World:
¶ “Meet The Athletes Calling Out The 2026 Winter Olympics’ Polluting Sponsors” • The 2026 Winter Olympics faces growing pressure over a trio of polluting sponsors. Scientists and athletes have joined forces ahead of the Games, which will be held in Italy, to highlight how deals with huge corporations are making its carbon footprint unacceptable. [Euronews]
Speed skating (adrian8_8, CC BY-SA 2.0)
¶ “Over 200,000 Homes Without Power In Russian-Occupied Ukraine” • Hundreds of thousands in parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia were left without power, Russian authorities said. And Moscow has kept up its hammering of Ukraine’s energy grid in overnight attacks that killed at least two people, according to Ukrainian officials. [ABC News]
¶ “Geoengineering The Ocean: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” • In a study published in the journal Advancing Earth And Space Sciences on January 14, a team of researchers examined all of the current geoengineering proposal to assess what their impact on the ocean would be. Every strategy has risks and rewards, and they have to be understood. [CleanTechnica]
Ocean and clouds (Stellan Ong, Unsplash, cropped)
¶ “Netherlands Plans 1-GW Offshore Wind Tender” • The Dutch government is preparing a 1-GW offshore wind tender in 2026 in response to mounting cost pressures and stalled progress in the country’s wider rollout of sea-based projects, a ministerial letter says. The cabinet said that only 1 GW can be opened within the available budget. [reNews]
¶ “Norwind Offshore Receives Norwind Maestro” • Norwind Offshore has taken delivery of the vessel Norwind Maestro from Vard Søviknes, expanding its managed fleet to six units. The vessel will support operations at the project and deepen the company’s partnership with Wind Multiplikator GmbH – Powered by Semco Maritime. [reNews]
Norwind Maestro (Norwind image)
¶ “Türkiye Expects First Offshore Wind Tenders By End Of Year” • Türkiye aims to launch its first offshore wind farm tenders by the end of 2026, Ibrahim Erden, the president of the Turkish Wind Energy Association, told Anadolu. Türkiye is one of two European countries with the strongest wind potential, and is at work on the issue already. [Anadolu Ajansı]
¶ “NKT Seals Contracts For Two Scottish HVDC Links” • NKT signed final contracts with SSEN Transmission for two 525-kV HVDC cable systems in Scotland under an existing framework agreement. The deals cover the Western Isles and Spittal to Peterhead transmission links, which will strengthen the power grid in Great Britain, NKT said. [reNews]
HVDC power cable (NKT image)
¶ “How The Australian BESS Market Is Changing” • International players see Australia as a renewable energy hotspot, especially for battery systems. A report from Rystad Energy indicated that the utility-scale battery integrator market is getting “extremely competitive.” Fluence, Tesla, and Wärtsilä are the top Australian battery system integrators. [Energy Magazine]
¶ “Fortescue Begins Construction Of Its First Pilbara Wind Farm” • Fortescue has begun construction of its Nullagine Wind Project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The 133-MW project will see seventeen wind turbines installed, using self-erecting tower system following Fortescue’s recent acquisition of the techology developer Nabrawind. [Energy Source & Distribution]
Pilbara (Eddie Blair, Unsplash)
¶ “China Starts Assembling Its ‘Great Wall Of Energy’ In The Desert” • China is breaking barriers in the world’s installed renewable capacity, especially with solar. It has started assembly of the ‘Great Wall of Energy,’ which will consist of eight million panels and 100 GW of capacity in the desert. The GWE will bring new life into the land. [Energies Media]
¶ “TEPCO To Postpone Restart Of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Reactor” • TEPCO will delay the restart of a reactor in Japan’s largest nuclear power plant, initially planned for Tuesday, following an issue with an alarm that was discovered over the weekend. The utility has not set a new date for the restart of operations of the reactor. [The Japan Times]
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear (D a, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped)
US:
¶ “Why EV Charging Stations Are Still Hot Property” • If EV sales are crashing, why are hundreds of public EV charging stations still popping up all over the country like mushrooms after the rain? There are more than a few answers to that question, and the wave of used EVs now coming into the US market could be one of them. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “EV Sales Drop 2% in 2025, But Up 162% From 2021” • As we expected, 4th quarter US EV sales don’t look great. Sales dropped a ton in the 4th quarter after Republicans killed the $7,500 US EV tax credit. However, the 3rd quarter was a blockbuster quarter for sales as people rushed to buy EVs before the tax credit was eliminated. [CleanTechnica]
Ford Mustang Mach-E (MrWalkr, CC BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “Trump Sends A Geothermal Love Letter To Coal, Oil, And Natural Gas” • Reportedly, President Trump was elected after getting a billion-dollar campaign contribution from a group of fossil fuel execs, but his administration also left the door open for certain kinds of renewable energy. Geothermal energy had the red carpet rolled out for it. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Wisconsin Utilities Expand Clean Energy As US Prepares To Exit Paris Climate Agreement” • As the US prepares to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, Wisconsin utilities ramp up their clean energy initiatives. Wisconsin Public Service works actively to reduce the state’s climate impacts by expanding its renewable energy facilities. [The National Desk]
Have a fondly thoughtful day.
geoharvey 