Mint examines the key provisions and their implications for transmission expansion, energy security and India’s clean energy ambitions. What are the key features of the revised guidelines? The guidelines apply to inter-state transmission projects where compensation disputes arise because circle rates are lower than prevailing market rates. In such cases, a Market Rate Committee (MRC) will determine the land’s market value. The committee will be chaired by the district magistrate, district collector or deputy commissioner and include a district-level registration department officer, the sub-divisional magistrate concerned and an administrative representative of the local civic body. The MRC will base its assessment on valuations by three valuers selected from the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India’s list. Compensation will be paid as a one-time, upfront amount for the stretch covered by the detailed on-site work plan submitted by the transmission service provider (TSP) to the district authority. How will land value be assessed, and how much compensation will landowners receive? The three valuers must submit their individual assessments to the district administration within 21 days. Where necessary, the highest and lowest valuations will be normalized to within 20% of the median. The final market rate will be the average of the...

William Cooper is the author of How America Works And Why It Doesn’t, will-cooper.com Five years ago, if you asked energy analysts where the electrical grid was heading, the consensus was clear: coal was on its deathbed, natural gas growth was leveling out, and wind and solar were swallowing market share faster than projected. Then came the artificial intelligence boom. Now, instead of winding down carbon-intensive energy, utility companies and hyperscalers are making deals to keep aging fossil fuel plants online—and in some cases, extending the lifespan of coal generators previously slated for shutdown—to ensure uninterrupted power for data centers. The Math Behind the Surge An AI query consumes significantly more energy than a traditional keyword search. Generative AI doesn’t just pull from an index; it calculates vectors across tens of thousands of power-hungry GPUs working in parallel. When you scale that across every major tech firm scrambling for market dominance, the grid impact is undeniable: Surging Electric Load: Data center power consumption in the U.S. is projected to grow dramatically, with estimates from the Electric Power Research Institute and McKinsey projecting data centers could consume between 9% and 12% (and up to 17% in high-growth scenarios) of total U.S...

China has firmly solidified its position as the world's largest manufacturer of clean energy equipment, supplying approximately 70 percent of the global market for wind power equipment and 80 percent for solar photovoltaic modules, according to a newly released industry report. The Report on China Energy Development 2026, published recently by the China Electric Power Planning and Engineering Institute, underscored how the country has continuously fortified its energy security while making steady, historic progress in its green and low-carbon transition over the past few years. Driven by a more abundant and diversified domestic energy supply, China saw a landmark achievement in 2025, with the nation's combined installed capacity for wind and solar power exceeding that of coal-fired thermal power for the first time in history. Furthermore, relying on its robust clean energy industrial advantages, China has deepened international energy cooperation, substantially lowering the economic threshold for the global energy transition, the report said. In 2025, China's energy supply capacity improved significantly, playing a crucial role in enhancing the resilience of national energy security, according to the National Energy Administration. China remains the world's largest energy producer, accounting for over one-fifth of global energy production and roughly one-third of global power...

Vietnam has emerged as one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing economies and an increasingly important manufacturing hub for multinational companies, including Samsung, Apple, Nike, Adidas, Google, and Amazon. Rapid industrialization, urbanization, and rising living standards have driven sustained growth in electricity demand, making reliable, affordable, and secure energy supplies critical to the country's economic development. Traditionally, energy security referred to the reliable and affordable supply of energy needed to support economic activity. Deeper integration into international energy markets could enable this objective by allowing countries to diversify suppliers and access globally traded fuels when domestic resources are insufficient. However, Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the 2026 Middle East conflict, which disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, exposed the vulnerabilities of this approach, demonstrating how geopolitical events can rapidly affect globally traded fuel supplies and prices. For Vietnam, these risks are becoming more important as electricity demand rises and the country becomes more dependent on imported energy. The 2026 disruption was particularly significant given that approximately 85% of Vietnam's crude oil imports originate from the Middle East, along with around 80% of its propane imports and more than half of several key hydrocarbon liquids. Although Vietnam imports only a...

Australia is accelerating its transition to a low-carbon future with electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels and other renewable energy technologies becoming a part of everyday life. But what happens when these products reach the end of their useful life? RMIT experts discuss the growing need to better manage clean energy waste and support a circular economy. Dr Akvan Gajanayake, Lecturer, School of Property Construction and Project Management: “Millions of EV batteries are quietly counting down to the end of their useful life, and the systems needed to manage them safely, sustainably, and at scale simply do not exist yet. “By 2035, Australia could have millions of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries with nowhere to go. Unlike conventional waste, these batteries cannot go into landfill. “They contain valuable and environmentally hazardous materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel that require specialist processing. Yet Australia lacks the infrastructure, policy frameworks, and cross-sector coordination to handle this waste. “Technical solutions for how to recycle this waste exist, however for such technical solutions to operationalise, the softer systems need to be in place. “The households, manufacturers, recyclers, policymakers, and community groups who need to solve this issue are not in the same room, and no single...

