energy

Google has signed the largest hydroelectric agreement in history. You no longer know where to get more energy to feed your AI

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Google closed on July 15 A historical agreement With Brookfield Asset Management worth $ 3,000 million to access hydroelectric energy for 20 years. This is the largest corporate cleaning of the world in this modality, which will allow technology to access up to 3 gigawatts of hydroelectric power in the United States. The magnitude of the problem. Artificial intelligence has triggered the energy consumption of large technology to levels never seen. According to The International Energy Agencyfor 2030 the United States will consume more energy by processing data than by manufacturing aluminum, steel, cement and chemicals together. There are studies that indicate that data centers could consume 945 theravats of electricity time globally that same year. Although of course, the same agency also concluded that the energy consumption of AI It is overestimated. What includes the agreement. The initial contract covers two hydroelectric facilities in Pennsylvania: Holtwood and Safe Harbor, which Brookfield acquired between 2014 and 2015. These plants will initially provide 670 megawatts of power, but Google will have the option of expanding the agreement to the 3 gigawatts through future updates of the facilities. At the same time, the company will invest 25,000 million dollars in data centers in Pennsylvania and neighboring states over the next two years. Why now hydroelectric energy. While previously technological ones focused on wind and lots, now They look for “firm” renewable energy sourcesthat is, they provide constant supply regardless of the weather or time. Hydroelectric energy fits perfectly in this category. Besides, Trump’s recent legislation He has maintained fiscal credits for hydroelectric projects until 2036, while those of wind and plot will lose these incentives unless they are launched before the end of 2027. The energy career. Google is not alone in this desperate search for clean energy. Meta signed an agreement for Buy the production of a nuclear plant In Illinois for two decades. Microsoft, Amazon and other technological giants also They are closing similar contracts. The pressure is such that these direct agreements have become a way that technology funds to new generation capacity, thus relieving pressures on electricity prices at home. What comes after. Google Plan Expand this model beyond Pennsylvania towards the Middle Atlantic and the US western environment. The company has already signed other pioneer agreements during the last year, including Geothermal energy No carbon and advanced nuclear. He is also working with the country’s largest electricity operator to use AI and accelerate the process of connecting new energy sources to the network. The arrival of AI in our lives has overcome any energy forecastand now it is the great technological ones that have to guarantee a constant supply of their AI at any price if they want the business to be profitable. Cover image | Greg Bulla and Nuclear forum In Xataka | The AI has folded the price of an ultrarrao metal. The problem is that we need it to store renewable energy

Generate day energy and hunt asteroids at night

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At the time they seemed the future of solar energy for their ability to follow the sun with oscillating mirrors. Today the solar concentration plants, which direct the light by heliostats towards a large central tower, They cannot compete with photovoltaic prices collapse. But when a door closes, sometimes a window opens to the universe. Short. A pilot project in the United States has begun to take advantage of these gigantic mirrors when the sun falls for the Planetary Defense. For the day, heliostats generate energy concentrating sunlight in a tower connected to steam turbines. At night, they defend the planet of potentially dangerous asteroids. The figures are devastating. The thermoelectric solar energy has lost the battle against photovoltaic by win. In 2023, the world installed the record figure of 345.5 gigawatts in solar panels, but the solar thermos I barely added 0.3 GW in total. And what is worse, since then construction is not started of no new plant. Although Spain, the world leader in concentration technology, maintains its centrals working, other projects are canceled or reconvisaged. Morocco has replaced the Termosolar part of the MEGACOMPLEJO NOOR MIDELT by photovoltaic after qualifying it as “immature and face technology”. And iconic projects, such as the gigantic Ivanpah plant in Californianow face their closure for not being able to compete with the low price of photovoltaic kilowatt. Save the planet, and incidentally investment. Given this panorama, what can be done with these huge and expensive infrastructure? John Sandusky, scientific researcher at Sandia laboratories, has been turning an idea for almost 20 years. “Heliostat fields do not have a night job. They are simply there, without using,” Explain in a statement. “We have the opportunity to give a night work at a relatively low cost to find objects close to Earth.” The proposal is not to use heliostats to take photos of the sky. Its optical quality is not enough to form crisp images such as a telescope. The genius of the proposal, embodied in a Study of the late 2024 That has already been put into practice, lies in using what these mirrors do best: concentrate light. A lot of light. How it works. The traditional method seeks in the long exposure images the steles that the asteroids leave when moving against the fund of fixed stars. Sandusky’s method is radically different and is based on frequency analysis. Instead of aiming at a fixed point, the plant’s software causes the heliostats (mirrors designed to follow the sun) oscillate, sweeping a small portion of the sky at a constant and repetitive rate. The light of the stars, swept at this constant pace, generates a signal in the tower receiver with a specific and predictable frequency. It is the “tone” base of the sky. If an asteroid crosses that field of vision, moves at a different angular velocity from that of the stars. This makes the light that reflects generates a signal with a slightly different frequency from that of the “tone” base. It is a tiny change, but measurable with current technology. And can be used to detect asteroids due to its speed relative to the stars. From theory to practice. A team has demonstrated its viability using a single heliostat, and is already working to climb the project to a large solar plant to increase sensitivity and to detect smaller and more distant objects. Even tracking satellites and other objects in the cislunar space, to sell the idea to the space force. Sandusky’s idea is a masterful example of lateral thought. Instead of building new and very expensive observatories, it reuses a multimillion -dollar infrastructure that would otherwise be inactive half of the time. A technology that fights to survive in the competitive energy market and that could find a second life, a second job. Image | Pexels In Xataka | It was inaugurated in 2014 as the largest solar thermal energy plant in the world. Will close after setting fire to birds

