Bulgaria exported 3.5 TWh more electricity than it imported between January and 4 October, up 62% on a year earlier. Grid data from operator ESO, compiled by the producers' association APSTE, puts renewable output at 11.5 TWh, up 34% and responsible for most of the growth.
Grid-scale batteries delivered 1,720 GWh, nine times last year's figure, and the fleet is approaching 6 GW and 17 GWh next to almost 7 GW of solar.
On 8 October solar briefly covered all national demand while batteries absorbed more than 4 GW, with a Kozloduy reactor down for maintenance. The weak spot is winter: Bulgaria has built no major wind farm since 2013, and APSTE says EUR 4 billion of wind and storage investment depends on steadier permitting rules. (Balkan Green Energy News)
Energy Transition
The IEA asks members to release more diesel
Fatih Birol wrote to IEA member governments on 11 October about tightening diesel markets. The collective stock release agreed in March is still under way, and he asked members that have not delivered their pledged volumes to speed up, with diesel first.
Members that have finished should assess whether extra releases are needed and state their size and timing. The Governing Board reviews the response on 15 October. (IEA)
Higher gas prices lift European PPA prices 5%
Pexapark's European PPA index rose 5% in September as rising gas prices pushed forward power prices up. Britain led with 10.9%, while Spain and Portugal fell by 3.5% and 1.4%.
Buyers signed 25 deals for about 1.2 GW, up from 335 MW in August, including Google's 507 MW, 22-year contract with Finland's Loviisa nuclear plant. Flexible power agreements for batteries more than doubled to 2.1 GW. (pv magazine)
A Slovenian coal mine is studied as a summer heat store
Partners in the GeoSolar project met in Velenje on 5 October to agree how to model their idea. Solar collectors on reclaimed mining land would heat flooded mine water to 70 to 90°C in summer, and the water would feed district heating in winter.
Today the valley's heat comes from the Šoštanj coal plant. Utrecht University coordinates the 42-month project, funded by the EU's Research Fund for Coal and Steel, with a second test site at Poland's Bolesław Śmiały mine. (Balkan Green Energy News)
Climate Tech
CarbonFarm raises EUR 7 million to measure methane from rice
CarbonFarm, a Paris company founded in 2021, closed a EUR 7 million Series A led by Colam Impact, with Proparco, Suma Capital, and Bpifrance joining. Rice paddies are a large source of methane, and the company estimates field-level emissions from satellite imagery, field data, and models built with Cornell, INRAE, and ESA.
It works in 19 countries and wants rice projects that corporate supply chains and regulated carbon markets will accept. (EU-Startups)
HyLight raises EUR 13 million to inspect grids by airship
HyLight, a French company founded in 2021, raised EUR 13 million led by Rubio Impact Ventures, DRW, and Teampact Ventures. Its 12-metre airship flies autonomously for about ten hours on a hydrogen fuel cell, scanning power lines, railways, and pipelines.
Enedis, SNCF Réseau, NaTran, and Téréga are customers. Enedis plans 15,570 km of airship inspections in 2026 against 120,000 km by helicopter, so helicopters still do most of the work. (Tech Funding News)
Policy & Regulation
EU ministers take electrification to COP31
Environment ministers set the EU's position for COP31 in Luxembourg on 12 October. Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra wants the Antalya summit, from 9 to 20 November, to focus on implementing existing pledges, with electrification as the common ground after COP30 ended without a fossil fuel phase-out.
The EU has not said whether it backs Türkiye's goal of 35% electricity in global final energy by 2035, up from just over 20%. It brings no new climate finance, which CAN Europe criticised. (Energy News)
UK Conservatives double the cost of net zero by mistake
A Conservative policy booklet says the Climate Change Committee put net zero's cost at £957 billion. Carbon Brief traced the number to a spreadsheet error that counted both sector lines and annual totals; the CCC's 2020 figure was £478 billion over 30 years.
The CCC's 2025 update cut the net cost to £108 billion, under 0.2% of GDP, mainly because electric vehicles got cheaper. The error has travelled from a Spectator article through two think tanks into a party document since January. (Carbon Brief)
Science
Offshore wind keeps Europe's rare earth bill high
A Nature Energy study by Johns Hopkins University and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań models EU wind and solar growth to 2050. Full expansion needs about 74,200 tonnes of rare earths and 5.8 million tonnes of copper, before counting grids, storage, and vehicles.
A plan that prioritises offshore wind installs 22% less capacity but still needs 93% of the rare earths, because offshore turbines use permanent magnets. China refined 91% of magnet rare earths in 2024, so the authors want joint purchasing and stockpiles of finished magnets. (Tech Xplore)
One to Watch
Energy prices return to the leaders' table
EU leaders meet in Brussels on 15 and 16 October, and energy ministers follow on 29 October with tight gas storage and affordability on the agenda. E3G expects high prices to reopen the fight between governments that want to weaken the carbon market and those defending it. (E3G)
Italy and Czechia have asked for temporary ETS relief, according to ClimateTrade, though ministers' first debate on the ETS review on 12 October produced no decision. Watch whether the summit conclusions mention the carbon price, and whether the energy ministers turn the debate into a request to the Commission.