Comparing a Solar Variable Renewable Energy Farm to an On-Demand Base Load Coal Fired Power Station is like saying you can use tomato sauce to replace vegetables.

Historically in the U.S., transmission infrastructure has expanded annually by about 1%. The study explains the country's transmission infrastructure must expand at a pace of 2.3% annually — more than double its current pace.

Meanwhile, the European Union is continuing talks about ways to limit spikes in gas prices ahead of a meeting of energy ministers next week.

The electric grids at most risk of supply shortfalls are in Texas, the central US system stretching from the Great Lakes to Louisiana, New England and the Carolinas, the North American Electric Reliability Council said in its seasonal assessment Thursday.

Benchmark gas futures settled 9.2% higher, following an increase of 16% on Monday. Freeport LNG in Texas will likely extend an outage that began in June, increasing global competition for much-needed supplies right before the winter.

An “Energy Superhub” is being constructed in Coventry, a city in the middle of the UK, which will harmonize a number of renewable technologies to maximize the benefits of decarbonized electricity.

Lithium, which, after a refining process, is used to produce cathode materials for lithium batteries, is currently produced almost entirely outside the United States.

Growth in OPEC and non-OPEC oil production—most notably production in the United States— keeps the Brent crude oil price in our forecast lower on an annual average basis in 2023 than in 2022. Brent crude oil price will begin rising in 2H23.

Risks over existing gas supplies from Russia will continue through the coming months, with just one pipeline route open to the biggest European customers.

Currently, the most expensive form of generation -- gas -- sets the price for all electricity that’s sold into the market. That means consumers are bearing the brunt of Russia’s supply cuts to the continent. It also means Europe isn’t feeling much of the benefit of low-cost renewables like wind farms, which get to sell at big margins.

Just eliminating fossil fuel alone is a tall order -- 22 percent of the current generating mix is coal and 38 percent is natural gas. Half of the generation will, in theory, go offline while demand for electricity soars.

This €200bn package is expected to include a €96bn subsidy scheme which was introduced earlier in October 2022.

The REPowerEU plan, which aims to end the EU’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels and tackle the climate crisis, will seek to raise the share of renewables in the region’s final energy consumption to 45% by 2030.

The Brent crude oil spot price averages $93 per barrel (b) in the fourth quarter of 2022 (4Q22) and $95/b in 2023.

To take the group private, the French government will spend €9.7bn, including transaction costs.