World:
¶ “Syria Looks To Solar Power As More Than A Patchwork Fix To Its Energy Crisis” • With the end of nearly fourteen years of civil war, Syria’s new leaders hope renewables will become more than a patchwork solution to energy problems. Investment is starting to return, including for a solar farm that would secure about 10% of the country’s energy needs. [ABC News]
Damascus with the lights on (T Foz, Unsplash)
¶ “Grandmother Faces Losing Home Over Climate Protest” • A 74-year-old woman could lose her home after refusing to pay council tax for over three years as she protests investments in fossil fuels. She withheld about £5,000 from Buckinghamshire Council to get it to move its pension fund and banking away from “investments in climate destruction.” [BBC]
¶ “South Luzon’s First Electric Jeepney Assembly Plant Begins Operations” • About 100 kilometers south of Manila, the LIMA Industrial Estate is now home to South Luzon’s first EV assembly plant: LCS-EMON e-Jeepney Manufacturing Corp. The factory is producing e-jeepneys, though not yet at its target pace of 500 units per month. [CleanTechnica]
Old Jeepney (jesada technik museum, CC-BY-SA 2.0, cropped)
¶ “EVs At 24.0% Share In France – Tesla Model Y Tops Chart” • June’s auto market saw plugin EVs at 24.0% share in France, flat from 24.1% year-on-year. The battery EV share grew marginally YOY, but plugin hybrids were slightly down. Overall auto volume was down some 7% YOY. The Tesla Model Y was the best-selling battery EV in France in June. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Nordex Nets Turbine Order Worth 91 MW” • Nordex Group took an order for 91 MW of turbines for an onshore windfarm in Germany. Wind developer SAB WindTeam placed the order for thirteen of Nordex Group’s N163/6.X turbines. The turbines, each with a hub height of 164 meters, are set to be installed at the Fretzdorf site in Brandenburg. [reNews]
Moving a nacelle (Nordex image)
¶ “GPG Gets State Go-Ahead For 400-MWh Battery Project” • The Victorian government announced that planning approval for Global Power Generation Australia’s 200-MW, 400-MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project near Tarrone has been accelerated through the state’s Development Facilitation Program. [pv magazine Australia]
GPG battery (GPG image)
¶ “First Turbine Up At Baltic Power Wind Farm” • The first wind turbine was installed at the Baltic Power offshore wind farm in Poland. The 1.2-GW project, a joint venture between Orlen and Northland Power, will comprise 76 turbines in total, each with a capacity of 15 MW. The Vestas V236-15MW model can produce up to 80 GWh of energy per year. [reNews]
Installing a Vestas V236-15MW (Orlen image)
¶ “Federal Government Keeps Faith In SunCable Project” • The Australian government is keeping its faith in SunCable’s plans to build one of the world’s largest solar and battery energy storage projects, complete with the world’s largest subsea transmission link, extending the major project status for the Australia-Asia PowerLink proposal. [pv magazine Australia]
¶ “China To Power Grid With Record Renewable Energy As AI Spurs Demand” • China expects to add a record 500 GW of renewable energy capacity to its national grid this year as the rise of artificial intelligence increases demand for electricity to power computing centers. Over a quarter of the new capacity will come from wind power. [South China Morning Post]
Wind farm in China (Vmenkov, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
¶ “Renewable Energy Could Save Africa $5 Trillion By 2050” • According to Powershift Africa, a study conducted in partnership with the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney indicates that a full transition to renewable energy for Africa “could save the continent $3–5 trillion (an average of $150 billion annually).” [CitiNewsroom.com]
US:
¶ “Madre Fire In California Expandes To Nearly 80,000 Acres” • The gigantic Madre Fire, which started Wednesday afternoon in San Luis Obispo County, had grown to 79,936 acres on Sunday, Cal Fire said. It was 30% contained at that time. It is the largest in California so far this year and is burning in a largely rural area in the Los Padres National Forest. [ABC News]
Madre Fire (Bureau of Land Management)
¶ “At Least 78 Dead And Dozens Missing In Texas Floods As More Rain Looms” • At least 78 people have been confirmed dead in central Texas and another 41 are missing after flash floods that came on Friday without warning. Officials say the death toll is certain to rise. Also, more storms are expected in the next 24-48 hours in the region. [BBC]
¶ “EV Charging Is More Stable Than Ever – Regardless Of Media Reports” • In the first three months of 2025, overall failure rates of EV chargers fell to 16%, the biggest improvement since surveys began in 2021, according to JD Power. This summer, more EV drivers than ever will be able to charge without mishap on their lovely scenic road trips. [CleanTechnica]
EV charger (Roger Starnes Sr, Unsplash)
¶ “Is Wind Power Finally Coming To Maine’s Remote North?” • Two years after the last attempt to build out wind farms in the north of Maine reaches fizzled, the state is again gearing up to seek developers to build at least 1,200 MW of land-based wind capacity and a transmission line to carry the electricity produced to the central part of the state. [Canary Media]
¶ “Feds Speed Up Review For Natrium Nuclear Plant” • The US NRC notified TerraPower that it will trim seven months from the environmental review and safety evaluation of the proposed advanced, liquid-sodium-cooled “Natrium” nuclear reactor plant near Kemmerer, Wyoming. It will finish the final environmental impact statement by December 31. [MSN]
Have an ineffably glorious day.
geoharvey 