As the U.S. has become the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, grid operators have seen not only reduced weekday electricity demand relative to expectations for this time of year and current weather but also changes in daily electricity usage profiles. The morning peak, for example, is now later and with a more gradual ramp.
Debt financiers of U.S. fracking firms are preparing to directly manage distressed energy assets to avoid debt write-offs in the event of bankruptcies. Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Bank are understood to set up holding companies for distressed oil and gas producers as the industry owes over $200 billion to lenders.
OPEC producers and Russia, supported by the U.S. and Mexico, have agreed to cut output by about 10%, or 9.7 million barrels per day, after demand slumped due to coronavirus lockdowns. Though oil prices did not jump in early trading in Asia today, Wood Mackenzie says the supply cuts will lift oil and gas prices […]
Demand destruction due to lockdowns has shifted the relative economics of Europe’s fossil power generators towards gas. Clean spark spreads are 10-14 EUR/MWh higher than dark spreads, but lower power prices mean it’s still insufficient to see positive margins for CCGTs in Germany or France.
As China returns to work and energy demand recovers, four U.S. LNG cargoes are en route to Chinese import terminals. Two cargoes are seen heading for Tianjin and analysts suspect the buyers are CNOOC or Sinopec, which are likely to use part of the regasified LNG for power generation.
Lockdowns will lead to more hours of negative wholesale electricity prices at the European Energy Exchange (EEX) this year. With many industries shut, energy use in Germany is forecast to fall 6% while wind and solar power output remains high, pushing prices below zero.
Though China’s economy and gas demand is picking up, the coronavirus pandemic chocked energy consumption elsewhere. Delivered gas prices into Northeast Asia today fell below $2.40/MMBtu, hence Wood Mackenzie warns spot LNG prices in Asia might soon drop below breakeven costs of U.S. upstream companies, causing production shut-ins.
As markets reel from the coronavirus crisis, prices available to oil and associated gas producers have fallen to single digits in Western Canada and turned negative in parts of North America, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Analysts expect some existing production will soon grind to a halt.
Reacting to the freefall in energy demand due to coronavirus lockdowns, Moody’s has lowered its price band for Henry Hub gas to $2.00-$3.00 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) for 2020. Analysts said this forecast could be cut further if economic weakness due to the pandemic drags on.
Origin Energy, the Australian upstream company and utility, has slashed its capital expenditure in reaction to the global Covid-19 outbreak but maintained guidance for earnings and profits in FY2020. CEO Frank Calabria reassured investors on the utility’s resilient balance sheet, saying there was “significant headroom” in its debt covenants at current oil prices.
Aug 31 – The number of gas-fired power plant projects, linked to US data centres, has nearly doubled in the first half of 2026. According to Global Energy Monitor, 378 MW of gas capacity is currently under development in the US, one-third of total projected capacity worldwide, led by Texas with 122 MW.
Aug 27 – GE Vernova has been chosen by Laing O’Rourke to deliver a new 400 kV Gas-Insulated Switchgear (GIS) substation at Chesterfield, UK. The new substation is part of National Grid’s Brinsworth-to-Chesterfield and Chesterfield-to-High Marnham project, with the upgrade using SF₆-free technology to strengthen grid resilience in a sustainable manner. The projects form part of The Great Grid Upgrade, the largest overhaul of the electricity grid across England and Wales in generations.
Aug 26 – Net Power has agreed to purchase 123 MW of new power generation equipment to increase the installed capacity of its Project Permian to nearly 200 MW. The gas-fired power project in West Texas is being gradually scaled up to 1 GW.
Aug 24 – Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) has provisionally allocated 200 MW of new data centre capacity to Digital Realty, Equinix, Keppel Data Centres and ST Telemedia Global Data Centres, with each receiving 50 MW for facilities on Jurong Island. All sites will be developed within JTC’s planned low‑carbon data centre park on Jurong Island, and operators must source more than 50% of their capacity from green or low‑carbon energy such as biomethane, low‑carbon ammonia or hydrogen.
Aug 21 – Germany’s underground gas storage facilities are only about 50% full as of mid-August, well below last year’s roughly 67%. To achieve the targeted 70% filling levels by November, the government is preparing additional intervention options although traders remain cautious amid elevated prices and geopolitical uncertainty.
