Capital
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BlackRock-backed Akaysha Energy is considering selling a stake in the company in order to raise more capital, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources. The Australian energy storage developer secured $460 million in finance for its Elaine BESS in Victoria in November, and in September closed a $300 million corporate debt facility.
Mining major Glencore (LON: GLEN) confirmed speculation it was once again in talks with Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) about a possible merger. If the deal eventuates, it could create the world’s largest resources company, valued at more than $200 billion. The talks come in the wake of Glencore finalising a $600 million taxpayer-funded bailout package for its Mount Isa copper smelter. Rio Tinto shares closed more than 6% lower on the news. Rio Tinto has until February 5 to make a formal offer to Glencore shareholders. (ABC) (The Australian)
The West Australian government opened round 4 of its Clean Energy Future Fund with applications open until Monday 20 April. A total of $9 million is available and grants can cover up to 25% of eligible project costs ranging from $100,000 to $4 million.
ASX junior NuEnergy Gas (ASX: NGY) said it had secured a deal with China’s PT Beijing Energy Linking to fully fund and construct Indonesia’s first approved coal bed methane gas project. It said all early production was contracted under a 13-year binding gas sales agreement with state-backed distributor PGN.
 Projects
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Origin Energy said the first phase of its Eraring BESS was operational, boasting 460MW/1770MWh of storage. Origin executive GM of energy supply and operations Greg Jarvis thanked contractor partners Wärtsilä, Enerven, Jacobs, Lumea and Transgrid for building the asset “on time and under budget”. The fourth phase of the battery is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2027. (Energy Magazine)
Energy Minister Chris Bowen said a “record number” of renewable energy projects were given the green light in 2025. “In the year to 30 November, the Albanese Government approved 54 renewable energy projects taking the total to 123 since 2022 across all states and territories,” Bowen said.
Meanwhile, Rystad Energy’s David Dixon said December 2025 was the highest month of renewable generation in the NEM at 9.5TWh (50.4% of total generation) and the WEM at 1.07TWh (53.9% of total generation).
Japan powered up its first floating offshore wind farm. (Recharge News)
Policy
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Data centre energy use could force big industrial users to scale back their operations with Australia’s energy system not ready to deal with the forecast spike, according to a letter sent to energy ministers prior to their December meeting. The Australian Industry Group, which sits on the customer councils of electricity transmission and distribution networks in NSW and Victoria, said unusual and urgent measures would be required to protect existing energy users, “particularly since the rapid pace of change greatly exceeds the speed of traditional policy processes”. (AFR)
California introduced a new bill to make it easier for consumers to use balcony solar systems. The “Plug Into the Sun Act” would prohibit utilities from triggering formal interconnection agreements for these devices. (PV Magazine)
Regulation
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The Australian Energy Regulator issued a please explain on the forecasts for residential and commercial battery capacity in the market operator’s draft 2026 Integrated System Plan. The AER’s transparency review of the ISP points out a reduction under the Step Change scenario between the 2024 ISP (7GW in 2029–30 and 34GW in 2049–50) and the draft 2026 ISP (5GW in 2029–30, then 27GW in 2049–50), without an explanation as to why. The regulator is also seeking more information on the most significant drivers and differences of each of the types of generation and storage presented in the ISP.
Technology
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Uncertain data centre load forecasts have hit US capacity market PJM to the tune of US$6.5 billion according to a report from the grid operator’s independent market monitor. It found about $6.2 billion of those costs is related to data centers that haven’t been built but could come online by PJM’s 2027/28 delivery year. (Utility Dive)
Facebook parent company Meta said it would help generate and maintain 6.6 gigawatts of nuclear energy on the US grid by 2035. It said supporting nuclear energy development “helps create a more reliable electric grid” and was “key to securing America’s energy independence and global leadership in AI”. (Politico)
Climate
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Law experts said it was unclear whether US President Trump could legally pull the US out of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change without the consent of the Senate. Trump last week announced the US would exit the UN treaty, making it the only country in the world to ever do so. They also said given the administration has already effectively withdrawn from most international climate activities, this latest move will make little difference. (Carbon Brief) (Heatmap) (Politico) (Bloomberg)
The US also said it would immediately withdraw from the Green Climate Fund and give up its board seat. The fund, which has approved more than US$19 billion for over 300 projects since 2015, said the decision would not disrupt its operations. (E&E News)
Research
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The cells of sodium-ion batteries (SIB) are approaching cost parity with lithium-ion batteries (LIB), with the potential to outperform lithium-ion, according to new research published in the Journal of Energy Storage. Researchers from Finland’s LUT University, in cooperation with Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Spain’s University of Alcalá, said concerns over supply shortages or price spikes with lithium ion could be largely alleviated, since any disruption in LIB supply could simply trigger a shift to SIB. (PV Magazine)
Policy sticks are still needed to supplement carrots designed to encourage decarbonisation, according to research published in Nature Climate Change. Using a US model, the researchers found industrial policy involving subsidies to deploy green technologies were not enough on their own to dramatically reduce future emissions. “Only with policy sticks are there unambiguous signals to substantially shrink the size of incumbent fossil fuel industries,” they said.
Firm power can be found beyond mechanical generators, according to a three-year project involving grid-forming inverters on the remote Hawaiian island of Kauai. A team led by the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), previously known as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), demonstrated that power electronics can be equally capable of offering essential grid stability services, and can offer an even greater range and responsiveness of services than machines.
People
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Emily Gadaleta, senior energy policy adviser with Tesla, was appointed Chair of the Clean Energy Council Distributed Energy Directorate.
Endeavour Energy appointed former BGC Group CEO Danny Cooper as Chief Executive Officer, effective 2 March 2026.