California's electricity grid powers tens of millions of homes, businesses, and electric vehicles across a state larger than most countries. In 2026,

These achievements are outcomes of policy reforms, transparent auctions, investor-friendly regulations, and a stable governance framework that has inspired confidence among domestic and international investors. At the same time, thermal and nuclear power continue to play a crucial role in meeting the country’s growing baseload electricity demand. Perhaps the most visible success story has been India’s solar revolution. Programmes such as PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana and PM Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyaan (PM-KUSUM) are transforming lives across rural and urban India. The Indian farmer, once dependent on uncertain electricity supply and rising diesel costs, is now emerging as an energy producer. Rooftop solar installations are helping urban households significantly reduce electricity bills while contributing to the clean energy transition. Large-scale solar parks, floating solar installations, offshore wind projects, and hybrid RE systems are further expanding India’s clean energy capacity at an unprecedented pace. Under the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India, India has developed a rapidly expanding manufacturing ecosystem for solar modules, photovoltaic cells, inverters, battery storage systems, wind turbines, and associated equipment. Production Linked Incentive schemes and supportive industrial policies have accelerated domestic manufacturing capacity while reducing dependence on imports. This industrial expansion has...

Discover the EENOVA Methodology and explore how regional collaboration can drive energy efficiency across Europe's food value chains.

Geopolitical shocks and soaring energy costs are pushing households towards clean electricity. Consumer investment in home technologies now accounts for 20% of total domestic climate finance. Targeted market regulation and incentives must empower everyday households to balance the grid. The Iran war sent oil and gas prices spiralling in early 2026, just as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine did four years earlier. Spiking energy prices, almost triple pre-crisis rates in some countries, have turned essential daily activities like cooking a meal or cooling the home into a dilemma for ordinary households. Shifting to clean electricity and modern flexible grids offers both a solution for energy security and the opportunity for a fairer deal for consumers. For years, policy-makers have focused heavily on the supply side of the energy transition, and vital progress has been made in scaling up renewable generation. But supply and demand must advance together if we are to meet our climate and consumer challenges. Electrifying transport, buildings and industry creates new demand for clean electricity, which supports further investment in renewable generation. At the same time, grid-edge technologies such as batteries and flexible demand help integrate growing volumes of variable renewable power. Together, these changes can create a...

Discover the EENOVA Methodology and explore how regional collaboration can drive energy efficiency across Europe's food value chains.

Large-scale solar investment also reached a new high, with 1.8GW of generation capacity reaching final investment decision (FID), the strongest quarterly result since the CER began tracking investment activity and the strongest quarter for solar investment overall since 2022. All of that capacity came from solar. No wind projects were approved or reached FID during the quarter, the CER revealed. CER acting chair Carl Binning said the results reflect the accelerating pace of Australia’s energy transition. “The speed of the transition is accelerating,” Binning said. “We are seeing ongoing growth and record outcomes across the CER’s administered schemes and markets, from rooftop solar and household batteries to large-scale solar investment and the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) market.” Binning pointed to a combination of factors driving the results, including progress on Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) projects, falling battery storage costs, demand generated by the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, and growing recognition of the ACCU market’s role in supporting the Safeguard Mechanism. Battery incentive changes reshaped installation patterns through the quarter The quarter’s record battery storage uptake was closely tied to changes made to the Cheaper Home Batteries Program on 1 May, which introduced revised small-scale technology certificate (STC) rates intended...

At a UN desertification conference this week in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, experts at a side-event examined how renewable energy expansion can co-exist with land protection and restoration, spotlighting examples from around the world. To name a few, degraded mining land in South Africa has been repurposed for renewables, solar panels are being combined with vegetation, water harvesting and sand-control measures in China’s deserts and solar irrigation is helping farmers in India use the same land for food production and clean energy. The transition away from fossil fuels will require much more solar, wind and other renewable-energy infrastructure, with an emerging physical footprint that expects to see the 500,000 hectares currently used for renewable-energy projects reach three million hectares by 2032. Renewable-energy expansion is potentially “one of history’s largest land use transformations”, said Julian Blanc, head of the Biodiversity and Land Branch at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). “The real question is no longer whether renewable energy is going to expand or not. It is, and the question is whether it expands in ways that leaves landscapes, ecosystems and people better off than before.” Context is critical From the land occupied by solar panels to the transmission lines needed to carry electricity,...

A conclusion is made in Belém, Brazil, at the end of days of negotiations between delegations from nearly 200 countries.

California’s refineries are closing not because of regulation, but because gasoline demand is shrinking as EV adoption crosses tipping points.