Oracle sends a force majeure notice on an $18 billion data centre as its gas pipeline runs late, and two data-centre share sales stall over who the customer is

The rest of the day

21 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

1. 02

   China cancelled two-thirds of its overseas coal plans

   In 2021 China's president, Xi Jinping, told the UN that China would stop funding coal power plants abroad. A report this week by CREA, a research group, and PACS found China has since cancelled 67% of the overseas coal capacity it planned then, 61.5 gigawatts. That avoids an estimated 6.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide over the plants' lives. But the pledge still lets private Chinese companies invest. Indonesia has 17.1 gigawatts of China-backed coal planned, much of it captive plants that power nickel and aluminium smelters and never join the national grid. [6]

   Overseas coal China cancelled since 202161.5 GW

   China-backed coal still planned in Indonesia17.1 GW

   Why it matters — The Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam all burned more coal because of the Iran war, so the coal the pledge does not cover is arriving where demand is growing fastest. Xi skipped the UN meeting this week to meet Donald Trump, and Vice President Han Zheng speaks for China on Saturday. [6]

2. 03

   India orders 112 factory coal plants to run flat out

   India's power ministry has ordered 112 coal plants owned by factories to run at full capacity from 1 October to the end of the year. The order, seen by Reuters, uses emergency powers and covers plants belonging to companies including Vedanta, Tata Steel and Hindalco. These plants normally serve their owners' smelters, steel works, cement kilns and refineries. They must now sell any surplus through the power exchanges. Nearly 40% of India's coal plants have critically low fuel stocks, because El Nino has pushed temperatures up and demand has surged. [7]

   Why it matters — A captive plant sits outside the grid's normal rules, so India's power ministry had to write a special order to make its power reach everyone else. It lands on anyone in India running a fan through a hotter-than-usual autumn. [7]

3. 04

   US pays two traders to build a minerals stockpile

   The Export-Import Bank of the United States, the US government's export lender, committed $500 million on Wednesday to a reserve of critical minerals with Glencore, the Swiss mining and trading company. The venture is called VaultCo. Mercuria, a Swiss commodities trader, announced its own $500 million for the same programme, Project Vault, in New York during the UN General Assembly. The stocks are for US industry when supply is cut off. [8][9] China controls up to 70% of rare-earth mining, 85% of refining and about 90% of magnet production, the consultancy AlixPartners says. [9]

   Why it matters — Neither company named which minerals, how much or by when, so for now the stockpile is a promise of money rather than a pile of metal. It connects to the magnet story below: the US is paying to store what China is paying to make. [8][9][10]

4. 05

   China's top magnet maker builds its biggest plant yet

   JL Mag Rare Earth, the world's largest maker of high-performance magnets, is building its biggest plant so far in Baotou, an industrial city near the Gobi Desert that China treats as its rare-earth centre. Rare earths are the metals inside the magnets in missiles and electric-car motors. Over the past year the US and its allies pledged billions of dollars to find new sources outside China. Rare earths topped the agenda for Xi Jinping's US visit this week, and China is weighing whether to widen its export curbs this autumn. [10]

   Why it matters — Every new plant in Baotou means the mines the US and its allies are paying for will face cheaper Chinese magnets when they open. This week the US chose to stockpile as well as to mine. [10][8]

5. 06

   Texas softens its rules for plugging in data centres

   The Public Utility Commission of Texas, the state's power regulator, adopted final rules for connecting very large power users, gentler than its draft. A proposed fee of $50,000 per megawatt is gone. The deposit a customer must post fell from $100,000 to $50,000 per megawatt. If a customer misses its switch-on dates, the utility now has 24 months to tell the grid operator ERCOT the capacity is unused, instead of about seven. Texas has paused new data-centre connections while ERCOT audits a queue of 474 gigawatts of requests, about 90% of them data centres. [4]

   Why it matters — A smaller deposit makes it cheaper to hold a place in the queue for a data centre that may never be built, and a longer grace period keeps that place hidden for longer. A law firm had called the draft's fees far higher than other big US grid operators charge. [4]

