Intelligence nit

ECI, said This is set to be a break-

through moment in the ’s energy

independence and for stabilising

household and industry’s energy bills.

Wind lowered the wholesale power

price by around a third last year by

sueezing out gas generation, which

has a direct benet on electricity bills.”

he added Every wind turbine we

build means we need less gas from

abroad as the orth ea continues its

inevitable decline, so we’ll be less reli-

ant on the actions of foreign actors like

Putin.

eanwhile, Poland has completed its

rst offshore wind auction, resulting in

Cfs on more than . W of capac-

ity. The projects awarded are Baltica 9

PE, .Wh, Baltic East

Orlen roup, .Wh, and

Batyk  Euinor and Polenergia,

.Wh. All three are expected

to produce rst power in ecember

. The conclusion of the rst-ever

offshore auction in Poland is a break-

through moment for the development

of offshore wind energy in the Polish

part of the Baltic ea.

The auction was a success, guaran-

teeing the continuity of project imple-

mentation and ensuring the stability of

local content development,” said

ariusz Lubera, CEO of PE Polska

rupa Energetyczna.

Earlier this year, the European wind

industry proposed a ew Offshore

Wind eal to speed up and de-risk the

build-out of homegrown and com-

petitive offshore wind energy. It calls

on European governments to coordi-

nate an annual build-out of  W per

year from  to , with  W

per year resulting from Cf auctions.

In return, the industry pledged large

private investments and further cost

reductions.

Janet Wood

Renewables accounted for . per

cent of ermany’s electricity mix in

, unchanged from the previous

year, according to data from the

Fraunhofer Institute for olar Energy

ystems IE, but solar power overtook

lignite for the rst time to become er-

many’s second-largest source of public

net electricity generation, behind wind

power.

olar generation increased by  per

cent year-on-year, reecting both ca-

pacity additions and higher utilisation.

olar installations generated around 

TWh of electricity in , of which

approximately  TWh was fed into

the public grid, while . TWh was

consumed directly by producers. The

institute noted that annual solar instal-

lations must rise to  W in  to

stay on track with national targets.

Wind power remained ermany’s

largest electricity source, generating

 TWh in . But despite capac-

ity additions of . W onshore and

0.29 GW offshore, wind expansion

continues to lag government targets.

eanwhile, fossil fuel-based elec-

tricity generation remained largely

stable. Lignite-red power generation

declined, offset by higher natural gas

use.

The institute also highlighted rapid

growth in battery storage in ermany,

driven by volatile electricity prices and

falling battery costs. Large-scale bat-

tery storage capacity increased by 

per cent in  to . Wh, while

total installed battery storage reached

nearly  Wh, mostly in residential

systems. The country leads European

deployment with over . W expect-

ed this year, doubling to  W by .

According to Fraunhofer IE, er-

many will reuire between -

Wh of battery storage capacity by

.

ermany’s gures mirror those of the

European nion. Across the bloc, elec-

tricity generation from photovoltaics

exceeded coal red power generation

for the rst time in , reaching 

TWh, compared with  TWh from

lignite and hard coal combined.

Over the past decade, E solar gen-

eration has tripled, while coal-based

power has declined by around  per

cent. imilarly, European battery stor-

age deployment is expected to grow

 per cent year-over-year to  W

in .

Europe’s battery market has ma-

tured into an increasingly attractive

investment destination”, according to

new analysis from Wood ackenzie.

It said considerable BE volumes

are now being deployed across Eu-

rope”, reaching  W as of .

But the analysis said that whilst cur-

rent market conditions appear lucrative

for batteries, revenue streams face

pressure. Ancillary service revenues

become a smaller portion of the reve-

nue stack due to increased competition.

The erman BE market sits at a

critical juncture where strong funda-

mentals meet increasing competitive

pressures that will cannibalise price

uctuations over time,” said Rory c-

Carthy, VP, Head of Power and Renew-

ables Consulting EEA at Wood

ackenzie.

The European Investment Bank EIB

and ápadoslovenská energetika

E roup have agreed a  mil-

lion loan to nance a multi-year invest-

ment programme to modernise elec-

tricity distribution networks across

lovakia.

The EIB loan will support E

roup in upgrading high-, medium-

and low-voltage overhead lines and

underground cables, modernising

transformers and substations, and

rolling out smart technologies and

grid automation.

EIB ice-President responsible for

lovakia, arek ora, said od-

ernisation of lovakia’s distribution

networks will strengthen the founda-

tions of the lovak economy, making

it more resilient to modern challenges

including meeting the projected in-

crease in electrication.”

arkus aune, CEO at E roup,

said In the coming three years, we

will be able to continue our high in-

vestment level, which has almost

doubled since . We are commit-

ted to building a smarter, more resil-

ient and future-ready grid that meets

the evolving needs of customers and

the energy system, and especially the

progressing electrication, e.g. in

heating and transport.”

The European Commission has

launched its third European ydrogen

Bank EB auction, offering subsi-

dies of up to  billion to hydrogen

projects.

The budget comprises . billion

from the E and another . billion

from national budgets. Alongside, the

E’s Innovation Fund will dedicate

. billion for manufacturing of clean

technologies and decarbonisation

projects, meaning a cumulative  bil-

lion is potentially available to the hy-

drogen sector.

The EHB auction will allocate funds

across renewable fuel of non-biologi-

cal origin RFBO, low-carbon hy-

drogen and projects with off-takers in

the maritime or aviation sector.

In addition, ermany and pain have

announced national top-up funds. er-

many will contribute . billion for

renewable hydrogen production that

will ow into the enmark-ermany

pipeline, serving off-takers connected

to the erman ernnetz. pain will

add . million for renewable hy-

drogen and . million for mari-

time and aviation.

aniel Fraile, Chief Policy  arket

Ofcer of ydrogen Europe, said

The launch of the third auction and

call for grants is excellent news as we

continue to support the growth of a

decarbonised hydrogen market. We

encourage the European Commission

to continue supporting the ydrogen

Bank and Innovation Fund as a means

of unlocking public and private invest-

ments into this important technology.”

The speed of electrication in orway

could leave it with a power shortfall,

according to new report from 

analysing the orwegian energy tran-

sition towards .

Energy Transition Outlook orway’

forecasts demand for electricity, and

found it is increasing six times faster

than the development of new power

sources. Electricity demand will in-

crease by  TWh over the next ve

years but new power development will

only provide  TWh. It said orway

is heading towards a power decit

around , with an expected net im-

port of up to  TWh annually in the

early s.

