Denmark has dropped first come, first served for grid connections. From 12 October, Energinet and local grid companies will rank applications in four tiers: households and critical services first, then transport, heating, industry, renewables, and hydrogen, then storage, with large consumers such as data centres last.
Parliament passed the emergency plan with broad backing. Grid operators can now refuse tier three and four projects when capacity would displace higher-ranked ones, and appeals go to the Electricity Supply Authority.
Minister Samira Nawa called grid capacity "a scarce resource that can slow down both electrification and the green transition." The Liberals backed the plan on condition that it stays temporary and that talks on expanding the transmission grid follow. (pv magazine)
Energy Transition
Germany lets home batteries charge from the grid and keep their subsidy
The Bundesnetzagentur adopted its MiSpeL ruling on 1 October. Until now, a home battery that stored grid power alongside rooftop solar lost its renewable support, so owners kept the two apart.
Storage and bidirectional EV chargers can now mix both, keep EEG payments on stored solar, and pay lower fees on power they send back. Households up to 30 kW get a flat-rate option with a single meter.
Grid and metering operators have until 30 September 2027 to implement it. President Klaus Müller expects it to make "millions of households" active in the market. (Bundesnetzagentur)
Poland moves its second nuclear plant away from PGE
Warsaw published an updated nuclear power programme on 6 October. State company Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe becomes coordinator and investor for the second plant, and may buy PGE's nuclear subsidiary or its assets.
The budget for 2026 to 2038 falls from 1.74 to 1.44 billion zloty, yet the nuclear regulator's allocation triples to 1.23 billion. Licensing the first plant taught Warsaw that the agency must compete with industry for experts.
Small modular reactors are left out, pending a separate roadmap. (wnp.pl)
Bulgaria tenders a second dam for its pumped storage plant
Bulgaria's state utility NEK opened a EUR 350 million tender on 5 October for the Yadenitsa dam, up from an estimated EUR 250 million. A tunnel of more than six kilometres will connect it to the existing reservoir at Chaira.
That raises usable water from 4.2 to 13.4 million cubic metres for a plant rated at 864 MW. The project dates from 1994 and stalled over money and seismic risk.
It is now an EU Project of Common Interest. Bids close on 4 November, and the winner gets 60 months to build. (Balkan Green Energy News)
Climate Tech
NOX Energy raises EUR 3 million to run home devices off price signals
NOX Energy, founded in Belgium in 2024, closed a EUR 3 million seed round co-led by Rise Proptech and Volve Capital. Its software schedules heat pumps, batteries, solar, and EVs around power prices, weather, and grid conditions.
It already controls more than 10,000 devices for suppliers including Eneco and Frank Energie. The plan is to build into manufacturers' own apps rather than ask households to install another one. (ESG Today)
Wärtsilä hands its battery business to a joint venture
Wärtsilä closed its 50/50 joint venture with RCT Solutions on 1 October, three years after starting a strategic review of its storage unit. The new company, Valo, starts with more than 20 GWh across 130 projects.
The unit made EUR 694 million in sales in 2025 at a 3.3% operating margin, with about 450 staff. Valo expects a loss this year and profit toward the end of 2027. (Wärtsilä)
Next2Sun files for insolvency after a failed share sale
Next2Sun, which builds vertical bifacial solar rows that leave farmland usable, filed for self-administered insolvency at two subsidiaries on 5 October. Its September share offering sought EUR 5 million; investors made commitments, but not binding enough ones.
The company has more than 60 MW built and about 140 staff. Project development continues in a separate entity while it looks for investors. (pv magazine)
Policy & Regulation
Brussels settles on one year for the methane delay
Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen told Parliament in Strasbourg on 6 October that import rules under the methane regulation will slip from January 2027 to 2028. He ruled out going beyond twelve months, though Poland and 17 other states had asked for three years.
Jørgensen said gas suppliers had signed new compliant contracts in recent months. He framed the delay as removing doubt before a hard winter. (wnp.pl)
The carbon border price rises 9%
The Commission set the third-quarter CBAM certificate price at EUR 82.32 per tonne, up from EUR 75.28. Importers of steel, aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen, and electricity can buy certificates from February 2027 and must surrender them for 2026 imports by 31 May 2027. (Balkan Green Energy News)
ACER finds households have little reason to electrify
ACER's retail market report, published on 30 September, finds that high electricity-to-gas price ratios weaken the case for heat pumps and EVs. Only 7% of EU households have dynamic contracts, and smart meter coverage is under 20% in several countries.
Households that switched could cut bills by about 20%, or EUR 120 a year. ACER asks for price signals that make electrifying pay and network spending that delivers for consumers. (ACER)
Science
Europe's rivers ran lower than ever recorded
Copernicus confirmed on 2 October that this summer brought the lowest river flows since its flood awareness system began in 1992. The Rhine, Danube, Po, Loire, Rhône, and Seine hit record or near-record lows in July and August.
Western Europe had its warmest summer on record at 2.5°C above the 1991 to 2020 average. Low water constrained hydropower and nuclear cooling at the same time. (Copernicus)
One to Watch
A hydrogen pipeline from Algeria gets a working group
Germany, Italy, Austria, Algeria, and Tunisia signed a declaration in Rome on 2 October to keep developing the SoutH2 Corridor. The 3,300 km pipeline would carry up to 4 million tonnes of hydrogen a year, over two-thirds of it through repurposed gas pipes. (Renewables Now)
The five set up a joint working group for five years, with operation still targeted for 2030. Last week ACER found national hydrogen planning incomplete.
Watch whether Snam, TAG, Gas Connect Austria, and bayernets can show buyers for the gas before construction starts.