6. 07

   US regulator refuses to put Oklo back in the grid queue

   The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees the US interstate grid, rejected Oklo's complaint against PJM, the grid operator for 13 eastern states. PJM had dropped Oklo's project from its study cycle over errors in the application. The project mixes 150 megawatts of small nuclear reactors, 300 megawatts of fuel cells and 300 megawatts of gas plant at two Dominion Energy substations in Virginia. The regulator said Oklo can fix the errors and rejoin the next cycle, or use a faster track open until late 2027. Oklo says the delay is at least 18 months. [5]

   Why it matters — This is the same queue the Texas rules above are about, seen from the other side: a project that slips out of it waits more than a year to get back in, whatever it planned to build. Oklo's reactors are designed to make 15 to 75 megawatts each. [5]

7. 08

   South Africa keeps the Eskom chairman who ended the blackouts

   South Africa's government has reappointed Mteto Nyati as chairman of Eskom, the state power company, for three more years from 1 November. Nyati took the job in 2023, when Eskom was cutting power almost daily and holding back the economy. The company has now gone more than 490 days without power cuts and made a profit two years running. Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said on Friday there would be no more bailouts and no double-digit tariff rises. Eskom should now make room for new companies to enter the market, he said. [11]

   Why it matters — For a South African household or factory, this is the first three-year stretch in a long time planned without a blackout schedule on the wall. The minister also said Eskom will not get double-digit tariff rises, which lands on every bill in the country. [11]

8. 09

   A worker dies at the world's biggest copper mine, and talks go on

   A worker was killed this week at Escondida in Chile's Atacama Desert, the world's largest copper mine, run by BHP. BHP asked to pause contract talks with its supervisors after the death. On Friday the supervisors' union refused. It accused the company of using the tragedy to delay bargaining and said unions had warned repeatedly about poor safety at the site. The rank-and-file union said much of the mine kept working until Chile's mining regulator stepped in. Supervisors vote next week on BHP's offer, and their union has urged a no. [12]

   Why it matters — Escondida is the world's largest copper mine, and copper is the metal in the wires every grid story above is waiting for. A strike would stop the biggest single source of it. [12]

9. 10

   Bangladesh's clothing factories run out of gas and power

   A gas and power shortage has hit most of Bangladesh's garment makers, the world's second-biggest clothing exporter after China. A survey of 134 knitwear factories found 55% had lost orders since late August, and 78% had partly stopped production. On Monday Bangladesh's government raised fuel prices by up to 17.4%. One factory near Dhaka, 4A Yarn Dyeing, keeps its 7,500 workers going on its own solar panels and generators. [13] A Cornell University study found cooling systems for Dhaka factories pay for themselves within four years, because heat stress erased 4.1% of eight factories' yearly revenue. [14]

   Why it matters — Clothing is more than 80% of Bangladesh's export earnings and employs about 4 million people. One exporter said a Canadian buyer cut an order from 25,000 pieces to 8,000 because of the country's energy trouble. [13]

10. 11

    A US battery firm skips Kentucky and opens in China

    EnerVenue, a battery company founded by a Stanford University professor, opened a factory in Changzhou, China, on Tuesday, the day Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met. In 2023 the company announced a $264 million first phase of a factory in Kentucky with 450 jobs, then dropped it a year later. Its chief executive, Henning Rath, said he made building in China a condition of taking the job in April. The Changzhou plant is about 95% automated, will employ about 400 people this year, and cost $20 million to $50 million. [15]

    Why it matters — Rath's reason was not cheap labour alone: local suppliers in Changzhou build equipment before being paid, and graduate engineers earn about $1,800 a month. Whether China-made cells qualify for US tax credits, which now restrict Chinese content, is not yet clear. [15]

