The market continues to push for sodium-ion rollouts; meanwhile, energy grids continue to face strains from energy demands
Between the Terminals
TLDR · What matters most
- The Chinese researchers also model a scenario in which wider sodium-ion adoption avoids 147 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent in 2035.
- The original project was announced in February after Brazil’s development bank BNDES approved BRL 280 million in financing through its Mais Inovação program.
- The process is proposed to work in tandem with ongoing bilateral contract matchmaking, already underway, to facilitate voluntary arrangements between new supply resources and new Large Load customers.
- Power Electronics' long-awaited Houston Manufacturing facility finally starts construction, seeking to support the USA's need for domestic manufacturing of inverters.
- The validation work will progress in line with product development and demonstration-project schedules, providing a basis for future customer evaluations and large-scale deployment.
Sodium-Ion Batteries
Hithium’s sodium-ion storage push, where it could win, where it won’t, and path to bankability
The validation work will progress in line with product development and demonstration-project schedules, providing a basis for future customer evaluations and large-scale deployment.
- What would the capital expenditure (CAPEX) look like for a theoretical ‘Project A’ 100 MW / 200 MWh BESS using LFP versus sodium-ion?
- The CAPEX of a 100 MW / 200 MWh project includes much more than the batteries.
- The real measure of progress is our ability to translate laboratory performance into energy storage products that can be manufactured consistently, validated thoroughly and deployed at a bankable scale.
Data Centers
Amazon, Constellation sign 20-year PPA to expand Maryland nuclear plant
The deal will also enable around 190 MW of new generating capacity, expected to come online between 2030 and 2032.
- The tech giant and the energy producer said the agreement will allow for over $3 billion in Maryland infrastructure, including renovations at the 1,790-MW Calvert Cliffs Clean Energy Center.
- Through the agreement, Amazon will receive 690 MW of power from the nuclear plant, including the 190 MW uprate.
- The Calvert Cliffs plant generates roughly 80% of Maryland’s clean energy, producing enough electricity to power approximately 1.3 million homes, according to the release.
1,000-year-old Scottish castle could be destroyed to make way for hyperscale data center
According to The Herald, heritage body Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has declined to designate the castle as a protected monument because the planning process for the data center is already underway, meaning the walls of the castle could be removed.
- At full build-out, ILI said the Stoics would total 1.5GW.
- Hallyards Castle, near the village of Auchtertool in Fife, sits on land that was been earmarked for the 600MW Cato data center.
- The 25-hectare development would see around £5 billion ($6.71bn) invested and would be delivered in phases over several years.
Manufacturing
Sodium-ion packs 25% less carbon-intensive than LFP, say researchers
in 2023, found sodium-ion’s footprint slightly higher than lithium-ion’s because they relied on lab-scale data and default European databases.
- Producing a 1 kWh sodium-ion battery pack in China generates 56.8 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent, 24.9% less than the 75.5 kg for an LFP pack, according to researchers who collected inventory data on site from gigawatt-hour-scale Chinese battery manufacturers.
- The Chinese researchers also model a scenario in which wider sodium-ion adoption avoids 147 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent in 2035.
- A new Chinese life cycle assessment (LCA) based on factory data has found that layered-oxide sodium-ion battery packs are cleaner to produce than LFP packs, but recent European studies have reached the opposite conclusion for cells.
WEG doubles planned output of Brazilian BESS factory to 4 GWh ahead of key auctions
Projects in both auctions must provide at least 30 MW, offer four hours of storage, and will receive 15-year contracts beginning in August 2028.
- WEG has not said whether the additional BRL 50 million of planned investment will also be financed by BNDES.
- The original project was announced in February after Brazil’s development bank BNDES approved BRL 280 million in financing through its Mais Inovação program.
- The company has increased planned investment in the Itajaí, Santa Catarina, facility from BRL 280 million ($53.7 million) to BRL 330 million ($63.5 million), while maintaining its target of starting operations in the second half of 2027.
Power Electronics starts construction on 40 GW U.S. factory
The company said the new plant will support local production of equipment for the US market and other markets across the Americas.
- The company said the complex will comprise two buildings and have an annual production capacity of up to 40 GW once fully operational.
- The company said its cumulative installed AC capacity reached 170 GW in 2026.
- Following the two expansions, Power Electronics expects its global annual production capacity to reach 105 GW.
VoltR raises €22 million to scale battery remanufacturing in Europe
VoltR said the funding will allow it to double the footprint of its factory in Verrières-en-Anjou, western France, and increase production capacity sixfold within two years.
