Author: EnergyNews.biz Newsroom

Global corporate funding for energy storage companies reached USD 2.3 billion in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring how battery storage continues to attract capital even as broader clean energy investment markets face rising financing costs and increasing pressure on project economics.

Byhmgard AB has signed a right of first refusal agreement with Solarigo Systems Oy covering the development of battery energy storage system projects in Finland. The agreement includes an initial pilot project planned at approximately 50 MW in Nivala, at the Hitura site.

SoftBank is moving beyond its traditional telecommunications and technology focus with plans to establish a domestic battery manufacturing business aimed at supporting AI-driven power demand.

Stellantis is expanding its circular economy strategy in the Middle East and Africa through a new vehicle dismantling center in Casablanca, underscoring how automakers are increasingly treating end of life vehicle management as both a supply chain necessity and a cost control mechanism rather than a peripheral sustainability initiative.

Fewer than 7% of announced European hydrogen projects have reached final investment decision, according to a new industry backed assessment that underscores the widening gap between the European Union’s hydrogen ambitions and the sector’s commercial reality.

Jordan has moved deeper into the global hydrogen export race with a $1 billion agreement for a green ammonia facility in Aqaba, adding another large scale project to a region increasingly positioning itself as a low cost supplier to European and Asian markets.

Egypt is positioning itself as one of the most aggressive emerging market contenders in the global green hydrogen race, leveraging low-cost renewable energy potential and access to major shipping corridors to attract international industrial investors.

Austrian energy group OMV is investing €65 million in a new innovation and development hub at its Schwechat site near Vienna, targeting technologies ranging from green hydrogen to carbon utilization and biotechnology.

Global electronic waste exceeded 60 million metric tons annually in recent years, yet only a limited share is formally recycled, leaving substantial volumes of recoverable nickel, cobalt, and other battery metals unused.

A proposed €2 billion green hydrogen development in Ukraine’s Volyn region illustrates how logistics and existing gas infrastructure are increasingly shaping project economics as much as renewable resource quality.