11. 12

    TotalEnergies commits to a Nigerian gas field

    TotalEnergies, the French oil and gas company, and its Nigerian partner AMNI made a final investment decision on Wednesday to develop the Ima gas field off Nigeria. That means it has stopped studying the project and started paying for it. Ima should start producing in 2028, reaching 350 million cubic feet of gas a day. The gas will go by pipeline to Nigeria LNG, the country's gas-export plant, and supply about a third of what its Train 7 expansion needs. That expansion lifts the plant's capacity from 22 million to 30 million tonnes a year. [16]

    Why it matters — Nigeria LNG's Train 7 expansion needs gas to feed it, and Ima supplies about a third of that. TotalEnergies calls it low-cost gas, which is what decides whether an export plant runs full. [16]

12. 13

    Poland's Orlen sends Ukraine gas and fuel for winter

    Orlen, Poland's energy group, will deliver three cargoes of liquefied natural gas to Naftogaz, Ukraine's state energy company, in the first three months of 2027. Naftogaz said on Monday its subsidiary Ukrnafta will also receive motor fuel from Orlen worth up to $500 million. Ukraine imports all its fuel because Russian missiles have destroyed its refineries, though it still pumps crude, and the deal lets Ukrnafta send that crude to refineries in central Europe. Retail fuel prices in Ukraine rose 8% to 10% this month, and diesel is close to 100 hryvnias, about $2.24, a litre. [17]

    Why it matters — This winter could be the hardest of the war for Ukraine's energy system, Naftogaz said, and the gas will arrive at the peak of the heating season. [17]

13. 14

    A drone stops Russia's seventh-largest refinery

    The Perm oil refinery, Russia's seventh-largest by volume, stopped operating on Friday after a Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire and damaged pipelines, storage tanks and processing units, two industry sources told Reuters. The plant, owned by Lukoil and 1,460 kilometres north-east of Moscow, processed 252,000 barrels a day in 2024 and made 5.3 million tonnes of diesel. It was also attacked on 21 August. Ukraine's president said on Tuesday he had discussed a possible ceasefire on energy targets with Donald Trump. [18]

    Why it matters — The plant made 5.3 million tonnes of diesel in 2024, and refineries like it are exactly the targets a ceasefire on energy sites would cover. [18]

14. 15

    ArcelorMittal gives up on its Ukrainian steel plant for now

    ArcelorMittal, one of the world's largest steelmakers, said on Friday it will write off about $1 billion after telling Ukraine's government it cannot safely restart its Kryvyi Rih plant. Russian missiles hit the plant four times in five weeks in August and September, killing five people and injuring 17. The company has put more than $700 million into keeping the unit running since the war began. Its chief executive there, Mauro Longobardo, said the focus is now on preserving the site so production can restart when peace returns. [19]

    Why it matters — The company has spent more than $700 million keeping the plant alive since 2022 and is now writing off $1 billion more. The five workers died in four attacks over five weeks. [19]

15. 16

    Europe's seas had their hottest summer on record

    European waters averaged 21.6C between June and August, the highest since satellite records began in 1982, a Reuters analysis of sea-surface temperatures found. The Bay of Biscay, off France and northern Spain, ran 2.4C above its 1991-2020 average and logged 186 marine-heatwave days by the end of August, against a handful a year in the 1980s. About 95% of the kelp forests along the Asturias coast have gone since 2010, one marine ecologist estimates, taking lobster and sea urchins with them. In August jellyfish clogged the cooling system at France's Gravelines nuclear plant. [20]

    Octopus landed in England, a normal year before 202530 t

    20252,600 t

    2026 so far3,000 t

    Why it matters — In England, octopus landings went from under 30 tonnes a year before 2025 to more than 3,000 tonnes so far this year. One Brixham merchant landed 200 tonnes in a week, while a Devon shellfish cooperative lost four of its 90 boats as the octopus ate the crabs. [20]

16. 17

    A slow storm stalls off New Jersey

    A nor'easter, a storm whose strongest winds blow in from the north-east, strengthened on Friday and is expected to stall off the New Jersey coast into early next week. The governors of New York and New Jersey both declared states of emergency. Forecasters expect three to five inches of rain on Long Island, gusts up to 55 miles an hour, and coastal flooding of up to three feet at the Friday night and Saturday morning high tides. About 5,675 workers, including 300 Con Edison contractors, are on standby to repair power lines. [21]