Europe has promised to spend 250,000 million dollars in US energy. The problem is that the USA surely does not have it

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On the facade of the Turnberry golf course, between the Scottish Greens and the handshakes of hand, Europe and the United States They avoided a commercial war with an agreement that has been received with relief, but with considerable skepticism. As a headline, diplomatic victory sounds, but energy reality hides much greater complexity. The tariff pact. Donald Trump described the agreement as “the greatest of all”, announcing it from his Scottish resort. For his part, Ursula von der Leyen stressed that they had avoided reaching 30 %tariffs, which Washington had threatened to impose if an agreement was not reached before August 1. The agreement establishes a 15% tariff On European exports to the United States, accompanied by investment and import commitments that seek to “rebalance” a historically asymmetric commercial relationship. However, among the headlines a figure stands out: 250,000 million dollars annually in European Liquefied Natural Gas Purchases (LNG), Petroleum, coal and even US nuclear fuel. And there begins the problem. Does the United States have the capacity? The answer, As the journalist Clyde Russell has analyzed in ReutersIt is a clear “no.” In 2024, the total value of the United States energy exports to the European Union – including raw, gas, coal and refined products – was approximately 65,000 million dollars. To reach 250,000 million promised, they should quadruple. Even if Europe bought 100 % of US exports of crude oil, gas and coal – and no other country received a single drop of American energy – it would continue to be well below the objective. Russell He has described it As “an illusion”, comparable to the failed “phase 1” agreement between Trump and China in 2019, when energy purchases of 200,000 million were promised that were never fulfilled. So what is motivation? The explanation is more in politics than in logistics. The EU has preferred to avoid an escalation that threatened to paralyze its industrial exports, especially in sensitive sectors such as motor, pharmaceutical or semiconductors. As Columnist Pierre Briançon has explained in Reutersit is a “chapter disguised as success.” The new 15 % tariff multiplies by ten the previous average (1.6 %) and is not accompanied by equivalent tariff concessions by the US, beyond some specific sectors such as aviation or certain chemicals. Meanwhile, the European bloc also promises an additional 600,000 million dollars in direct investment in the United States during Trump’s mandate, including armament purchases. All this in a context of increasing tension by war in Ukraine, the dependence of NATO and American pressure on European technological regulations. From Moscow to Texas. One of the key justifications presented by Von der Leyen is that this energy turn reinforces European independence with respect to Russia. As pointed out in The Telegraphimporting US gas and oil will allow the continent “to free itself from Russian energy blackmail.” However, As several diplomats cited by Financial Times have pointed outThis also means a deeper dependence on an unpredictable and volatile trade partner. “Trump knows exactly where our pain threshold is,” an ambassador confessed to the British newspaper. In fact, it is not the first time that Trump threat directly to the EU with punitive tariffs if there are no immediate concessions. In addition, the London medium has detailed That the EU had a retaliation package worth 93,000 million euros, but was never activated due to lack of internal consensus. Germany, Ireland and Italy pressed to soften measures and protect national interests. Brussels’s “commercial bazuca” never shot. A word flies over: renewable. This energy turn also puts the European ecological transition under pressure. The pact does not mention concrete commitments in renewables, and on the contrary, Trump took advantage of the summit to load against wind energy, describing it as “the most expensive energy form” and a “scam”, As the Telegraph has collected. This raises a contradiction: while Brussels promotes projects such as Invest ai To create chips gigafactories and boost green digitalization, at the same time compromises astronomical sums on fossil fuels. A dissonance that, As the expert Mujtaba Rahman recalled in statements to Nyt“It reflects European concern for other geopolitical scenarios rather than for energy coherence.” Are they winning time? To ask ourselves, this is the first thing that comes to mind: it seems that Europe has bought time. Time to avoid immediate reprisals, to keep Trump moderately satisfied, and for the next administration – be it or not – redesign the rules of the game. A strategy that reminds the “Run the Clock” with which China sailed the 2019 trade war. Meanwhile, neither 250,000 million exist, neither gas flows yet, nor are the details closed. As The journalist Tim Wallace has summarized: “What seems like a tactical victory today, tomorrow can reveal its strategic cost.” Image | Unspash Xataka | The US has come to threaten Apple to manufacture the iPhone in the country. Your answer: spend 500 million in magnets

