Siemens Energy has announced it will invest $1bn to make more “electricity equipment” in the US, including gas turbines and power transformers, reports the New York Times. The newspaper says the “manufacturing expansion amounts to a bet that the artificial intelligence boom, which is propelling plans for new energy-hungry data centres, will drive US electricity demand higher well into the future”. Spending will be distributed across several states, including Florida and North Carolina, with the majority earmarked for existing plants, according to the article. Reuters reports the company is also planning a new power grid equipment factory in Mississippi. The investment comes as major technology companies pour “hundreds of billions into data centres that will need more power than the [US’] ageing electrical system can provide”, it says. 

Separately, the New York Times looks at how some US automakers – who faced a “tough year in 2025” after tax credits for EVs were “tossed out” – are now pivoting towards making bigger batteries for use in data centres. Ford is currently “repurposing car battery production lines to make bigger batteries” and Tesla is “expanding efforts in the same space”, it says.

MORE ON US

• The US could issue a “general license” for US companies to produce oil in Venezuela this week, reports CNBC News.
• Reuters: “US approves license for Texas deepwater oil export port.”
• The Guardian looks at how the US administration is using a cartoon lump of coal called “Coalie” as a “spokesperson” for its energy agenda.
• The Washington Post says restrictions announced by the Environmental Protection Agency on five chemicals is evidence of a “fragile collaboration” between the agency and the “make America healthy again” movement (a group it links to the federal government’s shifted position on vaccines and paracetamol).
• The US Treasury announced proposals governing how biofuel makers can access a $1-per-gallon tax credit for low-carbon transportation fuels, including aviation fuel, according to Reuters.
• A White House official told CNBC News that any materials identified as “critical” by the US Geological Survey can be included in the US’ recently-announced “Project Vault” critical minerals stockpiling scheme.

Saudi Arabia will invest around $2bn to build solar power plants in Turkey, in the first stage of a broader deal between the countries on renewable-energy production, according to Bloomberg. The outlet reports on an intergovernmental agreement which commits Saudi companies to initially develop 2GW of solar projects in Turkey’s Sivas and Karaman provinces, followed by 3GW of additional wind and solar capacity “to be finalised later”. 

Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports on a global battery market report from Volta Foundation which identifies Saudi Arabia as the “breakout star” of grid-scale energy storage in 2025. The newspaper states: “As recently as 2024, the kingdom did not have any batteries installed – but it now ranks fifth globally in terms of annual installed capacity with almost 3GW added last year.” Elsewhere, the report includes the “eye-popping statistic” that 40% of cumulative global battery storage capacity was added last year.

MORE ON MIDDLE EAST 

• Kuwait is planning to open up some of its oil fields to overseas firms and lease part of its pipeline network, reports Bloomberg.
• Egypt Daily News covers meetings held between Egyptian government and research centres designed to advance Egypt’s national adaptation plan, which were reportedly held alongside an introductory workshop for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The UK government has confirmed the launch of an “advanced nuclear pipeline” that would help get privately funded power plants – such as smaller modular reactors – off the ground, reports the Daily Telegraph. The process, according to the newspaper, will decide “which plans are most credible, with those that win approval securing an ‘endorsement in principle’ and the chance to discuss ‘revenue support’ that could be partially funded by taxpayer”. The article says the move has been “hailed as a significant breakthrough by companies”, including Jeff Bezos’ X-energy and British Gas owner Centrica. It quotes nuclear minister Lord Vallance as saying: “Advanced nuclear technology could revolutionise how we power industry and propel the AI data centre boom – delivering more clean energy and jobs.”

MORE ON UK

• DeSmog investigates how Reform UK can “trace its roots” to another “once-fringe movement” – the Reform party of Canada – which launched in 1987 and eventually came to power for 10 years (“several name changes later”) under Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper.
• The Conversation looks at how the UK’s recent “burial” of a climate security report is part of a decades-old trend where governments have been “downplaying or delaying” responses to warnings about climate change.
• Climate change has contributed to a dominance of brick, glass, concrete and industrial waste on UK urban beaches, according to a study covered by the Guardian.
• Greenpeace has launched a legal challenge against the UK government over its decision to facilitate the transfer of deep sea mining permits to an “opaque” company with ties to a US lobby group, reports Climate Home News.
• Campaigners are calling for the UK government to increase the warm homes discount for energy bills from £150 a year to £400 a year to reflect heating costs, according to the Daily Express.
• The Guardian has a long-read exploring the ongoing push to extract lithium from granite in Cornwall.

China saw record high submissions of proposals to build new power plants in 2025, reports Bloomberg, citing a joint report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM). The outlet says that new and reactivated proposals equalling 161 gigawatts (GW) of coal power were submitted by developers. It quotes GEM research analyst Christine Shearer as saying China is “building coal capacity far faster than it is using it”, pushing utilisation down but siphoning away capital that could instead be going to a “truly flexible, clean power system”. The Straits Times also covers the report, saying its authors recommend that “part of [China’s] coal fleet be put offline as a reserve, allowing a smaller number of coal units to operate at relatively higher and more stable load levels”. The Independent quotes CREA analyst Qin Qi saying that once built, “political and financial pressure will keep the plants operating, leaving less room for other sources of power”. [Instead, policymakers could incorporate coal into grid flexibility by developing technology-neutral policies that make it “compete directly with storage, demand response, grid upgrades and other clean options”, Shearer tells Carbon Brief.]

