Author: Arnes Biogradlija

Global renewable investments topped $1.8 trillion in 2023, yet fossil fuels still supply over 80% of the world’s primary energy. In this dissonance, EnergyNews.biz staged a rare debate that cut through green gloss and industrial bravado. Karim Megherbi, renewable expert and executive at Orisun Invest, sparred with conventional energy investor and energy economist Lars Schernikau in a no-filter face-off. This wasn’t a climate kumbaya. It was a technical confrontation about whether our transition plans align with physical, financial, and political reality. WATCH THE FULL FACE 2 FACE Net Zero Narratives vs. Operational Reality The debate opened with net-zero targets. Megherbi…

As Southeast Europe navigates the grid instability posed by intermittent renewables, Chinese energy storage manufacturer Sermatec has stepped in with a full-lifecycle battery solution. According to the company’s statement, the project—launched in August—aims to optimize off-peak charging and peak-hour discharging, enabling cost-efficient energy usage and stabilizing grid performance. Delivery is expected by the end of December 2025, with grid connection and operation forecast for March 2026. Southeast Europe’s reliance on solar and wind has grown rapidly. Romania, for instance, added over 1 GW of solar capacity in 2023 alone. However, integration challenges persist. The region suffers from a lack of…

Germany’s total hydrogen demand reached 2.4 million tonnes in 2023 and is projected to consume 94-125 TWh by 2030. However, the Emscher-Lippe region’s forecast requirement of 200,000 tonnes by 2032 represents 8% of current national consumption, concentrated in a single industrial corridor. The DMT Energy Engineers’ study’s price projections of €4.8-13.2 per kilogram through 2032 reflect fundamental uncertainties about supply chain development in a market where domestic electrolysis capacity targets only 10 GW by 2030—insufficient to meet projected demand without substantial import infrastructure that remains largely theoretical. The regional analysis reveals the practical challenges facing German industrial decarbonization as small…

German hydrogen production costs average €9-12 per kilogram for small-scale electrolysis operations, presenting economic challenges for municipal projects like Entega’s 3MW facility in Darmstadt that will produce 310 tonnes annually for local bus fleets. The project, scheduled to begin construction in October 2025 with operations starting in Q1 2027, represents the practical implementation of Germany’s €23 billion hydrogen strategy at the city scale, yet the economics require sustained subsidies through programs like DELTA to achieve viability against conventional diesel alternatives. The Darmstadt facility’s integration with waste-to-energy infrastructure demonstrates municipal strategies to leverage existing assets for hydrogen production, though the 310-tonne…

California added over 4.5 GW of battery storage in 2024, according to the California Energy Commission, with a growing portion of that capacity sited not in remote substations but in urban centers. One of the latest—and most debated—additions is Arevon Energy’s $300 million Peregrine Energy Storage Project, which quietly went live in late July 2025 in San Diego’s Barrio Logan. At 200 MW/800 MWh, it’s among the largest urban energy storage facilities in the U.S., built around Tesla’s Megapack platform and tied directly into California’s Independent System Operator (CAISO) grid. Designed to absorb solar oversupply during the day and dispatch…

German steel production capacity faces a fundamental competitiveness crisis as energy costs reach €9.35 per kilogram for green hydrogen—nearly four times higher than conventional production methods—forcing major producers to abandon decarbonization plans despite €5 billion in government support allocated between 2022-2024. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s call for a “robust” steel strategy emerges as ArcelorMittal’s decision to drop green steel conversion at two German plants exposes the widening gap between climate ambitions and economic realities in Europe’s largest steel-producing economy. The German steel sector’s predicament reflects broader European challenges where Chinese overcapacity, elevated energy costs, and US trade barriers converge to undermine…

China produces 42 million metric tons of contained nitrogen annually, representing approximately 30% of global ammonia production, yet the award of Front-End Engineering Design and EPC contracts to China Chemical Engineering Seven (CC7) for Namibia’s 2.4 million tonne green ammonia facility signals a strategic shift toward renewable production technologies. The $10 billion Hyphen project, roughly equivalent to Namibia’s entire GDP, will utilize 3GW of renewable capacity to produce what developers claim will be the world’s largest green ammonia facility, though the economic fundamentals underlying this ambitious scale remain largely untested. The scale of the proposed facility dwarfs existing green ammonia…

Oman targets 1.4 million tonnes of green hydrogen production capacity by 2030, yet the Sultanate’s strategy increasingly relies on manufacturing partnerships with Chinese technology providers rather than indigenous innovation, as evidenced by United Engineering Services’ memorandum with Sungrow Hydrogen for domestic electrolyser assembly. The partnership emerges as Sungrow becomes market leader among Chinese hydrogen electrolyser manufacturers while Oman allocates 50,000 square kilometres of land across eight signed projects targeting 35 gigawatts capacity, raising questions about technology transfer effectiveness and long-term industrial competitiveness. The manufacturing agreement represents Oman’s attempt to capture value-added activities within its hydrogen ecosystem, yet the arrangement primarily…

Green hydrogen production costs in the United States range between $3.74 – $11.70 per kilogram, compared to grey hydrogen’s $1.11 to $2.35 per kilogram, highlighting the economic challenge facing the industry despite securing a reprieve through the 45V tax credit extension to January 2028. The delay provides breathing room for a sector where Wood Mackenzie estimates 75% of announced projects—representing 2.3 million tonnes of capacity—would miss the original deadline, but industry analysts question whether the extended timeline addresses fundamental competitiveness issues that have plagued the technology for decades. The extension represents a policy compromise that recognizes green hydrogen’s nascent development…

India’s energy storage sector achieved a pivotal milestone in July 2024, with states tendering 8.1 GWh of capacity—the highest monthly volume on record—while discovering a benchmark tariff of ₹3.13 per unit for solar-plus-storage projects with four-hour duration. This represents an 18% reduction from the previous record low of ₹3.32 per unit, signaling rapid cost compression in a market that has launched tenders for 171GWh of energy storage capacity since 2018, including more than 55GWh in the first half of 2025 alone. The acceleration reflects strategic alignment between state-level procurement and federal policy frameworks, particularly the expanded Viability Gap Funding (VGF)…