Dutch TTF gas touched EUR 103.9/MWh last week, the first time above EUR 100 since November 2022. Brent reached USD 114 a barrel, its highest since May.
Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen told reporters after the Energy Council that he does not expect a supply shortage, but that this "might not matter" to households struggling with bills. Member states agreed to speed up the release of 42.6 million barrels from strategic reserves, half of it diesel, and the Commission has opened talks with refiners. Jørgensen's advice was to cut exposure for good: heat pumps, electric vehicles, efficiency and more renewables. (Balkan Green Energy News)
Energy Transition
Bulgaria passes 6 GW of battery storage
Bulgaria had 6.23 GW of batteries online in late October, up from 3.43 GW before the end of May. Capacity stands above 19 GWh, and four-hour systems dominate new builds.
The batteries equal about 85% of Bulgarian peak load, against 17% in Texas and Great Britain. They helped steady the regional grid during this summer's heat waves, while Romania's Cernavodă plant has been offline since August. State support programmes have ended, so new projects now have to pay their own way. (Balkan Green Energy News)
Norway funds four 18.5 MW floating turbines
Enova, the state energy agency, will give NOK 3.94 billion (about EUR 380 million) to two developers. Fortius Offshore Wind gets NOK 2 billion and Fram Wind Solutions NOK 1.94 billion, each for two turbines at the METCentre site off Karmøy.
The four machines would produce about 300 million kWh a year, enough for roughly 15,000 households. The money is paid only if projects get built, and bids were scored on output per krone and long-term cost potential as well as biodiversity. Installation is planned over the next five years. (offshoreWIND.biz)
Ecowende finishes installing its 52 turbines
Van Oord set the last of 52 Vestas 15 MW turbines on 30 October at Hollandse Kust West VI, a 760 MW site in the Dutch North Sea. First power flowed in July, and full operation is expected by the end of 2026.
The consortium of Shell, Eneco and Chubu Electric calls it the most ecological offshore wind farm to date. It has a bird corridor with wider turbine spacing, radar-triggered curtailment, seven turbines with one red blade to test bird visibility, and oyster nurseries. The owners say they will share the ecological data with researchers and other developers. (offshoreWIND.biz)
Climate Tech
Hanwha Q-Cells pulls its German sales arm back to R&D
Hanwha Q-Cells denied rumours that it would leave Europe and shut down by early 2027. It will refocus its German subsidiary on research, close the Berlin sales division and keep growing the research centre in Bitterfeld-Wolfen.
It stopped direct residential sales in Germany a little over a year ago and now sells through about 1,000 partners. The company gave no job numbers. The pattern is a European solar presence that shrinks to its laboratory as Asian module prices stay low. (pv magazine)
Ember: on-site power relieves the grid more than shifting data-centre load
Ember compared two ways of easing data-centre strain on grids. Shifting computing jobs in time frees about 3% of capacity once utilisation is counted, or roughly 100 MW (1.5% of peak) in Ireland. Generation and batteries on site could cut peak draw about five times as much in a Texas example, which is outside Europe.
Data centres were about 19% of Irish peak demand in January 2025, and Ember projects 24% by 2030. Ireland now requires sites of 10 MW or more to provide their own generation or storage. Ember warns that on-site gas could lock in emissions for decades. (pv magazine)
Policy & Regulation
Energy ministers send network charges to a December vote
On 29 October, ministers held their first debate on the electricity network charges regulation we flagged last week. There were no votes, and the Council is aiming for a general approach in December.
They also took stock of how the EU handled the Middle East shock and agreed on the need for stronger energy security. On post-2030 targets, many wanted efficiency goals, and ministers broadly backed more electrification and interconnection. (Council of the EU)
Britain's budget cuts the gas standing charge and trims heat pump money
The 28 October budget removes the roughly GBP 108 gas standing charge, moving it into unit rates, which saves about 60% of households around GBP 45 a year. It also expands an industrial electricity discount to 10,000 manufacturers, at 20-25% from April 2027.
Against that, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme stays at GBP 400 million in 2027-28, about GBP 800 million below earlier plans, and CCS and hydrogen lose GBP 700 million. A new data-centre covenant makes developers pay their energy costs and use waste heat where practical, and it allows on-site generation only in exceptional cases. (Carbon Brief)
Science
2026 is on course to tie 2024 as the warmest year
Carbon Brief puts 2026 at about 1.52C above pre-industrial, level with the 2024 record, with a 67% chance of a record on its six-dataset average and 93% of exceeding 1.5C. A record El Niño is expected to peak near 4C in December, so 2027 comes out at about 1.74C, with a 96% chance of a record.
Western Europe had its hottest summer on record at 21.7C, and 52% of the continent faced very strong heat stress. Planners now have a tight forecast to build resilience plans against, including the Climate Resilience Law the Commission proposed last week. (Carbon Brief)
One to Watch
Energy ministers return in December with a network charges deal in sight
The December Energy Council is where ministers aim to agree their general approach on network charges. The Commission proposal aims to cut system costs and support smart grids, smart meters and electrification.
Watch whether the final text rewards flexibility from batteries and heat pumps. Bulgaria shows how much a grid can lean on batteries once they exist. (Council of the EU)