€4 billion, and counting

Affordable power changes everything.​
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Across Europe, it is now the cheapest source of electricity ever built, helping lower system costs and strengthen energy security.​
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Lower bills.​
Stronger communities.​

Pass it on.​
#abrighttoday
abright.today

2) SMRs do not yet exist "off the shelf" and their cost-prospects depend on unknown learning curves and uncertain market size
3) political uncertainty require nuclear investments to be largely state-backed
4) nuclear hopes for 2035 prevent investments in RES today - locking in more gas consumption

Made-in-Europe Solar Is Far Pricier Than the Competition
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Solar saved Europe €3bn in March. Which country is leading the race? A new analysis found that Europe’s solar capabilities could save the continent €67.5 billion by the end of the year if gas prices remain high.

Solar saved Europe €3bn in fossil fuel imports in March: Which country is leading the way?

www.euronews.com/2026/04/01/s...

The EU’s existing solar fleet is offsetting more than €110 million of gas imports per day from March 1-17 alone. In the same period, solar has reduced the overall gas import bill by 32%. 
 
Savings for March 1-31 reached €3.76 billion.  

www.solarpowereurope.org/press-releas...

EU warns of prolonged crisis as Iran war adds €14bn to energy import bill Also in this newsletter: US criticises ‘unfortunate’ conditions added to EU trade deal

“We are in a situation that might worsen, where indeed demand-reduction is necessary,” he said, adding that he encouraged countries to “do whatever you can . . . to get renewable energy online”.
📢

www.ft.com/content/c2d8...

Solar panels shelter sheep year-round.
More wool, more watts.

Energy and agriculture. Working side by side.

Pass it on.

#abrighttoday #SolarEnergy

Sometimes the biggest changes start with a simple conversation. Pass it on. Be part of a bright today.

#abrighttoday 🔆

71 pages of criticism and questions from 17 Member States say it all: something isn’t right with the EU Industrial Accelerator Act.

If Europe wants to accelerate investment, it needs simplicity, clarity and predictability - not more complexity.
🇦🇹🇧🇪🇨🇿🇩🇪🇩🇰🇪🇪🇫🇮🇫🇷🇭🇺🇮🇪🇱🇻🇲🇹🇳🇱🇵🇱🇸🇪🇸🇮🇪🇸

It costs just $33/MWh to transform daytime solar into dispatchable solar

Huge since true.

"It costs just $33/MWh to transform daytime solar into dispatchable solar"

And no, that doesn't yet account for that storied Dunkelflaute. Then again, the typical gas LCOE doesn't account for Putin's whims or other geopolitical vagaries.

Grid investment is rising fast. BloombergNEF reports record spending in 2025 of 470 to 483 billion US dollars, up 17 percent on 2024. That is the second year of double digit growth.

This reflects structural change: more renewables, electrified transport & heating + rising demand from data centres.

After months of wrangling and an epic list of delays, the Commission has finally released its Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA). This could become one of the EU’s most consequential industrial policy…... After months of wrangling and an epic list of delays, the Commission has finally released its Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA). This could become one of the EU’s most consequential industrial policy ...

“And negotiators - for the love of God - should finally drop the idea that Europe should not welcome cheap Chinese solar panels, which pose little risk and make decarbonisation far cheaper.”

By @nilsredeker.bsky.social at @delorsinstitute.bsky.social

www.linkedin.com/posts/nils-r...

A BloombergNEF chart by Jenny Chase's team, showing solar build forecasts over time for selected quarters since 2011. In 2011, we only had two-year forecasts and they were flattish at 30-40GW/year; over the years, these forecasts drift upwards and generally are lower than what actually happened. In 2021 we started doing forecasts to 2030, and they were also flattish, though also hilariously drift upwards. In 2024 we expected solar build to rise from just under 600GW, to about 850GW in 2030; as of 1Q 2026, we cut this slightly in the long run.

BNEF's forecasts for solar build over time. We drastically* underpredicted what China would deploy in 2023 and 2024, and the effect of Russia invading Ukraine in 2022.

We cut forecasts in late 2025 because the long-expected cannibalization is biting hard. But now there is a new fossil fuel squeeze.