- The financing comprises €16 million in equity from the SPI 2 fund, managed by Bpifrance on behalf of the French state under the France 2030 program, and Decathlon Pulse, the investment and innovation arm of sporting goods retailer Decathlon.
- The remaining €6 million comes from grants awarded under the Première Usine program.
- French battery company VoltR has raised €22 million to industrialize its battery remanufacturing operations and expand across Europe.
Inside BESS manufacturing: Maxxen’s utility-scale storage factory in Europe
This inventory buffer allows Maxxen to offer deliveries within 1 to 2 weeks by truck across mainland Europe (including, for example, Germany, Romania, Spain), enabling developers to receive containerized batteries when needed, and not earlier.
- The company announced that a total of 664 MWh has been sold across 21 global projects in the nine months from January 2026.
- We have signed 2 or 3 activation fees already to deploy this over the next 6 to 12 months, and once the contract is signed, we are bound to commit and obliged to deliver.”
- It built the Maxxen factory, and crucially, signed a layered agreement with Chinese battery cell and ESS manufacturer Hithium, which currently supplies 314 Ah cells for manufacture, each around approximately 1 kWh, with 5,000 packing into a single DC Box.
Twenty-two U.S. solar PV manufacturers included in first domestic Ratings Pyramid
Over the past 30 years, the solar PV industry has routinely been presented with numbers and graphics in which capacity announcements from different companies are simply added up to give often sensationalized and inflated totals.
- There are way more causalities than survivors in the history of solar PV manufacturing, and there is no reason to suggest that this trend will not be continued in the United States given the rapid increase of new entrants over the past few years and a company-count that has reached about 50 already.
- Overlapping with the inaugural Solar Manufacturing USA 2026 in Austin, Texas last week on 22-23 September 2026, Terawatt PV Research released a new quarterly market research report, focused exclusively on domestic U.S. solar manufacturing; the Solar Manufacturing USA Quarterly report.
- Collectively, the 22 companies included in the Q3 2026 ratings pyramid are responsible for more than 95% of U.S. production output and manufacturing capex, providing excellent validation of the underlying data-collection and benchmarking analysis.
Policy & Markets
FERC Accepts PJM Reliability Backstop Proposal
PJM will provide a brief administrative update at the upcoming Market Implementation Committee meeting scheduled for Oct. 7.
- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Sept. 29 issued an Order on PJM’s proposed Reliability Backstop Procurement (RBP) to secure additional power supply to address short-term reliability concerns.
- The process is proposed to work in tandem with ongoing bilateral contract matchmaking, already underway, to facilitate voluntary arrangements between new supply resources and new Large Load customers.
- All timeline milestones previously communicated for the RBP will be reviewed and communicated to stakeholders at a later date.
Danish Parliament adopts "emergency plan" for electricity grid, puts data centers at the back of queue
Construction remains ongoing to increase capacity.
- Commenting on the emergency plan, Anna Bjerre, climate, energy and supply spokesperson for the Alternative party, said: "Finally, we will have the gigantic, hyperscale data centers and tech giants at the back of the queue for the electricity grid and the opportunity to reject them, so that we can actually prioritize Denmark's critical societal functions and phase out our use of fossil fuels.
- This proposal would prioritize smaller data center projects, pushing back those needing more than 10MW.
- "In principle, this category will include data centers, which are typically not geographically bound and may have consumption patterns that negatively affect the grid.
California governor signs bills approving virtual power plants
Gavin Newsom has signed SB 913 and SB 905, two bills that allow for virtual power plants (VPPs) throughout the state.
- “Customer batteries are already moving electricity usage away from the hours that are most expensive for utilities, but these new laws will take that to another level by operating batteries as a network that can more precisely target the hours when utility costs spike,” added Heavner.
- Harnessing these two VPP laws into electricity bill savings for ratepayers should be a key priority for the incoming governor, and appointing commissioners and staff who will execute on these bills quickly will factor heavily into their success.
- “These new tools will make energy more affordable for everybody by getting more usage out of the infrastructure that Californians have already paid for.”
PJM Kicks Off Annual Process of Vetting Large Load Requests
Submitters were required to give their Relevant Electric Retail Regulatory Authority a chance to provide feedback on their load adjustment proposals and to ask their Large Load customers whether they were duplicating requests to connect elsewhere.
- PJM has begun its annual review of proposed Large Load adjustments to determine the impact to PJM’s 2027 Long-Term Load Forecast, using updated guidelines designed to better account for how likely proposed projects are to materialize.
- In November, PJM will share how it is incorporating all of this information into a final load adjustment for the 2027 Long-Term Load Forecast, which will be published in January.