In 2011 Japan promised herself not to bet on nuclear energy. Until he ran into reality

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In April 2023 the Japanese government approved a new legislation in nuclear energy that allows to extend the operation of nuclear plants beyond the current limit, which It is established in 60 years. In practice this simply means that if a nuclear plant can operate safely beyond those six decades, the regulation allows you to do so. In this new context the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant has ahead A promising future. And it has it because in December 2023 the Japanese nuclear organism, the NRA (Nuclear regulation authority), he raised the veto he imposed on this installation in March 2011, shortly after the accident of Fukushima Daiichi’s nuclear power plant. If we stick to the installed power this plant housed in the town of Niigata, northwest of Tokyo (Japan), it is The largest nuclear power plant on the planet. It is managed by the Tepco company (Tokyo Electric Power Company), which is the third largest electricity company on the planet, and incorporates seven boiling water reactors that are able to jointly deliver more than 8,200 MWE. Security is the most important thing, and after what happened in Fukushima, the NRA decided to withdraw the operation license until Tepco could implement in this installation the new security measures derived from what you learned in 2011. Japan is contemplating nuclear energy with very different eyes The Japanese government is determined to get Japan measured from you to you with the main powers of The semiconductor industry. And of course it is not an unattainable ambition. In fact, some of the companies with the greatest specific weight in the industry of lithography equipmentlike Tokyo Electron, Canon or Nikon, they are Japanese. “We are working with our clients to develop technologies that teach four generations in the future.” This Declaration of Nobuto DoiVice President of Tokyo Electron, is a declaration of intentions. Japan’s strategy does not only require reinforcing its presence in the integrated circuit industry; It also bets on tuning a large number of data centers for artificial intelligence (AI). In fact, Jensen Huang, the general director of Nvidia, has confirmed that your company will put about in Japan a network of specialized data centers in AI. In addition, Huang has anticipated that this infrastructure will deploy from the hand of Japanese companies. All this sounds very good, but it has a high cost in energy terms and the Japanese government has not overlooked it. In 2050 Japan will need to have increased its electricity generation capacity between 35 and 50% In fact, its current electrical infrastructure would be unable to serve semiconductor factories and data centers for AI that will arrive in the future. The Japanese administration has recognized that in 2050 it will need to have increased its electricity generation capacity between 35 and 50%. It is not negligible, of course. In addition, your plan also has to face the decarbonization of your energy system to which you have committed. Today Japan’s fossil fuel supply depends largely on the Middle East, which led to the approval of a law that promotes investment in decarbonization by a total of a total of some some 962,000 million dollars. The Japanese government has confirmed that its strategy to solve the energy needs that it will have within two decades requires betting on the latest photovoltaic cells that They incorporate Perovskitasby floating wind turbines that are installed in the sea, and also for nuclear energy. In fact, during the next few years many of the nuclear power plants that were deactivated after Fukushima will return to operation, and, in addition, Japan will build new nuclear power plants equipped with fourth generation reactors. The project of this closest type in time is led by the Kansa Electric Power company because plan to resume studies They precede the construction of a new nuclear reactor in its Mihama plant, housed in Fukui prefecture, west of Tokyo. If this project will be consolidated as the first nuclear reactor that is built in Japan after Fukushima disaster in 2011. Image | Tepco More information | Interesting Engineering In Xataka | Enmity with China is approaching Intel, TSMC and Samsung to an increasingly valuable partner: Japan

