Wildfires have burned roughly 115,000 hectares in France and more than 150,000 in Spain since January, six times last year's total, according to Copernicus. The EU Civil Protection Mechanism has sent seven planes and four helicopters from seven countries to France and six planes to Spain, on top of 777 firefighters pre-positioned across the two countries since July 1.
The response machinery is working. The prevention strategy behind it, published in March, is not: member states have stalled the forest-management rules it depends on, and this week's fires are the test of that gap.
Energy Transition
Germany's wind and solar output overtook fossil fuels for the first time
Carbon Brief's analysis of Energy Institute data, published July 28, found wind and solar generated 225 terawatt-hours of German electricity in 2025, 44% of the total, against 217TWh (43%) from fossil fuels. It is the first time renewables have out-produced fossil generation in Germany over a full year.
The shift happened despite the current government's push for new gas plants and rising opposition from the far-right AfD. Germany still leans on renewables more than France or the UK because it has phased out nuclear power. (Carbon Brief)
Masdar and EPCG move from partnership to projects in Montenegro
Abu Dhabi's Masdar and Montenegro's state utility EPCG signed agreements on July 28 covering two solar projects, Štedim (115MW) and Krupac (35MW), plus a framework to explore over 400MW of pumped hydro storage. The deals are the first concrete projects under the 50/50 joint venture the two companies signed in April, which targets 2GW of capacity in the country.
For Montenegro, a market too small to attract renewables capital on its own, a Gulf utility's balance sheet is what turns a target into groundbreaking. The venture is explicitly framed around exporting power to neighbouring EU markets, not just meeting domestic demand. (SolarQuarter)
The EU's wildfire strategy meets the fire season it was built for
The Commission's Integrated Wildfire Risk Management Strategy, launched in March, promised fire-resilient landscapes through ecosystem restoration and cross-border prevention funding. Four months later, with Spain and France facing mass evacuations, the EESC says member states have made little progress on the forest-management rules the strategy needs and is pushing for a dedicated prevention fund outside the CAP budget.
A strategy is a plan; a fire season is a test of whether anyone acted on it. This one arrived before the funding did. (Euronews)
Climate Tech
Slovakia's InoBat goes public at a $1.27 billion valuation
InoBat and Cartesian Growth Corporation II announced a SPAC merger on July 27 that values the Slovak battery maker at $1.265 billion and brings in $77.5 million in new capital. The company has delivered or contracted 875 megawatt-hours of utility-scale battery storage from its Voderady plant.
InoBat is also developing sodium-ion cells alongside its lithium-ion line, betting that a chemistry free of imported lithium and cobalt is worth having even where it is not the cheapest option. The listing gives Central Europe's battery sector a Nasdaq-traded reference point it has lacked. (Manila Times / GlobeNewswire)
Policy & Regulation
Brussels' new electricity and gas market rules go live, unevenly
The European Commission confirmed on July 24 that its overhauled electricity market rules, in force since July 17, and matching gas market rules, arriving August 5, now apply across the bloc. Consumers get a clearer choice between fixed and dynamic-price contracts and stronger safeguards when switching suppliers.
The harder piece, renewables acceleration areas meant to fast-track permitting, is rolling out at different speeds in different member states. One rulebook does not guarantee one pace of delivery. (European Commission)
The EU's advisory body calls for a real energy storage strategy
The European Economic and Social Committee adopted an opinion on July 15-16, published July 28, arguing that the Commission needs a dedicated energy storage strategy rather than leaving capacity to the market. Rapporteur Thomas Kattnig put it plainly: "The market alone will not deliver the storage capacity Europe needs."
The opinion is non-binding, but it lands as Germany's new capacity auctions and grid operators across the bloc argue over which storage technologies actually qualify for support. (Renewable Energy Magazine)
Science
Bordeaux's air quality readings show what proximity to a wildfire costs
A wildfire that broke out near Bordeaux on July 22 has kept the city under smoke since, with PM2.5 readings above 100 micrograms per cubic metre, more than six times the WHO's 24-hour safety guideline of 15. Residents have taken to wearing FFP2 respirators outdoors, and satellite imagery has tracked the plume drifting north into the UK and the Netherlands.
Wildfire health data usually arrives months later, in retrospective studies. Here the exposure numbers are public in real time, in a city that does not otherwise rank among Europe's worst for air quality. (France 24)
One to Watch
Whether the EESC's prevention fund gets into the next EU budget
The EESC's call for a dedicated wildfire prevention fund, separate from the CAP, now runs into the multiannual budget negotiations already underway in Brussels. Committing money to prevention competes directly with the response spending this week's fires are forcing anyway.
Watch whether the Commission's autumn budget proposals include a specific wildfire prevention line, or whether the money stays folded into general civil protection and agricultural funds, where prevention has historically lost out to firefighting.