A $7 billion acquisition, Germany's first capacity market, and the start of US EV cell manufacturing on home soil — the energy transition's infrastructure phase is becoming a proper industry.
Brookfield Asset Management has acquired Aypa Power, a grid-scale battery storage developer, from Blackstone for approximately $7 billion. Aypa has a pipeline of 8 GW of projects across North America and a 1.2 GW operating portfolio. The deal is Brookfield's largest single storage acquisition and follows its $2.1B purchase of X-ELIO last year.
Germany's Federal Network Agency has scheduled the first auction under the country's new capacity market mechanism for 14 September. The auction will procure 8 GW of dispatchable capacity — a mix of gas peakers, pumped hydro, and large-scale battery storage — for delivery from 2029. The mechanism was legislated in March after years of political deadlock over market design.
Hyundai Motor Group and SK On's joint venture plant in Bartow County, Georgia has begun mass production of EV battery cells — the first IRA-compliant cell production from a Korean-US JV. Initial capacity is 35 GWh annually, with expansion to 65 GWh by 2028. Cells will supply the Hyundai and Kia plants already operating in Georgia and Alabama.
The Iberian governments have jointly approved development frameworks for 3.5 GW of new pumped hydro capacity, split roughly evenly between the two countries. The projects — fourteen in total, spanning the Iberian mountain range and Tagus watershed — are expected to reach FID by 2028 and will complement the peninsula's already-high renewable penetration.
China added just 72 GW of solar capacity in the first half of 2026, a 66% decline from H1 2025's record-breaking pace. PV Magazine attributes the slowdown to module price compression below the cost of capital for many developers, combined with grid connection bottlenecks in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. The panel price floor debate has reopened at the National Development and Reform Commission.
Polish renewables developer R.Power has signed EPC contracts with EDF Renewables and Eurus Eiffel for 2.2 GWh of grid-scale battery storage projects in Poland, moving them from development to construction. Ergy has also co-invested. The projects qualify under Poland's recently amended capacity market rules and are expected online by Q4 2027.