Amazon chose Catalonia to develop a pioneer project in renewable energy. Until he ran into politics

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The Government of the Generalitat of Catalonia had on the table a decree that could mark a before and after in the deployment of renewable energy in the territory. Among its beneficiaries were one of Amazon’s most innovative projects worldwide: the installation of a self -consumption wind turbine in its logistics center of El Far d’Empordà (Girona). However, the norm has fallen a victim of the political struggle. A last minute withdrawal. Last Wednesday, the Government chaired by Salvador Illa (PSC) decided to withdraw the decree of the Plenary Seaching of the Parliament in the absence of sufficient support. As the country has collectedthe Minister of Territori, Sílvia Paneque, the decision was due to the objective of “exploring ways of a greater consensus.” But the reality is that the rejection of ERC and the Commons left the initiative without the possibility of moving forward. As detailed by Public DiarioThe Communs argued that the text should be processed as a bill to allow substantial modifications, such as strengthening local participation, passing the Sectorial Territorial PLA per to the implantation of renewable energy (plater) and shielding the public energy company. In parallel, ERC harden its position after the cooling of negotiations with the Government of Spain on tax assignments, such as IRPF management, which resulted in a vote against. The immediate consequences. The fall of the decree has put on the energy sector alert, especially companies with in progress. Such as The country has indicated in a reportAmazon expected the norm to facilitate the development of a pioneering infrastructure in its BCN4 center in Girona, where it employs more than 1,700 people and has invested more than 5,000 million euros in recent years. The project contemplates the installation of a wind turbine of 126 meters and 2.2 MW of power, in addition to photovoltaic plates and a storage battery system. With the withdrawal of the decree, the multinational faces an uncertain regulatory framework, since the local urban regulation – in this case, of the municipality governed by ERC – does not always contemplate this type of infrastructure. The decree provided for these projects of higher public interest, which would allow to overcome municipal obstacles and expedite licenses. The General Directorate of Energy had already granted administrative authorization, but now the project is exposed to possible delays. It was a decisive step. Beyond the Amazon case, such as The avant -garde has explainedthe text included technical measures such as storage regulation through electrical batteries, with 4,000 MW in pending connection projects. The expansion of the power threshold for industrial and cooperative self -consumption, from 100 kW to 500 kW. The transmission of authorizations between companies, unlocking about 800 MW in paralyzed projects. And, finally, the possibility of considering certain projects of higher public interest, overcoming administrative resistance. Model in dispute. However, the decree also aroused the rejection of citizen entities that denounce an energy model imposed from above. The Xarxa Per la Sobirania Energy (XSE) and the Xarxa Catalan per to a fair energy transition warned that the norm opened the door to expropriations of agricultural soils and cut deadlines for public participation and allegations by municipalities, according to public newspaper. For its part, the entity Renovem-us He stood out at the forefront that the extension of the industrial self -consumption threshold would have allowed to unlock “hundreds of projects of cooperatives and energy communities” that now continue in limbo. Look in September. That is the next window to relaunch the decree, although nothing guarantees that the new attempt will prosper. Meanwhile, investments cool and the perception of regulatory insecurity is consolidated. As The country explainedthe Amazon project was not only the first of its kind in Catalonia, but also the first worldwide for multinational with these characteristics. A replicable pilot, a step towards corporate energy self -sufficiency and a powerful message from Empordà to Europe. Catalonia leads in electric production, but goes to the tail in renewables. Just the 15.7% of its consumption is covered with clean sources. If the projects are still stuck, the territory will continue to lose ground compared to other regions that already advance with a firm step towards the energy transition. Image | Unspash and Unspash Xataka | Catalonia has a problem with renewables: it is the most backward community despite being the most produced

The AI has folded the price of an ultrarrao metal. The problem is that we need it to store renewable energy

