Solar crossed 20% of EU electricity for three consecutive months, Europe's heatwave is now breaking grid infrastructure, and data centres face 530 local bans across the US even as new gigawatt-scale projects sign deals.
Photovoltaics exceeded 20% of EU electricity demand across each of the three months ending June 2026 — the first time solar has sustained that share for a full quarter. Latvia led at 49% solar in June alone.
Record temperatures are pushing European river temperatures above safe operating limits: Hungary's only nuclear plant will shut next week due to low Danube levels, Rhine barge transport costs have surged 400%, and Danube water levels have hit historic lows affecting fuel logistics.
Veolia was selected to operate a 350 MW microgrid — including a 430 MWh battery energy storage system — for an AI data centre in New Albany, Ohio, one of the largest behind-the-meter energy systems contracted for AI infrastructure in the US.
Over 530 US counties and municipalities now have laws restricting or banning new data centre construction, with most enacted since January 2026; more than 50 projects were cancelled this year alone — double the 2025 rate. Contested facilities now face roughly 50% cancellation rates.
Greenvolt opened its Turośń Kościelna battery energy storage facility in Poland — 200 MW / 800 MWh, contracted under the country's capacity market and optimised by Entrix — one of the largest grid-scale battery projects to enter operation in central Europe.
Thermal energy storage company 1414 Degrees signed an agreement to develop up to 1 GW of AI data centre infrastructure at its Aurora Energy Precinct in South Australia, pairing the site's existing thermal storage capacity with high-density compute load.
The US D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld FERC Order 2023, which requires grid operators to overhaul their interconnection queue processes to reduce delays for renewable energy projects — a ruling that could unlock hundreds of gigawatts currently backlogged.