Author: omc_admin
Enverus Intelligence® Research (EIR) has released a report on repowering retired coal plants in order to accelerate clean, dispatchable capacity deployment. By leveraging existing infrastructure and interconnection access, bypassing greenfield delays dramatically shortens timelines and reduces permitting risk, making repowering a pragmatic bridge to a cleaner, more resilient grid. In the report, EIR identifies operators that hold highly strategic coal portfolios, with repowering potential unlocking hidden grid value and investment upside. The technology selection hinges on regional and regulatory fit — natural gas repowers are fast and proven, while nuclear and enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) offer greater long-term…
Venice Energy has signed an agreement to sell its LNG project in South Australia, expected to reach a FID (final investment decision) this year, to AG&P LNG. “This follows a complex series of negotiations over the past eight months after the signing of a binding term sheet between the two companies in October last year and a full-formed Investment Agreement that was settled and signed on Monday”, Adelaide-based Venice Energy said in a statement on its website. The project in Port Adelaide will have a floating storage and regasification unit, two wharfs, loading arms, cryogenic piping, pumps and associated infrastructure,…
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has committed a two-year revolving loan of EUR 500 million ($585.17 million) to help state-owned integrated energy company Naftogaz Group procure natural gas for Ukraine. The European Commission signed an agreement with EBRD to guarantee 90 percent of the loan. “For the first time, the loan is provided under a European Union guarantee within the UIF [Ukraine Investment Framework] HiBar program and will not require a sovereign guarantee from Ukraine”, Naftogaz said in a statement on its website. The Commission said separately, “Replenishing the depleted gas reserves of Ukraine with the help of…
A South African court overturned a decision granting TotalEnergies SE environmental authorization for an oil exploration block offshore the country’s west coast. The Western Cape High Court ruled that the environmental impact assessment for Total’s Block 5/6/7 was “deeply flawed, failing to address key risks, legal requirements, and public participation,” Green Connection, one of the environmental groups that brought the case, said in a statement. A Total spokeswoman reached by telephone wasn’t immediately able to comment. A spokeswoman for South Africa’s environment ministry wasn’t immediately reachable. Environmental groups in recent years have had multiple court victories successfully blocking some exploration…
SRINAGAR, India (AP) — At least seven people are dead in flash floods caused by torrential rains in a remote, mountainous village in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said Thursday, as rescue teams scouring the devastated Himalayan village brought at least 60 people to safety. India’s deputy minister for science and technology, Jitendra Singh, said the floods were triggered by a cloudburst in Jammu and Kashmir’s Chositi area and “could result in substantial casualty.” Susheel Kumar Sharma, a local official, said the first responders, comprising of villagers and local officials, had so far recovered bodies of seven people from a stream under…
The U.S. Department of Energy has announced close to $1 billion in funding opportunities for stimulating domestic mining, processing, and manufacturing ventures involving critical minerals in a bid to reduce the country’s dependence on imports.About half of the total will be spent on battery manufacturing and recycling, despite the Trump administration’s negative attitude to electric vehicles, which drove battery tech growth during the Biden administration.The money will be granted to projects focusing on battery metal mining, including, besides lithium, also nickel, copper, aluminum, and graphite, as well as rare earth elements used in batteries. The Department of Energy requires a…
Voltify plans to build a series of energy microgrids to power its locomotive batteries, as shown in this computer-generated image.VoltifyDaphna Langer has a bold ambition: To decarbonize the rail industry in less than a decade.How? By convincing U.S. freight railroad companies to switch from diesel power to rechargeable batteries — part of a business model Langer estimates could make her company, Voltify, as much as $10 billion a year.The rail industry needs to reduce its emissions by 5% a year by 2030 to reach net-zero goals, according to a 2023 report by the International Energy Agency. In addition, switching to…
The prolonged Nordic heatwave in July was supercharged by the climate crisis and shows “no country is safe from climate change”, scientists say.Norway, Sweden and Finland have historically cool climates but were hit by soaring temperatures, including a record run of 22 days above 30C (86C) in Finland. Sweden endured 10 straight days of “tropical nights”, when temperatures did not fall below 20C (68F).Global heating, caused by the burning of fossil fuels, made the heatwave at least 10 times more likely and 2C hotter, the scientists said. Some of the weather data and climate models used in their analysis indicated…
xAI is losing one of its cofounders.Igor Babuschkin, who founded xAI alongside Elon Musk in 2023, said he’s leaving the artificial intelligence startup.In a farewell post on X on Wednesday, Babuschkin wrote that he’s leaving xAI to start Babuschkin Ventures. It will focus on AI safety research and startups developing AI and agentic systems that can “advance humanity and unlock the mysteries of our universe.”In his post, Babuschkin recounted his journey from a CERN particle physics Ph.D. student to helping Musk build xAI from scratch.Babuschkin said he learned two major lessons from Musk.”I learned 2 priceless lessons from Elon: #1…
xAI CEO Elon Musk paid a rare compliment to his rival Google on Wednesday.”Outside of real-world AI, Google has the biggest compute (and data) advantage for now, so currently has the highest probability of being the leader,” Musk wrote in an X post.But that “may change in a few years,” he added.”For the foreseeable future, the major AI companies will continue to prosper, as will xAI. There is just so much to do!” Musk wrote.Musk and Google did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.Google has long been a mainstay in AI.In 2017, Google Research released a paper…