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Two technological revolutions are redefining, at the same time, the entire energy sector: the transition to renewable sources and the unstoppable boom of artificial intelligence. The first needs cheap and efficient batteries. The second has an insatiable data appetite and needs hardware to store them. The problem is that both are colliding in the market of An ultrarrao metal: Ruthenium. And the AI is winning the battle. Ruthenium is in historical maximums. In the last year, this discreet silver gray mineral has become The unexpected star of raw material markets. Its price has doubled, reaching $ 25,720 per kilogram, according to data from the Johnson Matthey metal refining that Bloomberg collects. The figure not only eclipses gold or silver increases, but also touches its historical maximum of $ 27,970, reached 18 years ago. What has unleashed this fever. The answer is in data centers that feed artificial intelligence. Ruthenium, a Platinum Group metal, is exceptionally hard and versatile. One of its applications in electronics are high -capacity hard drives, which use a river layer of less than a thick nanometer to greatly increase data density. As the generative AI and the Cloud Computing They demand to store astronomical amounts of information, the demand is triggered. But the background problem is scarcity. Ruthenium is one of the most rare elements of the earth’s crust. It is obtained almost exclusively as a byproduct of platinum mining, and its annual supply is tiny: just 30 tons last year. Unless the investment in mining increases, analysts expect the market Enter in deficit next year. That is, the demand exceeds the supply. Not only does it need Ruthenio. In addition to hard drives, metal is a vital component in Several of the most promising chemists For massive energy storage batteries. Ruthenium oxide offers unique capacitance and loading and discharge speed, so It was intended to be used in Super Current before the AI duplicate its price. It is also a necessary metal In lithium-oxygen batteriesconsidered one of the next great revolutions in batteries for its very high energy density. But these cells depend on efficient catalysts. Ruthenium nanocatalysts achieve extraordinary capabilities and life cycles, but with the current price they are unfeasible. How it affects the energy sector. No sector is able to face investments as large as that of artificial intelligence. The AI is staying with the Ruthenium to save data while the entire planet faces another urgent challenge: store energy to abandon fossil fuels. Intermittent renewables, such as solar and wind, need large -scale batteries to keep the energy they generate when the sun shines or the wind blows, being able to use it later when night falls or the wind stops blowing. According to the International Energy Agencyin 2023 42 GW of capacity in batteries were installed, more than double than the previous year. It is an impressive, but insufficient figure to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement. The world needs to multiply that rhythm by six and reach about 1,500 GW of storage capacity from here to 2030 (of which 1,200 GW would be batteries). Is there any alternative to Ruthenium? There are other technologies that allow storing large amounts of data, but they are very expensive, so the industry continues to bet on ruthenium. In fact, a report by International Data Corp. provides that sales of hard drives with Ruthenium will increase 16% this year, dragging metal stocks. Researchers from all over the world have spent years developing new advanced batteries assuming a price for ruthenium that, although high, was manageable. Now, the explosion of the demand for AI has created a cost curve that no one anticipated, and that forces to start from scratch. Image | Metalle-W (CC by-SA 3.0) In Xataka | There are companies spending millions in storing hydrogen. Germany has just stored it in bicarbonate

Spain produces more solar energy than ever, but it only gets a cheap time of electricity a day