Behind the growth surge is data cen-

tres, which are growing faster in or-

way than in other European countries

because it has cheap electricity and a

cooler climate.  forecasts that

data centres will use  TWh by 

– for seven per cent of orway’s total

electricity consumption. The transport

sector will also undergo electrica-

tion, increasing from six per cent today

to  per cent by , mainly due to

road transport.

eopolitics, national priorities,

and lack of public support are slowing

down orway’s renewable energy ef-

forts. This also hampers opportunities

for electricity exports, the electrica-

tion of existing industry, and the es-

tablishment of new industry. Onshore

and offshore wind power are the only

mature and scalable solutions that can

provide new capacity uickly and at

an acceptable cost,” said Remi Erik-

sen, Group President and CEO of

.

EU launches third

Hydrogen Bank auction

Norway needs more power for data

centres and electried transport

Solar leads rising renewables in

Germany and across the EU

EIB supports distribution networks

in Slovakia

Offshore wind achieves CfDs

up on 2022 prices

n UK seventh round awards 8.4 GW

n First Polish round awards 3.4 GW

TE EER ITR TIE - JAARFEBRAR 

Europe News

Photo by Tom Fisk

Photo by Damir K

n Coal pushed down the pack

n Battery investment follows on

Photo by Guillaume Meurice

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

Tenders, Bids & Contracts

Envision has signed a contract with

Casa dos Ventos of Brazil to supply

630 MW wind turbines and a 30-year

long-term service agreement.

Under the terms of the agreement,

Envision will supply its 8.xMW Gal-

ileo AI wind turbines. Envision said

that the partnership may expand be-

yond turbine supply to include col-

laboration in full lifecycle digital

asset management, AI-driven data

centres, and integrated green hydro-

gen and ammonia solutions.

Nordex has won orders in Canada for

the supply and installation of a total

of 73 wind turbines. The two orders

comprise N163 turbines and

N175/6.X turbines. They have a com-

bined capacity of 508 MW and each

contract includes long-term servicing

agreements for the turbines.

Nordex will deliver the cold weather

turbines in 2027 and 2028. The ma-

chines will be equipped with the Nor-

dex Advanced Anti-Icing System for

rotor blades.

The names of the customers and the

wind farms are not disclosed.

In addition, Nordex will supply 34

N163/5.X turbines totalling 200 MW

to a wind farm project in New Bruns-

wick. This order also includes a 30-

year service agreement. The turbines

will be delivered from mid-2027.

Canada’s Bruce Power has signed an

agreement with Siemens Energy Can-

ada for new high-pressure steam tur-

bines for its Bruce A nuclear units.

As part of Bruce Power’s Project

2030 and Life Extension asset man-

agement projects, the upgrades are

expected to increase output by over 30

MW per unit, giving approximately

125 MW of additional electricity to

Ontario’s grid following the turbine

replacements, scheduled to be com-

pleted between 2028 and 2031.

Vestas has won a contract for the 390

MW Shinan-Ui offshore wind project,

which will be built off Jeollanam Prov-

ince, South Korea, by a consortium

consisting of Hanwha Ocean, SK Eter-

nix, Korea Midland Power (KOMI-

PO), Future Energy Fund, and Hyun-

dai Engineering & Construction.

Vestas will supply 26 V236-15.0

MW offshore wind turbines. It also

won a 20-year service agreement. De-

livery of the 15 MW wind turbines is

scheduled to start in 2027, with com-

mercial operations of the 390 MW

wind farm expected to begin in 2028.

Everllence will supply a total of 14

large engines with a combined output

of over 240 MW to three new power-

plant projects on the Malaysian part of

the island of Borneo. The plants will

supply energy to a solar-glass produc-

tion facility as well as the national

power grid.

Everllence has also signed a contract

with KAB Energy Holdings to supply

seven 18V51/60DF engines with a

total output of 120 MW. A new gas

red power plant is being built on

Labuan Island, off the coast of Borneo

to replace retiring assets and to supply

the local grid as well as to serve a region

that has seen strong growth in manu-

facturing in recent years. KAB Energy

Holdings is responsible for engineer-

ing, procurement and construction

(EPC). Commissioning is planned for

the end of 2026.

Adani Energy Solutions has awarded

a contract to GE Vernova to supply

HVDC technology for the 2.5 GW

Khavda-South Olpad renewable pow-

er transmission corridor in India.

GE Vernova will supply a high-ca-

pacity ±500 kV, 2500 MW (2 × 1250

MW) voltage sourced converter

(VSC)-based bipolar HVDC system

for the point-to-point link. The scope

covers the design of the complete

HVDC system, including converter

stations at each end, the supply of all

major converter station equipment,

and responsibility for erection, testing,

and commissioning activities, exclud-

ing associated civil works.

Delivery will be planned in phases,

with overall completion targeted by

2030.

The Khavda-South Olpad corridor

forms a critical backbone for India’s

renewable energy expansion. The cor-

ridor is designed to enable large vol-

umes of renewable electricity gener-

ated in western India to be transferred

efciently into the wider grid.

TotalEnergies and Google have signed

a 21-year power purchase agreement

(PPA) to supply Google with a total

volume of  TWh of certied renew-

able power from the Citra Energies

solar plant in the northern Kedah state,

Malaysia.

The solar farm, which is scheduled

to enter construction in early 2026, will

support Google’s data centre opera-

tions in Malaysia.

Vo i t h h a s w o n a c o n t r a c t f r o m X a l l a s

Electricidad y Aleaciones (XEAL) to

supply two Francis runners for the

Santa Uxia hydropower station in

Galicia, Spain.

The two new runners will be deliv-

ered as part of a broader modernisation

effort, improving the station’s operat-

ing range without requiring any chang-

es to the existing technical layout.

Voith’s scope also includes disman-

tling, installation support, and refur-

bishment of selected components. It

aims to increase the plant’s hydraulic

efciency, reduce wear, and extend

the lifetime of the machines while

maintaining compatibility with the

existing infrastructure.

Bechtel and Westinghouse Electric

Company, building Choczewo, Po-

land’s rst nuclear power plant for

Polskie Elektrownie Jdrowe PEJ,

has awarded a contract to supply three

steam turbine and generator sets from

Arabelle Solutions.

Arabelle Solutions will supply all

three units of Choczewo nuclear pow-

er plant with the steam turbine, gen-

erator including auxiliary systems, as

well as key equipment of the water

steam cycle including the condenser,

moisture separator reheaters, low and

high-pressure feedwater heaters, and

feedwater and deaerating tanks.

The high efciency Arabelle steam

turbine will be coupled with a hydro-

gen and water-cooled GIGATOP

4-pole generator synchronised to the

50 Hz Polish grid.

Sumitomo Electric has been awarded

a contract from UK’s National Grid

Electricity Transmission (NGET) for

supply and installation of the 140 km

525 kV HVDC cable project “Sea

Link” between Kent and Suffolk in the

UK. Construction of Sea Link is sched-

uled to start in 2027.

