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Khabre desk
Recent reporting, analysis and explainers from the Energy Systems desk.
technology
Google and Voltus announced an expanded agreement to build a 1-gigawatt virtual power plant across the PJM grid region. It will aggregate flexible energy capacity from homes and businesses to reduce demand during peak periods.
technology
A Houston Advanced Research Center assessment projects that Texas data-centre electricity demand could push some power-sector emissions back towards levels last seen in the early 2000s. The model’s results vary substantially with the power supply chosen.
technology
A report from Environmental Defense Fund and Atlas Public Policy says fossil fuels could make up about 70% of US power capacity coming online in 2030 if current projects proceed. The analysis draws on generator project data reported through the second quarter of 2026.
technology
Amazon, X-energy and AEP have agreed to explore a 12-reactor project in Indiana, targeting 960 MW of carbon-free electricity for the regional grid and Amazon data centres. The agreement is for project development, not a start-of-construction announcement.
technology
Sunrun says its and Tesla’s residential battery fleets delivered 745 MW of peak power to California’s grid on Oct. 6, 2026, after a 669 MW dispatch the previous evening. The company reported a combined output, not separate totals for each fleet.
technology
Wood Mackenzie’s 2026 electricity-cost analysis says four-hour battery storage has a lower modeled levelized cost than open-cycle gas turbines in all 43 markets where both were assessed. The comparison concerns electricity costs, not the purchase prices of batteries and turbines.
technology
An Environment America analysis of federal filings puts proposed US grid-connected natural-gas capacity due by 2030 at 60.4 GW, up 44% from December 2025. The report links much of the increase to rising electricity demand from data centres.
technology
Google and Constellation announced a 20-year power purchase agreement intended to add 890 MW of nuclear capacity to the PJM grid through upgrades at existing plants. A separate 15-year agreement covers 2,700 MW from Constellation’s operating fleet.
technology
Google and Constellation Energy announced upgrades at six operating nuclear plants that are expected to add 890 MW of capacity to the PJM grid before the end of 2032. The collaboration also includes Google Cloud’s Gemini Enterprise tools for plant operations.
technology
BMW Group has marked the start of construction on a roughly two-kilometre hydrogen pipeline linking its Leipzig plant to the hydrogen grid. The connection is scheduled to be commissioned in the first half of 2028 and would let the plant use hydrogen more extensively in its paint shop.
technology
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed seven laws requiring greater reporting on data-center water and electricity use and setting requirements for grid, water-supply and land-use impacts. The package assigns proposed infrastructure-upgrade costs to data centers and gives local communities more information about projects.
technology
NVIDIA has launched DSX Ready, a qualification programme for partner products used in AI-factory power and cooling systems. It begins with battery energy storage systems and cooling distribution units from six listed providers.
technology
Sunrun and Tesla say more than 140,000 home batteries supplied over 580 megawatts of peak power to California’s grid during a three-hour evening dispatch on September 9, 2026. The companies describe it as the largest residential distributed-power-plant event on record.
technology
Great Britain will allow households to buy and use plug-in solar panels from 27 August 2026. The UK government says compliant kits can deliver up to 800W and save up to £110 a year, although property permissions may still be required.
technology
Volvo Construction Equipment has started customer testing in Norway of a 50-tonne-class electric excavator that combines onboard battery power with grid-connected operation.
technology
Google has announced a Finnish data-centre expansion strategy combining nuclear, wind, battery storage, grid-aware siting and flexible electricity demand.
technology
Samsung says FläktGroup, a Samsung company, has begun operating an approximately 13,826-square-metre Pune facility that will manufacture HVAC equipment for AI data centres and other critical infrastructure.