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In full July, with the air conditioning Working tirelessly and The tuned light billin Spain there is a single moment of the day when electricity consumption does not hurt so much in the pocket. That little energy respite is concentrated at noon, a time strip in which electricity costs half or even less than in the rest of the day, but why is it just time? The fire triggered. On Wednesday, July 16, the average price of electricity had been in the € 164.06/MWh at the regulated rate (PVPC), According to data from Electrica de España. For this Thursday 17, a slight drop is expected to € 102.85/MWh, but that half hides an unequal reality: for much of the day, the cost exceeds 120 euros per megavatio hour, As the Iberian energy market operator has collected (OMIE). Only for a single hour there is a “affordable” price. In just seven hours, electricity will go from relatively affordable to almost double its price. At 15:00, it will cost € 73.00/MWh. At 22:00, it will reach € 129.85/MWh. The explanation is not in a peak of consumption, but in a change of source: the sun is exhausted, the gas enters and the market reacts. Why only in that time strip? The reason is in the sun. From three in the afternoon, the solar production curve increases considerably. The electrical system then enters an overoferta phase: there is more renewable generation than real demand. This surplus translates into an abrupt fall in the price in the wholesale market (‘pool’), which reflects in real time the imbalance between what is produced and what is consumed. The problem is that this surplus cannot be stored properly. Spain still does not have batteries No infrastructure sufficient pumping to save That cheap energy and release it when it is most needed. Thus, the system is forced to sell cheap at noon and buy expensive at dusk. To this lack of storage is added a less visible problem: he Curtailment. Although more renewable than ever, part of that energy is lost due to saturation of the network. According to Red Eléctrica, in some knots of the central-south peninsular-such as Arenas de San Juan or Caroyuelas— It has wasted up to 30 % of the electricity generated due to lack of capacity to evacuate it. Meanwhile, the price of light continues to rise. This schedule imbalance generates what experts call a daily “spread”: a price difference that can exceed € 200/MWh between the cheapest time and the most expensive of the day. It is what makes an invoice shoot although part of electricity is generated almost free. It is not just guilt of the sun. The price of light not only depends solely on solar radiation. From the blackout of April 28, Red Electrica has activated A reinforced operational modewith more weight of the combined gas cycles to stabilize the network. This emergency measure It has become the new normality While structural reforms are implemented that will not be ready until next year. The direct impact on the invoice. Consumers with regulated rate (PVPC) are the most exposed to this volatility. Every day, your bill depends on the price hour by time. But even free market customers are noticing uploads: some electrical companies are transferring the contracts to the contracts, As Facua has warnedwhat could be illegal if it is not foreseen contractually. With this panorama, many consumers try to concentrate the use of appliances such as washing machines, ovens or air conditioners during that cheap time of the day. However, not everyone has room to reorganize their life around a single low cost strip. The solution is more than clear. In this environment we have spoken many times: it goes through More energy storage, greater demand management, More local micro -redes and best interconnections with Europe. The government already has launched Royal Decree-Law 7/2025 To accelerate these changes, and has initiated the creation of a capacity market to guarantee the supply. But none of these measures is immediate. Some have deadlines until September, but others will lengthen until mid -2026. Meanwhile, the gas dependence will continue to mark night prices. A race against clock. Every day, the Spanish electrical system offers a single cheap electricity window. It is the reflection of an energy paradox: there has never been so much renewable energy, and it has never been so difficult to take advantage of it efficiently. As long as storage and flexibility deficiencies are not resolved, the cheap time will be a timely privilege and not a guarantee. In a summer marked by heat waves, the cost of not acting on time will be measured not only in euros, but also in emissions, social vulnerability and energy dependence. Image | Unspash Xataka | Broady in April, more expensive invoice in May: thus has affected the system reinforcement

What began as a patch after the blackout is already the new normality of Spain: more energy through gas

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After the blackout of April 28, which exposed the fragility of the electrical system at times of high renewable penetration, Red Electrica has imposed a new way of operating: A reinforcement system based on greater activation of combined gas cycles. What was born as an emergency measure has become a new normality. Spain returns to gas, not due to lack of renewables, but because – for now – it cannot only trust them. And it will stay for a while … Since the end of April, the system operator maintains a reinforced operating mode to guarantee stability. Such as has confirmed ELECTRICAL TO ELECONOMISTA.es, this measure will remain in force while the technical solutions agreed to avoid new incidents are implemented. The incident report concludes that there was a lack of dynamic control on the network, unexpected disconnections and vulnerabilities in tension regulation. The first changes are already underway: Royal Decree-Law 7/2025 He has started A battery of reforms, from the incentive of storage to the flexibility of access for hybrid facilities. However, the sector coincides: the total implementation will take time. Some urgent measures have a deadline until September, but others – as the reform of adjustment services or changes in the distribution network – will be extended until June 2026. Reinforcement, therefore, is not transitory. Renewable yes, but they are not enough. And this situation occurs in a fairly paradoxical context. Spain is producing more energy than ever: in May the lowest wholesale prices in recent history were recorded –With many hours in negative prices-, thanks to the thrust of wind, solar and hydraulic. So, the question comes back: why does it return to gas? The key is in the foul storage and demand variability. The renewable generation is abundant during the day, but it falls dramatically at dusk, just when consumption remains high by heat waves. No batteries or pumping To store the surplusThe system needs firmness. And that firmness, today, gives it the gas. They have just launched an “antiapages insurance.” The government is aware of the risk. That is why he has formally activated the implementation of capacity markets, a tool that had been studying for years and now accelerates after the blackout. It is a mechanism that remunerates for being available, not only to produce, and that seeks to keep firm technologies operational – like gas or storage – to guarantee the supply even in critical conditions. After the authorization included in Royal Decree-Law 7/2025, the Ministry for Ecological Transition You can give way to the specific resolution that sets two key parameters to activate these mechanisms: the lost load value (Voll), at € 22,879/MWh, and a reliability standard (Lole) of 1.5 hours a year. The objective of the Executive is clear: launch the first auctions before the end of 2025 and ensure that the gas plants that requested their closure (9,000 MW in total) can remain available while a structural solution arrives. And prices rise again. June closed with an important rebound in the wholesale price of electricity, after the historical minimums of April and May. The heat wave, the increase in demand and the greater participation of the combined gas cycles fired the average cost in the market to levels not seen in months. The consumers’ invoice with regulated rate has noticed it: it has been the third consecutive monthly climb, According to the official CNMC simulator data. In addition, in the free market, some marketers are transferring these cost overruns to their customers, even without a contractual clause that allows it. This has motivated A FACUA WARNINGwhich remembers that raising rates unilaterally is illegal if it is not expressly foreseen in the contract. In some cases, surcharges of up to 6 % per year have been notified under the argument of greater technical costs, which could constitute an abusive clause according to consumer defense regulations. Structural challenge. The April blackout uncovered deficiencies that were already there: an excessively centralized system, little storage, few micro -redes and little local reaction capacity to disturbances. The solution does not go through abandonable, but by complementing them. The gas, for now, plays that role. But the challenge is to do so in the future the storage, demand management and a more robust network. That requires difficult time, investment and political decisions. Image | Pexels and Pixabay Xataka | Broady in April, more expensive invoice in May: thus has affected the system reinforcement