- Near-term forecast years are considered to be needing “firm” commitments, such as an Electric Service Obligation or Construction Commitment, while longer-term projects will be considered “non-firm” and have greater uncertainty.
From data centers to AI factories: What utilities need to know about the next wave of load growth
Utilities that recognize both sides will be better positioned to support economic growth while maintaining reliable, resilient and affordable service.
- Physical reinforcement will remain necessary, but building alone is not enough.
- Key considerations include project probability and timing, load ramp rates, hourly and seasonal demand, generation and transmission availability, storage performance, flexible-load participation, behind-the-meter resources and permitting timelines.
- Watch Planning the grid at the speed of AI: From interconnection queues to grid readiness on demand to hear experts from Siemens, NVIDIA and Dominion Energy discuss how utilities can prepare for AI-driven load growth.
A review of United States energy-only generator interconnection service policy and considerations for reform | Energy Markets & Planning
There is growing interest in energy-only interconnection, which is an interconnection service option meant to allow the interconnection of new generators without ensuring their energy deliverability during all hours through the transmission system to customers.
- This paper sheds light on tensions that energy-only interconnection raises in allowing generators to access the transmission system on an as available basis and discusses how controlling thresholds for congestion-related network upgrades may be a barrier to electricity market entry.
- Interest in energy-only interconnection is shaped by incomplete understanding of how interconnection policy functions in different jurisdictions, a knowledge gap that makes it difficult to determine how energy-only interconnection might be better used or re-designed.
- In this paper, we provide a regulatory review of energy-only interconnection in U.S. interconnection policy and practice, identifying jurisdictions in which rules are close to -or farther from-the theoretical concept of energy-only interconnection service.
Projects & Operations
France’s largest operational BESS reaches 240 MW/480 MWh
It entered operation after completing the simulations, tests and certifications required to provide frequency containment and automatic frequency restoration reserve services, as well as voltage regulation, supporting grid stability.
- Since its founding in 2019, the Portuguese group has built a portfolio of more than 10 GW of solar, wind and battery storage capacity across the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan and Australia, with more than 2 GW currently operational.
- Banque des Territoires has been active in electricity storage since 2021 and currently has more than 250 MW of batteries in operation, 150 MW under construction and several hundred megawatts in development.
- The company said the site fed 70.5 GWh back into the grid during its first four months of operation and completed 145 full cycles over 125 days.
California home batteries set VPP dispatch record during heat wave
Josh Becker, would direct the California Public Utilities Commission to establish a valuation methodology for customer-sited batteries exporting power during periods of system stress and allow aggregated behind-the-meter resources to count toward resource adequacy.
- A Brattle Group analysis of that event, commissioned by Sunrun and Tesla, found the program had enrolled 700 MW of battery capacity and could deliver up to $206 million savings by displacing gas peaker output during the highest-priced hours of the year.
- During a statewide test on July 29, 2025, greater than 100,000 batteries sustained 539 MW of output for two hours.
- Some batteries across California discharged at a peak of more than 580 MW on the evening of Sept. 9, which Tesla and Sunrun said it was the largest residential VPP dispatch on record.
Meta-backed solar project on reclaimed Indiana coal mine secures $350 million
The newly closed deal pushes Zelestra’s total U.S. capital raised this year to $1.14 billion, directly supporting more than 800 MW of new utility-scale solar capacity currently under active construction across the country.
- Global renewable energy developer Zelestra has officially crossed the $1 billion threshold in U.S. project financing for 2026 after securing $350 million in green credit facilities for its 203 MW Reclamation solar project in Gibson County, Indiana.
- The long-term electricity generated by the 203 MW array is contracted to Meta, helping the company meet its corporate climate commitments and fulfill rising power requirements for its expanding digital and data center infrastructure.
- The $350 million debt package was arranged with a leading consortium of international financial institutions, including CIBC, BBVA, and Société Générale.
Constellation, Google strike 890-MW nuclear deal in PJM
Constellation Energy on Tuesday announced a 20-year power purchase agreement with Google supporting the addition of 890 MW of new nuclear generation, to be added through uprates of 11 existing units in the PJM Interconnection.
- Along with the nuclear deal — which will be backed by $4.3 billion in new investment by Constellation — the two companies also entered into a 15-year supply agreement for another 2,700 MW across the PJM market.
- PJM Interconnection is short about 6.8 GW of new capacity, and is struggling to find resources as data center demand rises.
- The Google-Constellation deal will incorporate operational load-shaping and demand-response capabilities to reduce power consumption during grid stress, the companies said.
