Energy Transition Update

ThisWeekinFM Guest Editor, Daniel Lynn, has tracked the activities being pursued by separate nations and economic blocks to introduce a clean energy transition. Significant news regarding construction and huge financial deals relating to decarbonisation will provide the reader with an insight into the direction and progress of a collaborative global energy transition.

UK

The UK continues to attract outside investment whilst bringing additional renewable energy projects on-line. The UK is seeing steady progress in introducing green fuels to the domestic energy mix.  Solar power set a record for the highest share of electrical generation during July 2026, with14.4% of all electricity deriving from solar power.

Danish renewable infrastructure investment company, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) - has begun commercial operations at the 500MW Coalburn 1 battery energy storage system, located in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.

UK energy provider, ScottishPower – has provided £102.9 million of contracts to UK companies for the operating and maintenance of 24 existing onshore wind farms owned by Scottish Power.

Danish renewable power company, European Energy – has secured £58.1 million of financing to construct the Indian Queens hybrid renewable energy project located in Cornwall, England. This project will include a 68MW solar park with an accompanying 47.5MW battery energy storage system.

Europe

Pan-European commitment to lowering carbon emissions continues strongly, with huge financial deals being reported and a subsidy scheme being introduced to stimulate green hydrogen innovation.

Danish renewable energy organisation, European Energy – has accumulated €234.1 million of project financing for the 225MW Vizzini solar (agrivoltaic) project located in Sicily.

Renewable energy company, Nadara Energy – has closed a €1.2 billion refinancing deal that covers assets held across seven European markets.   

The Italian Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security is launching a new €400 million a year subsidy scheme that focuses on the production of renewable hydrogen.

Asia Pacific

Renewable distribution is gaining traction in this region with many countries embracing electrification. China has assumed a leading role in renewable energy distribution despite receiving criticism for consuming vast amounts of fossil fuels. This is a position that Chinese decision makers are attempting to reverse. For the first time on record, China's coal fired power dropped below 50% in the first half of 2026.

Australian renewable energy company, Squadron Energy – has received a refinancing deal of AUD $2.7 billion to operate their wind farm projects across Australia. The deal will also allow the company to begin expanding into battery storage in the near future.

Australian energy company, Origin Energy – has begun commercial operations on their 300MW battery energy storage facility located in the state of Victoria. 

Japanese renewable power producer, Renova - has begun construction on their 99.9MW Fukuroi Ugari energy storage facility (BESS), located in the Shizuoka prefecture.

USA & Canada

Despite on-going opposition to alternative clean energy, America continues to bring new projects on-line and collaborate with large outside companies to attract huge financing deals. The latest move by the Trump administration is to impose a 15% tariff on solar modules from the Chinese supply chain. Domestic manufacturers support the move, but installers have warned that customer costs will rise. The Trump office is also targeting wind projects with the aim of turning potential customers towards fossil fuels.

Recurrent Energy, a subsidiary of Canadian Solar has raised USD $695 million for the 330MW Cobalt Solar project located in California.

American developer, Solar Landscape – has been approved a financing deal worth USD $150 million from Danish investment group Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. The funds will be used for the rollout of various solar projects throughout the US.

US renewable developer Arevon Energy has begun operations on their 300MW Nighthawk battery energy storage system located in Poway, California.

Picture Credit: Eimíle Mapps.