China has already won the nuclear energy career to the US and Russia. And he has done it thanks to a avant -garde reactor

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China’s nuclear program was born in the 50s of the last century. The cold war held by the US and the Soviet Union had incited these two countries to Develop your nuclear arsenal With a shocking speed, and Mao Zedong, the co -founder and leader of the Communist Party of China, decided to ask the Soviet Union for help for launch your own nuclear plan. In 1955 this cooperation allowed China to build its first floor of Uranium-235 and Plutonium productionand also supported the foundation of the National Nuclear Corporation of China (CNC). Only four years later, in 1959, the Soviet Union ended the collaboration with China in nuclear technology. This decision was a very hard setback for the country led by Mao Zedong, who embarked on A career towards self -sufficient in the development of nuclear energy. However, China’s plan prospered very slowly during the next three decades. The first nuclear power plant designed and built entirely by China, the Qinshan plant, was successfully connected to the electricity network on December 15, 1991. At that time China could not rival at all with The development of nuclear technology that had reached the US and the almost extinct Soviet Union. In 2002 China only had two nuclear centrals in operation. Today has no less than 58 nuclear reactors in activity. Only US has more (94). During the last two decades China’s civil and military nuclear program It has advanced with a vertiginous speed, but the most important thing is not the number of reactors that it currently has in operation: the really differential thing is that it has been placed At the forefront in nuclear technology. China leads thanks to its nuclear reactor of molten salts and Torio The TMSR-LF1 reactor officially entered into operation on October 11, 2023. A few months later, on June 17, 2024, he began working at full power. And on October 8 of last year the technicians who operate it detected protacinium-233 (PA-233), a radioactive isotope intermediate derived from the transformation of the thorium into Uranium-233 as part of the fuel cycle of the thorium. This nuclear reactor is in the Minqin industrial complex of the province of Gansu, in northern China. It has a power of 2 thermal megawatts (MWT), and, although it will not be the first Fourth Generation Nuclear Reactor in activity, and neither the first one that Torio will use as fuel, yes It will be the first of molten salts that will use this chemical element. However, the ambition of this Asian country does not end here; It is already planning to build a molten salts and torium reactor of more capacity for 2030, although China is not the only country that bets on this technology. China plans to build a molten salts and torio reactor of more capacity for 2030 The US, France or India are some of those who have also invested in research programs that pursue the development of nuclear reactors capable of generating electricity from the thorium. India’s in particular is interesting because it aims to demonstrate the viability of fuel cycles based on thorium in the context of its advanced heavy water reactor project. This technology is still far from being adopted in a generalized way, but its advantages closely link it to the future of nuclear energy. Our planet brings together approximately 12 million tons of thorium, so this chemical element is three times more abundant In the earth’s cortex that Uranium used as fuel in the current nuclear centrals. The largest deposits reside in China, Brazil, Canada, Australia, USA, Greenland, Russia, Norway, South Africa and Venezuela, although prospects reflect that the country that Torio has is precisely one of the ones that is investing most in the development of reactors capable of using it: India. Another point in your favor is that it is as easy to extract as uranium, but it has the inconvenience that it is not directly physable. It is necessary to introduce it into a reactor that manufactures uranium from Torio, and what it produces is not uranium-235, it is Uranium-233, but the important thing is that it is physable. Once this uranium has occurred, it can be introduced into a conventional reactor like those we have in Spain, which could not work with Torio, but with a derivative of that element. In addition, experts say that molten salts nuclear reactors are safer than reactors installed in the nuclear power plants that are currently in operation. Experts say that molten salts nuclear reactors are safer than reactors installed in the nuclear power plants that are currently in operation Two of the reasons are that they use as a refrigerant lithium fluoride and beryllium at a very low pressure, and the fuel remains dissolved in the form of salt, so it is very unlikely that an accident could trigger the fusion of the reactor’s core. Another quality of these reactors that are worth not overlooking is that Its architecture allows them to be installed undergroundwhich, again, increases your safety. But this is not all. Another peculiar and positive feature of these reactors is that they allow to recharge the fuel while remaining in operation. And, in addition, the fact that they do not need water to maintain the refrigerated nucleus allows them to be installed in regions in which water is scarce, or, simply, in areas where there is no river and are not close to the sea. This is one of the reasons why China is investing in the development of this technology as a means to build fourth generation nuclear power plants in the most remote and arid regions of the country. It is also worth not overlooking that Radioactive waste They generate have a much shorter semi -grid period than that of the residues of the reactors that use uranium, which logically facilitates their management. And, in addition, the folk salts reactors They use less fuel Because the efficiency of the thorium is much higher than … Read more