Ukraine adds between 1.6-1.9 GWh of energy storage in H1 2026
“Their development supports the energy transition while addressing an immediate need: keeping businesses, households and critical infrastructure supplied with electricity during wartime,” he explained.
- “We estimate that installations of up to 1 MW, primarily intended for self-consumption, will account for around 80% of new installations in 2026 by number, rather than by capacity,” SEAU’s analysis explains.
- Ukraine added up to 1.9 GWh of energy storage, and as much as 1.1 GW of new solar capacity during the first half of 2026, according to preliminary assessments undertaken by the Solar Energy Association of Ukraine (SEAU).
- Ukrainian market data supplied by SEAU put Ukraine’s new battery storage capacity at 2.9 GWh in 2025, making it the fourth largest European market last year.
LS Power Closes Funding Round With $6 Billion in Commitments
Fund VI gives us greater capacity to pursue those opportunities while maintaining the selectivity that has guided us over the years.”
- The fund is already being deployed, with a commitment of about $1.7 billion for investments associated with LS Power’s pending acquisitions of what will form a 5-GW platform of natural gas-fired generation assets from Constellation Energy across the Mid-Atlantic (PJM) and Texas (ERCOT) power markets.
- LS Power’s previous Fund V, which raised $2.7 billion in commitments in 2024, is fully deployed.
- Since LS Power Equity Advisors, LLC’s inception in 2005, LS Power’s investment partnerships have raised about $19.8 billion of equity capital to invest primarily in power and energy infrastructure assets, platforms, and companies, drawing on LS Power’s investment, development, and operational capabilities to drive value.
First stage BESS at Mortlake Energy Hub grows to 1,449 MWh as EPC deal signed
That is an increase from the 1,200 MWh specification Gamuda previously gave for Stage 1.
- Yanara, formerly BrightNight Asia Pacific, has signed an A$790 million engineering, procurement and construction contract with Gamuda Engineering for MEH-1.
- The wider energy hub has been described as a 450 MW solar farm with a 600 MW / 2,400 MWh battery across two stages, and that scope changed in December 2025, with the solar plant upgraded from 350 MW.
- Gamuda’s announcement also describes the battery as 300 MW with a 4.5-hour duration, although those figures do not reconcile with the 1,449 MWh capacity in the contract disclosure.
e-Storage to deliver 100 MW/200 MWh BESS for OX2 in Australia
e-Storage said once operational, the system will support the long-term hybrid power purchase agreement (PPA) OX2 has signed with web giant Amazon for the project, converting variable solar output into firm, contracted supply.
- e-Storage, the energy storage-focused subsidiary of PV giant Canadian Solar, has announced it will deliver a 100 MW / 200 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) to developer OX2 for its Muswellbrook solar-plus-storage project in New South Wales (NSW).
- The 135 MW solar farm and 100 MW / 200 MWh BESS is one of nine Australian renewables projects Amazon signed PPAs with earlier this year as part of a part of a 430 MW deal.
- The project, being constructed at the site of a former Muswellbrook coal mine in the Hunter Valley, will comprise a 135 MW solar farm and 100 MW / 200 MWh BESS.
PV Solar
Toyo cuts the ribbon on its newly-expanded solar factory in Texas
The company says it hopes for product-coverage guidance from the Commerce Department, or, at the very least a path to certification of cells for companies that can provide production, sourcing and shipment data that show non-Chinese sources for materials.
- The company plans a $357 million expansion of the site to include a 1.5 GW heterojunction (HJT) solar cell manufacturing line it expects to be operational by Q1 2028.
- During the call, Toyo executives discussed the planned buildout of the company’s domestic cell line (currently in the permitting and approvals stage), and its response to the Ethiopia circumvention inquiry initiated by the U.S. Department of Commerce in July, 2026, which followed from a petition filed in May by several domestic solar companies.
- The facility, which first became operational in Oct. 2025, now boasts 2 GW of annual module capacity.
Longi sets 28.29% world record for single-junction silicon solar cell efficiency
The crystalline silicon solar cell efficiency is now approaching its technical ceiling, reaching 96.2% of the theoretical limit,” the company said, without providing further details about the cell technology.
- Chinese PV module manufacturer Longi announced today that it has achieved a power conversion efficiency of 28.29% for a hybrid interdigitated-back-contact (HIBC) solar cell.
- Longi said the technology could be scaled for heterojunction solar cell manufacturing, although further improvements are needed to reduce resistive losses in the p-type contact.
- The company said the device combines passivated tunneling contacts, dielectric passivation layers, and both n-type and p-type contacts.