The Sea Link HVDC cable will be

produced in Sumitomo Electric’s

submarine cable factory at Port of

Nigg in Scotland.

Sea Link is one of the key infrastruc-

ture projects of NGET’s “The Great

Grid Upgrade” which aims to substan-

tially increase electricity transmission

capacity in the UK.

Polar Night Energy and Lahti Energia

will construct an industrial-scale

thermal energy storage for Lahti En-

ergia’s district heating network in

Vääksy, Finland. The new sand bat-

tery will have a heating power of 2

MW and a storage capacity of 250

MWh, making it the world’s largest

sand-based thermal energy storage

system once completed.

The sand battery will supply heat to

Lahti Energia’s Vääksy district heat-

ing network and will cut fossil-based

emissions in the Vääksy district heat-

ing network by around 60 per cent

each year.

A sand battery is a high-temperature

thermal energy storage system that

uses sand or a similar solid material to

store renewable energy.

Polar Night Energy will act as the

main contractor for the construction

project. On-site work will begin in

early 2026, and the sand battery will

be completed in summer 2027.

Nordex has announced that it has won

a number of orders across Europe.

These include four projects in France.

One project will be euipped with ve

N131/3000 turbines. Two further

projects are set to install eight and

four N117/3675 turbines, respective-

ly, while another wind farm will fea-

ture four N149/4.X turbines. The

total new orders amount to 77 MW.

These are scheduled to be delivered

by 2027.

In Belgium, with new orders total-

ling 25 MW, one project will receive

three N131/3600 turbines; four

N117/3675 turbines will be installed

across two other wind farms. These

are scheduled to be delivered by 2027.

In Germany, Nordex has received an

order in North Rhine-Westphalia from

Bürgerwind Hollich for a repowering

project. Nordex will supply and install

twelve N163/6.X wind turbines and

four N149/5.X turbines, for a total

output of 106.8 MW.

In Poland, Nordex has received an

order from an unspecied IPP for 

N149/5.X wind turbines providing

118 MW.

Ras Abu Fontas Power Company has

awarded a contract to Mitsubishi

Power and Samsung C&T Engineer-

ing & Construction, in partnership

with Qatar General Electricity and

Water Corporation (KAHRAMAA).

Mitsubishi Power will supply its

hydrogen-ready M701JAC gas tur-

bines for Qatar’s Facility E Indepen-

dent Water and Power Project (IWPP).

Mitsubishi Power also signed a long-

term service agreement with Ras Abu

Fontas Power Company for the provi-

sion of parts, repairs and services

throughout the plant’s operational life.

Samsung will be the EPC contractor

for the project.

Doosan Enerbility will supply 430

MW steam turbines and generators.

The project will be located in the Ras

Abu Fontas area, 25 km south of Doha,

and will have a capacity of 2.4 GW –

around 20 per cent of Qatar’s grid

capacity.

The Facility E project is expected to

begin operations in 2028.

Wärtsilä has won a contract from Flow

Power of Australia to supply a 100

MW/223 MWh battery energy storage

system (BESS) for the Bennetts Creek

plant at Morwell Terminal Station in

Victoria, Australia. The BESS will

provide essential ancillary services,

such as frequency regulation, strength-

ening grid stability and accelerating

Australia’s transition towards a renew-

able energy future.

Bennetts Creek will also provide

frequency regulation, a key ancillary

service, which offers a steady, valuable

income stream that complements en-

ergy arbitrage and helps meet key

compliance requirements for BESS

projects. It also plays a crucial role in

keeping the grid stable as traditional

generators retire.

Construction of the project will com-

mence in 2026 and is expected to be

operational in 2028.

In addition, Wärtsilä will supply the

fourth stage of the Eraring battery fa-

cility at Origin Energy’s Eraring Pow-

er Station in New South Wales, Aus-

tralia. This will add 360 MWh of new

energy storage capacity to the project,

bringing the total capacity of the Erar-

ing battery to 700 MW/3160 MWh.

This extension is scheduled for com-

pletion in Q1 2027.

The Iranian government has an-

nounced that it is in discussions with

Russia regarding the construction of

new nuclear power plants.

Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesper-

son for the Atomic Energy Organisa-

tion of Iran, said: “Our technical co-

operation with the International

Atomic Energy Agency continues.

All inspections in recent months were

conducted with the approval of the

Supreme National Security Council,

covering activities in sectors of our

nuclear industry that have not been

targeted by any attacks.”

Kamalvandi said that one nuclear

power plant is currently operational

and two are under construction. Iran

and Russia have signed contracts for

four additional nuclear power plants,

each with a 1200 MW capacity, in the

Sirik region of southern Iran.

It has also been reported that Russia

and Iran are jointly working on a co-

operation protocol for SMRs

INTEC Energy Solutions has been

awarded a $117 million EPC contract

by Shafag (Jabrayil) Solar Limited

(SJSL). The contract is for a 288 MW

solar power plant in Azerbaijan.

The contract is for the full scope of

EPC services, as well as O&M for the

rst two years of operations. nder the

contract, INTEC has completed the

mobilisation of facilities and is cur-

rently continuing with earthworks.

Americas

Asia-Pacic

Envision wins 630 MW

wind project in Brazil

Siemens Energy steam

turbines for Bruce A

Vestas wins Shin an-Ui

offshore wind contract

Everllence supports

Borneo energy transition

Google signs renewables

PPA with TotalEnergies

Voith to mod erni se

Santa Uxia hydro plant

Arabelle ST-gensets for

olands rst 

Sumitomo Electric to

supply HVDC in UK

Lahti Energia invests in

sand battery

Mitsubishi H

-ready gas

turbines for Qatar

Wärtsilä wins Australian

BESS order

Iran and Russia discuss

nuclear plant deals

 to sppl solar

plant in Azerbaijan

orde orders in rope

HVDC system for Indian

transmission corridor

Canada orders 508 MW

orde trines

International

Europe

synchronous compensators] and even

hybrid solutions that use STATCOMs

or Enhanced-STATCOMs coupled

with some other grid supporting re-

sources such as battery storage, su-

percapacitors, or synchronous con-

densers, to mitigate any issues caused

by a lack of inertia in the grid. This is

where technology helps to have a

stable grid – even if you change the

generation mix compared to what you

had in the past.”

He added: “We believe that in

principle every country can manage

a grid that has around 60-65 per cent

of [intermittent] renewables, i.e.

wind and solar, if it invests in the

right technologies.”

Several projects demonstrate the

capabilities of these technologies. In

April 2024, Hitachi Energy secured

an order from SP Energy Networks to

design and deliver a rst-of-its-kind

power quality solution to stabilise the

grid and boost the ow of renewable

energy from Scotland to England.