If Europe is beating solar energy records this summer, why has the price of light shot?

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Summer is a paradox season for the energy sector. On the one hand, renewables are reaching historical figures. June marked the month of greater production of solar energy ever registered in the European Union: Friolera of 45 twh22% more than the previous year. On the other, many Europeans saw how their light of the light doubled or even tripled. The question is inevitable: if we swim in solar energy, why do we pay more for electricity? The demand is triggered. The heat waves that run Europe They have put the thermometers around 40 ºC in numerous points in Spain, France and Germany. With air conditioning systems, working at maximum power, the electrical demand has shot. According to him Last Ember reportdaily demand grew by 14% in Spain, 9% in France and 6% in Germany during the month of June. A greater electrical demand, alone, already presses the prices of upward light. But the heat brought with it a second problem, this time on the offer side. Thermal plants are suffocated. The same heat that drives the demand for air conditioning puts traditional energy plants, especially nuclear. These facilities need huge amounts of river water to refrigerate their reactors. When the water temperature rises too much, its refrigeration capacity decreases, forcing to reduce production and, in extreme cases, to stop it completely. France It has been the most affected country. Its fleet of nuclear centrals, one of the pillars of the European interconnected network, is suffering capacity reductions in almost all its facilities. But it is not an exclusively nuclear problem. In Poland, the cooling of coal centrals is being a constant concern, and in Italy, the overheating of the network cables was the most likely cause of the blackout of July 1. At the time of maximum need, a crucial part of the generation of traditional energy is not available. Missing storage for the solar. The saving of this crisis is photovoltaic solar energy. In Germany, the Solar came to generate 50 GW peaks, covering between 33% and 39% of the entire electricity of the country. With a marginal cost close to zero, solar panels are doing exactly what is expected of them: maintain the stability of the network during the day with abundant and cheap energy, despite their Performance problems under extreme heat. The night is another song. At sunset, solar production falls to zero, but the refrigeration demand remains high. When the high temperatures persist until well into the night, Insufficient storage capacity (either in batteries or With pumping hydroelectric) forces to resort to gas and other fossil sources to cover the hole, shooting prices. The damn “Spred”. This temporal mismatch caused by the abundance of variable energy and the lack of resources to store it is what causes madness in prices. A daily price differential (the “spred”) of up to € 400/MWh in Germany and € 470/MWh in Poland. This night peak, and not the average price, is what triggers the final bill and makes the light through the clouds when more cheap energy is producing. The lesson is clear: the challenge is not only to generate cheap renewable energy, but manage it. More storage is needed to buy energy at low prices at noon and sell it at high prices in the afternoon. But also More European interconnections. The heat wave did not affect all of Europe with the same intensity and the same day. The biggest June peaks arrived in Madrid on Domingo, Paris on Tuesday and Berlin on Wednesday. The reinforcement of the interconnections will allow to distribute the cheap energy more and better. Image | Agrisolar Clearinghouse (CC) In Xataka | Spain and Portugal are tired of promises: they ask France to leave the electric alley

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