    Why it matters — Meteorologists say this is likely the first of several East Coast storms on this path over the next few months, driven by the El Nino now building in the Pacific, the same El Nino behind India's heat above. [21][7]

17. 18

    Tesla's electric lorry reaches full production, seven years late

    Tesla said on Thursday that deliveries of its Semi, a heavy electric lorry, start now, from a 1.8-million-square-foot factory built only for it in Nevada. The truck was unveiled in 2017 with production promised for 2019. It has a claimed range of 325 or 500 miles at full weight and uses 1.7 kilowatt-hours a mile. Tesla's pitch is fuel cost: diesel is about $0.80 a mile this year against $0.20 to $0.30 for electricity. An alliance of fleets, ZET SCALE, ordered 2,500 trucks this week, which would nearly double the electric heavy trucks on US roads. [22]

    $0.80Diesel lorry, fuel per mile

    vsvs

    $0.20-0.30Electric Semi, power per mile

    Why it matters — The chargers are concentrated in California, Texas and the East Coast, with big gaps across the Mountain West and Plains, so the first long routes will run where the chargers are. [22]

18. 19

    Eaton buys an Italian grid-gear maker for 810 million euros

    Eaton, a power-equipment company based in Dublin, agreed on Friday to buy COL Group of Italy from the investment firm Oaktree for 810 million euros, about $923 million. COL makes medium-voltage switchgear, the cabinets that switch and protect power lines, plus grid automation systems. It has about 400 employees at sites in Turin, Milan, Bergamo and Catania and expects sales of 250 million euros in 2027. Eaton said the deal expands its manufacturing capacity in Europe to meet demand from data centres and utilities. It expects to close in the first quarter of 2027. [23]

    Why it matters — Eaton says the demand is from data centres and utilities; it is buying capacity in Europe rather than building it, and a factory bought is one that already has its workers. [23]

19. 20

    Sweden tries small grids for a million flats

    Jonas Birgersson, a Swedish entrepreneur, says the strikes that left millions of Ukrainians without electricity, heat and water in freezing weather made him rethink how a grid should be built. His company, ViaEuropa, has signed an agreement with an association of Swedish housing companies that between them manage one million apartments, to develop small local grids that make, store and share their own electricity. He presented the project at Climate Week in New York this week. Kingsmill Bond of Ember, a London energy research group, called it an idea whose time has come. [25]

    Why it matters — Birgersson's claim is that a local grid making and storing its own power is both cheaper and harder to knock out than a national one. A million flats is a large test of it. [25]

20. 21

    Exelon backs a tool for planning power lines

    Exelon, one of the largest investor-owned utilities in the US, has added Continuum Industries to its Climate Change Investment Initiative, a $20 million fund it started in 2019 that typically puts $100,000 to $300,000 into a start-up. Continuum's Optioneer software plans routes for grid connections, screening land and permitting risks; the company says it has screened more than 420,000 miles of alternatives. Exelon will use it across its utilities in five states. The fund's lead, Faith Davis, said transmission planning is where the utility most wants to move faster as demand rises. [24]

    Why it matters — Every data-centre story above is waiting on a wire, and the slow part of a wire is choosing where it goes. Exelon's fund says its past picks have raised $555 million in follow-on money. [24]

21. 22

    Who gets to write the rules for the biggest US grid

    PJM, the operator of the biggest US grid, wants to take over the right to file rule changes on energy markets and grid planning, a right its members' committee now holds. So writes Ari Peskoe of Harvard Law School in Utility Dive. PJM's utilities back the idea. The region's state regulators and governors back it on condition that states gain filing rights of their own. Peskoe argues the regulator can give states those rights over utility objections without breaking the rule that a grid operator stays independent. [26]

    Why it matters — A surge in demand is driving up PJM's prices, Peskoe writes, and this is the fight over who holds the pen when the rules to fix that get written. It is one lawyer's argument, not a decision. [26]