«According to one commission official, we’re witnessing “a debate between those with a more domestic portfolio who wish to protect and reshore Europe’s industrial production, and those with a more external portfolio who focus on Europe’s trading partners (…)”»

“China builds the world’s largest solar farms within a few months. In the EU, it takes years just for the project to get approved”
🔆🗄️📁🗃️🗂️
Merz proposes automatically approval for delayed permits
🔆🚧👷🪏🦺

France to Scale Back Solar, Wind Plans as Power Demand Slows France has scaled back plans to expand solar and onshore wind capacity as it grapples with political tensions over energy policy and a power surplus driven by a slower-than-expected shift away from fo...

"While nuclear power is needed to provide power on demand round-the-clock, the first new reactor is not expected to come online until 2038, Finance Minister Roland Lescure said (...). That underscores the need for more solar and wind capacity, which can be built more quickly.."

2-to protect the overlapping mandates of Brussels and EU member states - processes get increasingly complex as instead of shifting some powers - additional coordination layers are added on-top-of-each-other.
(e.g., in grid planning - see figure from an upcoming piece)

Industry steps up pressure on EU to cut energy prices Top business leaders urged the European Union on Wednesday to act urgently to bring down energy prices, saying that was key for European industries to compete with the U.S. and China.

For years, parts of European industry benefited from cheap Russian gas. Now that access is gone, some are calling for regulated or subsidised power prices.
From one dependence to another. That’s not competitiveness.

www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

Presidente da República promulga Lei do “Lobby”

O degrowth quer menos consumo. Se tudo correr bem, 2025 será o ano com menor consumo de eletricidade de hoje em diante

~$450bn of US energy imports over 7 years
$750bn announced for the next 3

EDF Raises Budget for New French Nuclear Plants to €73 Billion Electricite de France SA raised its cost estimates for the six nuclear reactors it plans to build in its home country by 8% to €72.8 billion ($85 billion), highlighting the funding challenge faced by ...

EDF Raises Budget for New French Nuclear Plants to €73 Billion
🇫🇷⚛️
The new forecast (which excludes funding costs and uses 2020 terms) compares with a 2020 estimate of €51.7 billion that was revised up €67.4 billion two years ago

Co-Located Solar and Storage Grows 70% a Year Since 2020
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China and the US have hosted 95% of commissioned co-located capacity to-date
🇨🇳🇺🇸

La energía solar: la oportunidad de triunfo de la revolución industrial en España Al cierre de 2025, España se consolida como potencia europea en energía fotovoltaica, pero sobre todo como un país que ha sabido identificar y tiene potencial de aprovechar una...

La energía solar: la oportunidad de triunfo de la revolución industrial en España
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Qianjiadong Reservoir in southern Hunan, China, produces a double harvest: solar energy and yellow carp. The solar farm produces up to 80 megawatts of power while the fish forage beneath the panels. With a massive scale-up of solar and wind at home and cheap exports of the technology, China is driving a worldwide surge of renewable energy—Science’s 2025 Breakthrough of the Year.

Science has named the seemingly unstoppable growth of renewable energy worldwide as the 2025 Breakthrough of the Year.

Learn more about this year's #BOTY and other big advances in science: https://scim.ag/493Tpgx

Science’s 2025 Breakthrough of the Year: The unstoppable rise of renewable energy www.science.org/content/arti...

Expensive infrastructure, long timelines, leveraged balance sheets. Sounds like a great business model

“Lack of economic viability” bursts EU green hydrogen bubble For example, in Germany, Europe’s largest energy market, the ramp-up was stalling because hydrogen was not yet commercially viable in key applications under existing regulatory and economic conditions...

“Lack of economic viability” bursts EU green hydrogen bubble

Governo apresenta programa de 30 milhões para reduzir incêndios com pastoreio O programa contempla apoio às áreas de baldio e ao investimento na instação de novas pastagens e produtores. O objectivo é reduzir a susceptibilidade aos incêndios nas zonas de maior risco.

Governo apresenta programa de 30 milhões para reduzir incêndios com pastoreio