The project, located at SP Energy

Networks’ substation at Eccles, con-

sists of two sets of an SVC Light

STATCOM and a synchronous con-

denser controlled centrally by the

MACH™ control system, connected

at a common electrical node. Each

STATCOM installation uses Hitachi

Energy’s advanced power electronics

and MACH control and protection

solution to provide system strength,

instantaneous voltage control, and

enable maximum power ow.

According to Hitachi Energy, the

combination of technologies will

maximise the future power system’s

potential while also providing in-

creased system stability and security,

thus supporting the increasing inte-

gration of renewables into the grid.

The integration of renewables, often

through the use of HVDC links, is an

important application for power

electronics, and Persson provided

several examples.

The 1200 MW Caithness Moray –

Shetland project in Scotland is a good

example of how power electronics is

have the same system inertia as one

that has rotating turbines, and can

therefore be harder to control. The

importance of network control was

highlighted in the blackout across the

Iberian Peninsula in April last year,

with some citing the higher reliance

on renewables as one of the causes.

As the generation mix moves to

more variable generation from wind

and solar, there is clearly a need to

control networks more reliably. While

some argue that variable renewables

could cause a more unstable network,

Persson notes that this no longer

needs to be the case. “That could be

true if you used the outdated tech-

nologies you had in the past. Tradi-

tional solutions alone cannot manage

increasing grid complexity,” he said.

In traditional power systems, me-

chanical inertia is used to provide grid

stability. In conventional power

plants the inertia typically comes

from the rotating mass of spinning

turbines. Wind and solar plants,

however, are connected to the grid via

inverters. These electronic devices

act as current sources, synchronising

their output to follow the grid’s exist-

ing voltage and frequency. They use

Phase-Locked Loops (PLLs) to track

the grid’s waveform and inject or ab-

sorb power, but they cannot start a

grid during a blackout or stabilise it

during a major disturbance, as they

rely on a stable external voltage/fre-

quency reference.

Persson commented: “In the past,

inverter-based solutions were grid-

following, which means that if you go

outside frequency and voltage ranges

you have to close the plant down.

This, in turn, can cause cascading ef-

fects and then blackouts. But with

newer power electronics you can

have grid-forming. With digitalisa-

tion and grid-forming capabilities the

grid can be formed to be stable in

terms of frequency and voltage, for

both AC and DC applications.

“Now we have HVDC systems us-

ing converters that are based on

power electronics, STATCOMs [static

he energy transition faced some

headwinds in 2025. With a slow-

down triggered by unfavourable

policies in the US and China’s shift

from xed tariffs to auctions impacting

project economics, the International

Energy Agency has lowered its growth

forecasts for renewables.

In spite of challenging times, how-

ever, growth is expected to remain

strong in the medium/long-term. Ac-

cording to the Paris-based agency, the

amount of installed renewable power

capacity is forecast to more than

double by 2030. Meanwhile DNV’s

most recent ‘Energy Transition Out-

look’ notes that the US slowdown will

have only a marginal effect on the

global energy transition as momen-

tum continues to build elsewhere, and

predicts an almost even split between

fossil and non-fossil fuels in 2050.

Still, the renewables sector will

have to navigate headwinds as it

grapples with supply chain issues,

grid infrastructure modernisation and

nancing. Certainly, the grid for re-

newable integration is widely recog-

nised as possibly the biggest challenge

to the energy transition. As is often

noted, there can be no transition

without transmission.

Commenting on the challenges fac-

ing the transition, Niklas Persson,

Managing Director of Business Unit

Grid Integration at Hitachi Energy,

said: “Over the last year and a half, we

have seen a few issues – in the US

some projects have been cancelled.

We have also seen some auctions in

Europe that have not been successful

and are delaying projects. However,

the whole sentiment is here to stay.

It’s coming from the electrication of

industry, the whole transportation

sector, and, of course, data centres.”

According to Persson, the transition

is essentially being driven from two

sides: from the consumer side, or

what he calls the edge of the grid – i.e.

the electrication of transportation

and industry, as well as data centre

demand – and from the generation

side, where the likes of Europe, China,

India, and the Middle East are leading

the shift to solar and wind. “This

[shift] calls for a different means of

transmitting that generation to the

edge where the consumption will be,”

said Persson.

He added: “Now it’s also more

about energy security due to a global

geopolitical situation where there is

an increasing desire to manage your

own generation, which is also driving

a different generation mix. This is all

creating a super-cycle demand that

will last for the next 10-20 years.”

One of the biggest challenges is

moving this new generation, much of

which will be renewable, to the point

of consumption. This will require

strengthening existing grids and

building new grid capacity at the rate

needed to keep pace with generation.

Much of the technological devel-

opments in the transmission sector

are, therefore, being driven by the

expected generation mix of the fu-

ture. Subsequently, there has been

signicant focus on maintaining grid

stability as the amount of renewables

increases.

A grid based on renewables does not

Special Interview

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2026

The energy transition is seen by many as one of the biggest economic opportunities of the 21st century. But there

can be no transition without transmission. Hitachi Energy’s Niklas Persson discusses why companies building

transmission systems will need to focus on deploying pioneering technologies, such as power electronics, while

putting in place the skills, supply chains, partnerships and collaboration agreements to make it happen.

Junior Isles

Persson: Traditional solutions

alone cannot manage

increasing grid complexity

Transition through

transmission

Yichu, Taiwan. Wind and solar

plants can now be connected

to the grid using newer power

electronics that enable grid

stability

these cities, it’s often difcult to get

the right-of-way to build overhead AC

lines. Just laying one HVDC cable

allows you to get 1 GW into the city.”

But the application of power elec-

tronics solutions goes beyond the in-

tegration of renewables and HVDC

connectors.

According to Persson, it is being

increasingly used in data centre proj-

ects where there can be wide uctua-

tions in load very quickly.

“Loads can ramp up very quickly for

AI calculations, and then ramp down

very quickly. This disturbs grid stabil-

ity. We foresee power electronics as

one of the solutions for managing this

instability. It is a growing market, and

we are seeing strong demand in Eu-

rope, in places like the UK and the

Nordics. There is very strong demand

in the US, thanks to the growing data

centres; so, there is a lot of STACOMs

on the AC side. We also see a growing

demand in India and across Asia.”

Power electronics are also important

for electrifying oil and gas platforms.

Hitachi Energy has carried out several

projects and is currently working on

the electrication of a . W project

in Abu Dhabi. “This is largely being

driven by [emission] reduction targets

to run oil and gas elds,” said Persson.

The huge demand in these various

sectors is good news for equipment

suppliers and solutions providers, but

it comes with challenges.