Elsewhere, the China Daily says that China’s “rapid transition to green energy would be impossible without the stability provided by coal”. The newspaper quotes Li Qionghui, a retired researcher from the State Grid Energy Research Institute, saying that the “current expansion of coal-fired power capacity is driven by the grid’s need for flexibility”. Li also tells the state-run newspaper that while alternatives to coal-fired power providing flexible load control may emerge, the new generation of coal-fired plants could have carbon emissions comparable to those of natural gas under the right pathway.

MORE ON CHINA

• The EU launched a probe into whether Chinese wind turbine maker Goldwind has benefitted from “foreign subsidies”, the South China Morning Post reports. UK business secretary Peter Kyle tells Yicai that “partnering” with Chinese wind turbine makers can help the UK “move towards a sustainable future” more quickly.
• A “study” article by Xinhua says building “smart grids” will enhance China’s ability to “absorb, allocate and regulate clean energy”.
• Jiemian notes that expansion of China’s “capacity pricing” mechanism to energy storage will let the industry benefit from a “stable and predictable revenue model”.
• An article in People’s Daily under the byline Jin Xuan, which denotes it was approved by the NDRC, says China has positioned itself as a “key leader in global climate governance”.
• People’s Daily publishes an article by He Yin, indicating the views of party leadership on foreign policy, saying that demand for new-energy vehicles and low-carbon development in China gives foreign companies with “abundant” opportunities.
• BJX News summarises some of the key policies issued so far for implementing China’s “dual control of carbon” system.

India and the US have “finalised a long-negotiated trade agreement”, the Economic Times reports, with US president Donald Trump indicating India would “scale back purchases of Russian oil while increasing imports of US energy, agricultural commodities [and] coal”. Per the paper, Trump announced that “Washington will cut tariffs on Indian goods to 18%” after “a period of heightened friction in trade and energy relations”. It adds that this “tariff relief” comes ahead of US-India talks on critical mineral cooperation. India also finalised its “first major structured deal” with the US to import 2.2m tonnes per annum of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the Gulf coast, accounting for nearly 10% of India’s annual needs, the story adds. Separately, industry leaders tell Down to Earth that the “tariff reset could be especially significant” for India’s solar manufacturing sector, with “the US emerging as the country’s most important overseas market”. 

MORE ON INDIA

• Javier Blas argues in Bloomberg that many in India are “convinced oil, gas and coal have become a buyer’s market – perhaps for good”. 
• Meanwhile, in a Hindu comment article, former Oil India chief Shrikant Vaidya observes “nations that move the fastest from molecules to electrons will not only cut emissions but also win supply chains, capital and jobs.”
• Experts tell Mongabay that factors “including climate finance constraints and geopolitical tensions” may have influenced the “muted” tone of India’s 2026 budget towards climate and environmental concerns.

Reuters columnist Gavin Maguire argues that the recent “rush by US utilities and tech giants to snap up as many gas turbines as possible” is causing a global shortage of gas-power equipment that “may spur other power systems to fast-track cleaner alternatives”. The US-led “surge” in planned gas-fired power capacity, he writes, has pushed delivery times for new turbines into the 2030s – and comes as the price of utility-scale solar farms backed by energy storage systems “keeps falling to new lows”. He notes that, outside of the US, signs of enthusiasm for gas power are “dimming” due to long wait times for equipment, “rising and volatile” gas prices and countries’ wariness of being reliant on “potentially belligerent trading partners”. Maguire concludes: “For global power system managers weighing expansions in gas power or renewables, the prospect of abundant, affordable supplies of renewable equipment may outweigh the appeal of an uncertain timeline for gas power parts and high gas costs. That may set the stage for a divergence in global power system foundations, with the US set to become ever gassier while other major markets opt for a cleaner makeup.”

MORE CLIMATE COMMENT

• For the Conversation, climate scientist Aaron Thierry looks at the “necropolitics” of climate change.
• An editorial in the Times argues that the hybrid Toyota Prius “deserves its place” on a recent list of “50 modern cars that changed the world”. The “plaudit recognises its critical role in persuading drivers to go hybrid, beginning the gradual transition from internal combustion to electric”, it says.
• Former CEO of Lloyds of London Inga Beale argues in Reuters that “companies either weather climate risk now or pay for it later”.
• In the Conversation, climate scientists Ed Hawkins and Ric Williams set out how there are clear “fingerprints” of human activity from the atmosphere to the bottom of the ocean.
• For the Guardian, Mark Wolfe, executive director of the US National Energy Assistance Directors Association, argues that the Trump administration’s energy policies – which he says “increase reliance on global fuel markets while dismantling the lowest-cost sources of new domestic power and demand reduction” – are behind high US energy bills.

Journalist Emily Atkin argues in her Heated newsletter that “paying attention to polluters may be one of the best ways to understand what’s currently happening in the US”. She says that fossil fuel industries in the US are “actively underwriting democratic delay” through their backing of the Trump administration. She notes that the fossil fuel industry was “one of the largest corporate backers” of Trump’s return to power as well as being a major donor to Republicans in 2022 and 2024. This funding, she says, “helped entrench a political movement openly hostile to democratic norms” – and notes that this is “no accident”. Atkin writes: “Authoritarians are better for fossil fuel business. If governments actually answered to the public, the transition away toward renewables would likely move much faster. This is why the demand that climate activists ‘stay in their lane’ has always rung hollow to me. The fossil fuel industry isn’t staying in its lane.”

This edition of the Daily Briefing was written by Cecilia Keating, with contributions from Aruna Chandrasekhar, Henry Zhang and Anika Patel. It was edited by Robert McSweeney.