LCOE 2025 Update: Storage-Backed Renewables Take the Lead

At 12:33 CET, the Iberian grid faced a sudden defect (cause still under investigation). Immediate trip of a major power plant in Southwest Spain. ⏱ 1.5 seconds later, another key plant disconnected in the same zone. Chain reaction: Massive solar PV disconnections Disconnection from France Cascading system failure → partial blackout. Root Causes: 1 First…

Spain’s grid operator activated emergency demand-response for the third time this year on Wednesday night — asking large industry to cut load as a wind drop met a late-summer heat spike. It was the second such call in a single week. That is no longer an anomaly; it is a data point. The system now…

South Africa’s energy regulator NERSA has licensed four more solar projects — 890 MW contracted, just over 1 GW installed — taking its seventh renewables procurement round close to 5 GW of solar alone. What stands out isn’t the capacity. It’s the process discipline: license applications filed in January, public comment invited, a hearing scheduled…

A solar farm that keeps producing at midnight. In Abu Dhabi, that’s now a construction site, not a slogan. Masdar and EWEC broke ground in October 2025 on a 5.2 GW solar PV facility paired with a 19 GWh battery system at Al Azeezah — designed to deliver up to 1 GW of firm, round-the-clock…

European renewables M&A in 2026 has quietly changed shape. Capital is not scarce. Targets are not scarce. What’s scarce is execution certainty — and buyers are pricing it accordingly. We’re seeing it directly in the processes crossing our desk this summer: large-cap buyers absorbing entire portfolios outright rather than picking off single projects, and deal…

On 27 July, Spain’s day-ahead price hit zero at midday and €250/MWh by 10:30pm — same day, same grid. That swing is becoming the norm, not the exception. High photovoltaic output is pushing wholesale prices toward zero — sometimes below it — through the solar hours, while the evening ramp still leans on gas once…