There has been massive investment

in the transmission sector globally –

not only in Europe, but also in the

Middle East and throughout Asia as

well as in countries like India and the

USA. But it is not enough.

According to the IEA’s ‘World En-

ergy Outlook 2025’, investments in

electricity generation have increased

by almost 70 per cent since 2015 to

reach $1 trillion per year, but annual

grid spending has risen at less than

half the pace to $400 billion. This, it

said, increases congestion and delays

the connection of new sources of

electricity generation and demand.

Persson noted: “On the consump-

tion side, it is very easy to do things

quickly. For example, projects for in-

dustry or data centres seldom take

more than two years to construct,

commission and generate revenues.

But the time to connect to the grid –

the time to receive permits and get a

connection to the grid – is very often

more than two years. And this is one

of the big challenges that this industry

is facing right now – the time it takes

to connect consumers to the grid.

“At the same time, the demand is

much higher than 5-6 years ago.

While we anticipated the increase, it

came much faster and more massively

than expected. The investment levels

needed for transmission in 2030-2035

is 5-6 times higher than what we saw

prior to 2020.”

Hitachi Energy is taking a strategic

approach to meet the demands of the

power transmission sector.

Since 2020, the company has an-

nounced that it will invest $9 billion

through 2027, one of the largest in the

industry, to address the need for skills;

stronger, more efcient supply

chains; greater manufacturing capac-

ity and R&D; and developing the

technologies that will be needed go-

ing forward. A signicant part of this

will be to ease bottlenecks in the

transformer market.

According to the IEA, a rise in

transmission spending is putting the

spotlight on bottlenecks in supply

chains. Although permitting is the

primary cause of delays in transmis-

sion projects, particularly in advanced

economies, supply of cables, trans-

formers, materials and other compo-

nents is also becoming a limiting

factor.

“There’s a huge demand for trans-

formers, also from utilities just to

strengthen the transmission grid. You

can say transformers are the key bot-

tleneck to manage from an OEM

perspective. And that’s partly why we

have this investment strategy through

2027,” noted Persson.

Looking at how project times have

changed with the transmission equip-

ment demand, Persson used offshore

wind as an example. “The fastest

offshore wind project we have done is

the 1.2 GW Dogger Bank project in

the UK. That took 38 months but

around four years was the usual. Now,

with the demand, projects take be-

tween 5-7 years, partly driven by the

bottlenecks in components such as

transformers. But what we have suc-

cessfully done, through planning with

customers, is change the business

model.”

Hitachi Energy and its partners have

moved from taking a “project-by-

project approach” to a more collab-

orative setup, enabling, for example,

secure procurement of components

early based on known volumes.

“If you don’t go with a project-by-

project approach – where you can be

faced with long delivery time because

the OEM supply chain is full – and

instead start to plan together with

customers, you can achieve reason-

able delivery times. It will be a little

bit north of four years but still not

excessively long.”

He added that although there are no

problems securing wind turbines, the

other three main areas of an offshore

wind project – HVDC converter

equipment, cable manufacturing and

platform manufacturing – can be

bottlenecks. “If you come, opportu-

nistically, and say: ‘I want to buy an

HVDC today’, of course you face

longer delivery times. But through

planning, and the new business model

entailing framework agreements and

capacity reservation agreements,

with most customers we have been

able to mitigate the longest delivery

times and meet customer demands.”

The framework and capacity reser-

vation agreements it signed with

German energy company RWE to

develop three major HVDC projects

are a good example. It allows Hitachi

Energy and its partner, Aibel, to man-

age resources such as supply chain,

workforce hiring, allocating engi-

neering and manufacturing capacity,

and ordering materials ahead of time.

In another example, the Dutch-

German Transmission System Opera-

tor, TenneT, signed a multi-year

Framework Agreement with Hitachi

Energy as part of TenneT’s 2 GW

HVDC offshore wind programme.

The agreement will see the company

supply onshore converter stations to

accelerate the integration of bulk re-

newable energy sources into European

power grids.

Bringing such visibility into the

project pipeline and planning collab-

oratively is particularly benecial for

the supply chain.

“We are also supporting our supply

chain in developing their capacity and

competence. This has worked well so

far,” said Persson. Importantly, he

added: “Hitachi Energy is very verti-

cally integrated. We are the only

company that manufactures its own

power semiconductors. We don’t

have to compete with, say, the car in-

dustry or other suppliers. So, we are

able to control the supply chain for

these key components ourselves.

For transformers, there is a lot of

integration of these key power elec-

tronic components; the same applies

to switchgear. Of course, there are a

lot of external suppliers for these key

components, but we have a very

bringing new possibilities. Hailed as

Europe’s rst multi-terminal C

VSC (voltage source converter) sys-

tem, it connects the electricity grids

on both sides of the Moray Firth and

Shetland. The project is designed as a

ve terminal system to allow for fu-

ture HVDC extensions and the trans-

fer of more power, more efciently. In

addition to providing exibility to

transfer power in multiple directions

based on supply and demand, the

project enhances grid performance

and resilience through voltage and

frequency control.

Integrating offshore wind is cer-

tainly a key HVDC market. With the

transmission distances typically ex-

ceeding 100 km from offshore wind-

farms to onshore, HVDC is usually

the only technically feasible option.

This distance element is crucial for

underwater interconnectors between

countries as well as for transmitting

power over very long distances on

land, for example in countries like

India, China and North America.

“Here it is very effective to use DC

instead of AC due to lower losses –

in the region of one per cent instead

of 10 per cent in an AC system,” said

Persson.

Commenting on the HVDC market

and the use of power electronics,

Persson said: “There are many appli-

cations. It’s driven either by energy

security, where regions or countries

are connected. For example, if Spain

had been well interconnected it could

have been supported by other grids

and avoided the blackout. HVDC

links are connected using power

electronics; so grids don’t have to be

synchronised, unlike with AC grids.”

He also cites delivering electricity

into urban cities like Mumbai, India,

as another important market. “In

Special Interview

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - JAN-FEB 2026

The electrication of transport

is a signicant driver of the

energy transition

ready there to expand the [production]

capacity as well as the engineering

capacity. There, we also have the

competence to develop the people that

we onboard.”

In addition, expansion is also under-

way in the US, India, Asia, and Latin

America. We are expanding in every

region in order to support the local

markets,” Persson noted. “It’s a global

programme, where we mostly expand

on our existing footprint.”

At the same time, the company re-

alises that innovation is crucial to

delivering an energy transition that is

affordable. DC grids or meshed grids

are important for harvesting the full

potential wind in the North Sea, for

example. This would allow operators

to drastically reduce the number of

converter systems needed, if multi-

terminal meshed grids are used.