Aug 19 – A Russian air strike has damaged one of DTEK’s thermal power plant, forcing the Ukrainian operator to shut down one unit. DTEK’s thermal power fleet had an installed capacity of about 13.3 GW as of early 2022, spread across eight plants, though repeated attacks since then have destroyed much of that installed capacity, jeopardising regional electricity supply security.
Aug 17 – Wärtsilä is preparing to deliver an off-grid power solution for a new data center, under construction in Texas. The 790 MW power plant will operate with 42 Wärtsilä 50SG engines running on natural gas.
July 29 – Electricity demand in India is on course to rise 4-5% year-on-year in 2027, Fitch Rating reckons, referring to the country’s higher cooling needs and economic growth. Coal remains king in the Indian energy mix, fuelling more than 70% of power stations, while gas-burn fell to 15% in June 2026, down from 22% a year earlier amid supply constraints and higher LNG prices.
July 27 – The Japanese government is considering foreign debt finance for gas-fired power projects in the United States that form part of its $550 billion U.S. investment pledge. “If financing from foreign banks materialises, it should further facilitate the procurement of foreign-currency funding needed to implement the investment initiative,” the finance ministry said on the platform X late on Sunday.
July 24 – EU Carbon Emission Allowances are expected to continue their mean-reversion trading around €80/t for the rest of this month, as the Commissions adjustments leave supply-demand balances for carbon credits tight through 2035. Further out, Energy Aspects reckons there may be 250 Mt more allowances in the market through 2040 as the pace of how fast the ETS cap falls has been slowed down for 2036 onwards.
July 22 – Nigeria’s Index Thermal Power has invited engineering firms, infrastructure developers and institutional investors to join the development and financing of its proposed 1,800 MW gas-fired independent power plant in Rivers State. The project is planned for the Onne Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone in Port Harcourt.
July 20 – Utilita Energy has become the third energy supplier to join WattsWatt – the national energy information service – alongside Outfox Energy and Home Energy in bid to help households gain affordable warmth by comparign tariffs and improving access to energy efficiency grants.
July 17 – Hitachi Energy and Eve Air Mobility, an Embraer-backed aircraft manufacturer, are looking to advance the electrical infrastructure needed to support urban air mobility. The agreement brings together Hitachi’s Grid-eMotion charging infrastructure with Embraer-backed electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft technology.
July 15 – The global market for hydrogen (H2)-compatible gas turbines will grow to nearly $3.5 billion by 2032, expanding at an annual rate of over 10% during the forecast period. According to DataM intelligence, hydrogen is emerging as a strategic and sustainable alternative to fossil fuelled power generation as nations strive to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels and stabilize their power grids,
July 13 – Japan’s largest power generator JERA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Samsung C&T of Korea to collaborate on hydrogen and ammonia. JERA is developing Japan’s first low-carbon ammonia value-chain, and is targeting start of operations around fiscal year 2029. Samsung C&T focused on low-carbon ammonia infrastructure and supply chain initiatives in Korea, and by combining their capabilities both companies aim to strengthen value chain resilience across Asia.
July 8 – GasHub has finished an LNG storage and regasification facility at Rolls-Royce’s Seletar Campus in Singapore and begun LNG deliveries, with the system designed to support the campus’s long-term energy requirements, including reliable electricity demand. The setup is part of a shift away from compressed natural gas and aims to reduce fuel deliveries, emissions, and operating costs.
July 6 – Swiss energy storage operator BW ESS has started construction on the 1GW Klostermansfeld project, one of Europe’s largest battery storage projects to date. Situated in the southern Harz region, the battery is designed to supply around three million German households with electricity for at least four hours.
July 2 – Siemens is investing €300 million to expand the production of high-efficiency power distribution systems for data centers, e-mobility and industrial automation. To that end, Siemens is expanding its switchgear factory in Frankfurt and a new supplier facility in Offenbach, creating 700 new jobs by the end of 2030
June 29 – IGM, a specialist engineering company, has supplied a 2 MW electrolyser to Industria Gas Tecnici (IGAT), marking the company’s entry into green hydrogen production under Italy’s national Hydrogen Valley programme.
June 26 – PJM Interconnection expects peak summer load will grow at an average of 5.4% per year over the next decade driven by electrification of road transport and the concentration of data centers. Summer peak load in PJM’s Dominion zone was 23,905 MW last year, 23% higher than in 2019, while winter peak load in PJM’s Dominion zone was 25,413 MW in the 2025–26 winter season, 45% higher than five years ago.