Persson said: “We are investing in

innovation to be prepared for when

the DC grid is needed. I am not con-

cerned about the [readiness of the]

technology. We already have a multi-

terminal system in the UK and have

already developed and tested an

HVDC circuit breaker. So, from a

technology perspective, we are ready

to apply it as soon as the countries and

transmission system operators need

them. We foresee that a DC grid, or

meshed grid, or hybrid connector,

will come some time between 2030

and 2040.”

This timing largely depends on

countries having the grid codes in

place for operating an interconnected

DC grid, covering areas such as

multi-vendor interoperability and

standards. It is also dependent on

having a regulatory framework that

addresses concerns such as revenue-

sharing, who will have access to the

wind generation when the wind is

blowing.

Currently, the UK and Germany

are at the forefront of technology

development. Meanwhile, at the Eu-

ropean level, initiatives such as

PROMOTioN and InterOPERA are

looking to ensure compatibility and

coordination.

PROMOTioN is a precursor project

(Progress on Meshed HVDC Off-

shore Transmission Networks) that

laid the groundwork for offshore en-

ergy grids by researching technical,

nancial, and regulatory reuirements

for a meshed European offshore net-

work. In preparation for the technol-

ogy, in 2023, the EU launched Phase

1 of the project ‘Enabling interopera-

bility of multi-vendor HVDC grids’

(InterOPERA), funded by Horizon

Europe. InterOPERA unites 21 Euro-

pean partners, with the main objective

of making future HVDC systems

mutually compatible and interopera-

ble by design. This will improve the

grid forming capabilities of offshore

and onshore converters and pave the

way for the rst C multi-termi-

nal, multi-vendor, multi-purpose real-

life projects in Europe.

“The Shetland multi-terminal proj-

ect is a very strong demonstrator of

how multi-terminal technology al-

ready works. And if you add a DC

breaker, you can connect more termi-

nals and therefore reduce the number

of terminals while still transmitting

the power to the consumption points,”

noted Persson.

With such projects involving coop-

eration between different vendors and

countries, there could be concerns

over intellectual property (IP) being

an obstacle to an affordable future

energy system. But Persson does not

see this as a problem.

“Looking at DC grids, if you con-

nect the various systems on the right

level, we don’t believe there is a huge

need for protecting IP. We have been

able to connect at the system level in

the past already. But we don’t see IP

being a barrier,” he said.

Looking forward, Hitachi Energy is

condent that countries can cooperate

to achieve an affordable transition.

“Many countries across Europe

have realised the global demand for

energy solutions and power products,

and our collaboration with many

customers is excellent. This means

we can plan, invest and build the ca-

pacity needed.

He added: “We will continue to in-

vest in digitalisation to support grid

operators. Digitalisation in applica-

tions and processes is key in our

strategy to support the energy transi-

tion. Also, the way we use digitalisa-

tion in the future to improve projects

and make them more affordable is

very interesting. If you look at AI and

other tools, we can use them to im-

prove our performance in every area.

“Like many companies, we are only

at the beginning of understanding

exactly where and how we can imple-

ment it. We already apply AI in areas

where we can improve safety and

quality, and gain cost reduction and

efciency.” These areas, he said, in-

clude engineering and operations to

help identify and diagnose system is-

sues and enhance productivity while

facilitating access to information.

This, as part of the broader strategy,

will help Hitachi Energy achieve its

main goal: to apply a holistic ap-

proach to plan, build and operate the

future grid, keeping up commitments

to customers and stakeholders and

delivering projects to inspire the next

era of sustainable energy.

Persson concluded: “This market is

a lot about lead-time; it’s a lot about

growth. But what is important for us,

is to deliver. You can book a lot of

orders and have a huge backlog, but

the key is to deliver projects. It’s

about keeping customer promises –

delivering projects on time and on

quality. This is where Hitachi Energy

can contribute to the energy transition

– keeping the promises we make to

customers and society.”

vertical value chain within Hitachi

Energy for these systems. This is

helping us to ensure we have a ro-

bust supply chain. So far, it’s work-

ing well.”

To meet its project delivery goals

Hitachi Energy plans to employ 15

000 people between 2023 and 2027

and is currently “in the middle” of

that hiring cycle.

“We have been extremely success-

ful in nding good people. oing into

the energy transition, the industry is

attractive for both young and experi-

enced people. The technology is quite

complex, and the projects are interest-

ing. o, we have been able to nd key

competence,” said Persson.

“If someone had asked me three or

four years ago: ‘what is your most

critical issue in managing this?’ I

would have said the ability to hire

skilled people. But we have been ex-

tremely successful in positioning the

attractiveness of this industry. So, we

are nding people globally.”

Hiring, people, however, is only

part of the story. The most interesting

part, says Persson, is to ‘onboard’

people and develop them, so they

understand the industry. He added:

ere we have specic programmes

like putting people back into school to

train on our technology; we have

buddy and mentorship programmes

to ensure we have the right skills at

the right time.”

At the same time, the company’s

manufacturing capabilities are being

expanded. As a European-centric

company – with its headquarters in

Switzerland, Europe will be one of

main areas of expansion.

Persson explained: “The fastest

way for us to invest is to expand our

browneld factories because the

management and competence are al-

An DC valve hall. The

integration of renewables

often through the use of

HVDC links is an important

application for power

electronics

anufacturing its own semiconductors helps itachi Energy control the supply chain

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - JAN-FEB 2026

Special Interview

itachi Energy has been very

successful in ‘onboarding’

and developing people, so

they understand the industry

are adopting International Sustain-

ability Standards Board (ISSB) cli-

mate disclosures with local adapta-

tions. Singapore has emerged as one

of the world’s earliest adopters of

mandatory ISSB-aligned reporting.

China’s climate reporting standards,

ofcially released in late , ad-

opted a methodology which is struc-

turally aligned with that of ISSB

IB  as well. The standards are

intended to be functionally equiva-

lent, although they do add country

specic double materiality and some

extra materiality.

Asia is now the centre of gravity for

scaling many clean energy technolo-

gies. The region’s manufacturing

might sets the global cost curve. In

solar, for example, a company like

Jinkoolar olding ships over 

W of panels every year. This output

from this single company dwarves

top manufacturers from two decades

ago by over  times. anufacturers

in China now play a pivotal role in

setting the marginal cost of solar

equipment and, by extension, the

price at which new solar energy

comes onto the grid.

Regional collaboration is moving

from technical planning to active

power trading. The AEA power

grid is evolving from a technical

dream debated for decades, into a re-

ality of cross-border electricity ows.

This is visible in the reater ekong

Subregion and Article 6 carbon mar-

ket pilots, such as the agreement be-

tween Thailand and witzerland. As

global capital allocators seek to diver-

sify portfolios and avoid policy un-

certainty in orth America, Asia is

becoming the primary beneciary of

these diversication ows”.

The third dominant pattern from

 inuencing the future landscape

is nancing and nancial tools. The

most signicant barrier to the transi-

tion has always been the nancing

gap”. Asia reuires hundreds of bil-

hree major themes and trends

came out of the  or so conver-

sations from the ‘Asia Climate

Finance’ podcast in . The global

energy transition continued to shift

from a policy-driven ambition to an

economic inevitability during the year.

The three themes and trends include

the shift to climate tech, the develop-

ment of Asia as a rule-shaper and not

a rule-taker, and further innovation in

nance and nancing tools.

The rst of the key dynamics shap-

ing the discussion is an inevitable

shift to low carbon climate tech being

increasingly driven by economics,

and not only by policy. The energy

transition has historically been seen

as a moral or political choice. In ,

that narrative giving way to the cold

reality of physics and economics be-

came more apparent. The world is

witnessing a fundamental ‘ratchet ef-

fect’: while geopolitical shifts or trade

tariffs may cause temporary plateaus,

the underlying momentum is now ir-

reversible, chiey because of the

downward trending cost curves of

many clean technologies.

The Conversation with Ember’s

Kingsmill Bond highlighted that the

core of this shift lies in efciency.

Fossil fuel systems are remarkably

wasteful: roughly two-thirds of their

energy is lost as heat. The application

of electricity and advanced electrical

technologies, commonly referred to

as electrotech”, is by contrast about

three times more efcient. This ef-

ciency gap is the primary engine of

the transition. Investors are voting

with their capital in ,  per cent

of all power-sector investment went

to electrotech solutions, mainly solar

and wind. oreover, two-thirds of

global energy system investment now

targets the electrical ow” rather

than fossil stocks”.

This redenes energy security.

Importing thermal coal or natural gas

is a ‘rental’ model, a country must buy

fuel daily. If a supplier cuts it off, the

lights go out. Buying a solar panel is

‘buying’ energy for several decades.

Once built, the marginal cost of the

energy is near zero, and becomes al-

most entirely predictable.

ike Thomas of the Lantau roup

emphasised, the world has now en-

tered Wave Two” of this transition. If

Wave One” focused on solar and

wind, Wave Two” is about system-

level integration. For example, hyper-

scale solar hybrid projects are surging

in markets like the Philippines, proj-

ects such as Terra olar Philippines

combine massive solar arrays with

battery storage, creating packaged”

power that competes directly with

imported liueed natural gas as

semi-baseload energy. In cities like

Hyderabad, solar and batteries could

supply  per cent of rm power by

 at a competitive Wh. The

ceiling of the possible” is rising

faster than deployment.

The second central force driving the

 narrative is about energy transi-

tion standards. The lobal outh was

expected to follow standards set in

Brussels or Washington for the past

several decades. ow that era is end-

ing. Asia is no longer a rule-taker”. It

has become a rule-shaper”. The re-

gion accounts for half the world’s

population, half its energy consump-

tion, and more than half of global

emissions. Because Asia hosts the

world’s largest pipeline of transition

projects, its standards are gradually

becoming the global architecture for

climate nance.

Pragmatism denes this Asian

leadership. The AEA Taxonomy is

a prime example: rather than copying

the E’s framework, AEA mem-

bers created a system that includes a

credible coal phase-out” pathway so

as to reect the reality of emerging

markets still reliant on thermal coal

but needing a rigorous path to net

zero. imilarly, ingapore and Japan

lions of dollars in annual infrastruc-

ture investment to meet its climate

goals.

Public budgets and traditional bank

loans cannot meet this alone. One of

the many solutions emerging is the

Public-Private-Philanthropic Partner-

ship. In this model, philanthropic

capital acts as the tugboat” for the

tankers” of ultilateral evelop-

ment Banks Bs and private in-

stitutional investors – an excellent

metaphor from Woochong m, the

new Chief Executive Ofcer of the

lobal Energy Alliance for People

and Planet. Philanthropic funds are

agile and can tolerate rst-loss” po-

sitions. By absorbing initial project

risk, they crowd in” commercial

lenders who would otherwise stay on

the sidelines.

In these structures, a public or phil-

anthropic investor agrees to take a

capped return. Any prot above that

cap, ows to other private investors

lifting their upside without increasing

their downside risk. That kind of de-

sign can turn marginally bankable

projects in markets such as Vietnam,

Indonesia, and the Philippines into

serious opportunities for global insti-

tutional capital. It is exactly the sort of

approach platforms managed by rms

like Brookeld are increasingly using

across emerging markets.

This is not about charity. It is about

what people in the industry call addi-

tionality, an Asia Climate Finance

podcast guest from Brookeld

stressed. Additionality means leaving

the system you invest in clearly better

than when you found it, which in

practice means actually building new

assets. It is about adding new capacity,

not just buying existing plants for

someone else.

evelopment Finance Institutions

FIs like British International In-

vestment are also using mezzanine

debt and guarantees to bridge the gap.

ezzanine debt is particularly impor-

tant for Southeast Asian sponsors, as

it provides capital without diluting

ownership.

any of the experts in the Asia

Climate Finance conversations con-

cluded that there is no shortage of

capital in the Asia Pacic region.

The challenge has been creating a

linear, predictable deal ow” of

bankable projects. Through sophisti-

cated blended nance structures, we

are nally seeing the linearisation”

of these opportunities.

As  begins, the energy transi-

tion in Asia is no longer a series of

isolated experiments. It is a massive

industrial ywheel that has nally

overcome initial friction. The com-

bined momentum of physics-based

efciency, Asian rule-shaping, and

catalytic blended nance has created

a trajectory that is impossible to halt.

The train has truly left the station”.

Those who recognise the efciency of

the new system will prosper; those

who cling to the old fossil rental”

model will become laggards in the

new global economy.

Joseph Jacobelli, Head of single-

family ofce Bourne Impact Capital,

brings 30+ years in energy markets.

He champions sustainable nance

through his ‘Asia Climate Finance

Podcast’ and writings like his second

book, ‘Powering the Unstoppable

Green Shift’.

TE EER ITR TIE - JAARFEBRAR 

Decarbonisation Series

As 2026 begins, the

energy transition in

Asia is no longer a

series of isolated

experiments. It is a

massive industrial

ywheel that has

nally overcome

initial friction, with

innovation in nance

and nancing tools

seeing the region

ecome a ruleshaper

instead of a ruletaker.

Joseph Jacobelli

explains.

2025 takeaways:

Asia’s energy

ywheel, from ruletaker to ruleshaper

Asia’s energy transition accelerates: the three forces of 2025. Source: Joseph Jacobelli, ‘Asia’s Three Forces for Energy Transition’

(Infographic, Google NotebookLM, January 7, 2026).

eries January-February 

[Caption]

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

Final Word

t has been a difcult  months

in the battle against climate

change. ince the change of gov-

ernment in the  all things renew-

able have come under re under

President Trump’s administration,

yet the real res continue to burn.

Last year kicked off with Trump

issuing a urry of executive orders

reversing the Biden administration’s

policies on climate change and

withdrawing from the Paris Climate

Agreement. e soon followed up

with an attack on offshore wind in

particular, halting projects that had

already been permitted, and even

those that were already under con-

struction. The year ended with law-

suits being led by the project owners

challenging the stop-work orders.

eanwhile, the Trump administra-

tion continues to push fossil fuels.

This year has started in similar

fashion. Just one week in, the Trump

administration announced that it was

withdrawing from the  Frame-

work Convention on Climate Change

FCCC and the Intergovernmen-

tal Panel on Climate Change IPCC.

These two pre-eminent climate bod-

ies are just two of  international

agreements and bodies from which

the  exited.

The ’ withdrawal from the inter-

national climate change movement

has been met with disappointment

and dismay.

At a time when the world is facing

record warming and the nited tates

is facing billions of dollars of costs

every year due to climate-fuelled

disasters, the Trump administration

is stepping away from the ght to

mitigate those harms,” said Brad

Adams, Executive irector at Cli-

mate Rights International. enying

the problem, turning its back on sci-

ence, and abdicating its responsibil-

ity as the world’s largest per capita

emitter will not make the dangers of

climate disappear.

The  is turning its back on the

fact that the world is burning, but

looking away will not douse the

ames,” said Adams. The Trump

administration’s wholesale disen-

gagement from international coop-

eration on climate, energy policy, and

environmental issues is an own goal

that will reduce America’s inuence

and reputation in the world. It is

critical that state and local govern-

ments in the  and the rest of the

world stand rm to ensure that

Trump’s latest move is not allowed

to weaken the global system at pre-

cisely the moment when coordinated

action to ght climate change and

protect human rights is most urgently

needed.”

The ’ change of direction already

seems to be having a slowing effect

on global ambition. At COP in

Brazil, countries failed to reach any

agreement on dialling down the use

of fossil fuels and there was no lan-

guage on a roadmap for the energy

transition.

The  stance has also translated

into lower forecasts for renewables.

In its Renewables ’ report,

published in October last year, the

International Energy Agency cut in

half its forecast for renewable energy

growth in the  this decade. In 

the global energy agency had said it

expected the  to add  W of

new capacity – almost all solar and

wind power – by . But it now

expects it to add only  W.

A report from cinsey  Com-

pany also noted a slowdown in the

pace of the global energy transition.

Its tenth annual lobal Energy Per-

spective’ said the world may be

moving towards a slower energy

transition across all scenarios, as

governments and policymakers in-

creasingly emphasize energy afford-

ability and security amid geopolitical

uncertainty.

In its latest Energy Transition

Outlook’,  said the  reversal

would slow worldwide progress but

stressed that the effect would be

marginal, as momentum continues to

build elsewhere.  forecasts a

slightly slower transition with the

energy mix to be split  per cent

between fossil and non-fossil fuels in

. Likewise,  global carbon

dioxide emissions are now forecast

to be  per cent higher compared to

its  Outlook.

Following ’s predictions and

policy changes, this year will be an

interesting test of global govern-

ments’ appetite to tackle climate

change, especially as the  attempts

to undermine those efforts.

Jules ortenhorst, co-chair of the

Energy Transitions Commission,

said The energy transition is at a

tipping point – not of possibility, but

of policy and implementation.”

The E’s landmark carbon border

tax, which came into force on January

, despite opposition from trading

partners, will be a litmus test.

The carbon border adjustment

mechanism CBA, which covers

six sectors including steel, cement,

aluminium and electricity, is intended

to prevent E companies that have to

pay for their emissions being under-

cut by cheaper, more heavily pollut-

ing competition.

The mechanism has been strongly

opposed by the likes of China, India

and Brazil, which argue that it is a

unilateral trade measure in an envi-

ronmental disguise. et the E re-

mains stalwart. Its decision to push

ahead with the scheme marks a major

commitment to climate policy, even

as it rolls back plans for electric cars.

ome experts argue that the new tax

is also starting to pull other countries

in a similar direction despite a 

shift away from climate goals.

peaking to the FT arcus Ferdi-

nand, Chief Analytics Ofcer at

consultancy eyt, said espite all

the macroeconomic and geopolitical

headwinds that we’ve seen, I think

carbon pricing is going strong.

CBA is uite unpopular among

major exporters to the E, but it has

already proven to be uite effective

in pushing reticent countries towards

building or expanding carbon pricing

efforts.”

eanwhile, Brussels also plans to

review its emissions trading scheme

ET in June this year. In April ,

the Commission launched a -week

public consultation to gather stake-

holders’ views ahead of the review on

certain aspects of the ET. The aim

of the review is to ensure that the E

ET continues to contribute in a

cost-efcient manner to the overall

goal of reaching economy-wide cli-

mate neutrality by , taking into

account the need for all sectors to

contribute to the E climate efforts.”

As carbon pricing takes hold, the

case for continued expansion of re-

newables will strengthen. In any case,

the growth of wind and solar still

remains robust. According to a recent

report by think-tank Ember, solar and

wind more than kept pace with

global electricity demand growth in

the rst three uarters of , sur-

passing it across a sustained period

for the rst time.

In , solar strengthened in

markets that had long trailed behind

the global leaders, as the technology

demonstrated its potential to leapfrog

fossil generation in emerging mar-

kets. everal countries outside the

traditional frontrunners like China

and Europe, are now recording

sharper growth thanks to falling costs,

easing supply bottlenecks and clearer

policy signals.

Ember also noted that as clean

power reaches higher shares, it begins

to set the price, weaken the inuence

of expensive fossil fuel-based gen-

eration and reduce imports. What

once looked like just growth is now

transforming market dynamics, af-

fordability and energy security all at

once,” said icolas Fulghum, enior

ata Analyst Ember.

As the economics of clean energy

plays out, those driving the energy

transition would best serve climate

change advocates by perhaps transi-

tioning the narrative to focus more on

affordability and energy security. By

continuing to slow the growth of re-

newables, the current  government

will do little to lower electricity

prices, improve energy security or

support burgeoning demand for

growing electricity demand in sectors

like data centres, transport and indus-

try. either will it help reduce the

freuency of forest res.

And pouring cold water on wind

turbines will certainly not put out the

res raging at all our backs.

Pouring cold water in the

wrong direction

Junior Isles

Cartoon by Jem Soar