Global Energy Industry Key Trends – 16 July 2026

By Bright Chagara/16 July, 2026/Uncategorized
Uncategorized/16 July, 2026

Key Trends
Key trends that the media are reporting on: 

  • A three-year-old India-Germany MOU to facilitate migration of Indian solar technicians to Germany has produced no placements, with coverage in The Hindu identifying the gap between bilateral labour mobility agreements and on-the-ground implementation as a systemic challenge for the global green workforce.
  • The UK approved the 740 MW One Earth Solar Farm — the second-largest granted planning consent to date — with Solar Energy UK describing it as a step towards cheaper power, whilst Britain’s largest community solar farm was simultaneously forced to shut due to grid overload concerns, illustrating the growing tension between capacity growth and grid infrastructure.
  • SolarPower Europe called on the European Commission to clarify its decision to ban EU funding for projects using inverters from high-risk countries, citing “deep uncertainty” across the sector, with separate coverage noting the ban threatens solar expansion in Central Europe.
  • Germany’s Bundestag and Bundesrat passed the Electricity Supply Security and Capacity Act (StromVKG), which BSW-Solar welcomed for its adjusted performance requirements for battery storage systems, as the country prepares for its coal phase-out.
GSC and Associations in the News
The unfulfilled solar promise of India and Germany (The Hindu)

Three years after both countries signed a landmark agreement to facilitate the migration of Indian solar technicians to Germany, not a single such technician has made the journey; the experience exposes a wider disconnect between ambitious labour mobility agreements and the realities of skill development, labour market demand and the aspirations of India’s emerging green workforce … Within a month of former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to India in February 2023, the Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft (BSW), or the German Solar Industry Association, and the SCGJ signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote skilled worker migration in the solar sector between India and Germany.

Five ways cost-conscious homeowners can save on solar panels (This is Money)

Solar panels and other green technologies are an investment that can reduce your energy bills, helping you save money over the years to come … The industry body Solar Energy UK suggests in a report that solar panels provide a modest boost to property values of between 0.9 and 2 per cent.

Legislation on New Power Plant Construction Passed (Energie & Management/Powernews.org)

The Bundestag and Bundesrat have passed the Electricity Supply Security and Capacity Act (StromVKG). The legislation aims to safeguard the electricity supply following the coal phase-out through the construction of new power plants and storage facilities …The Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft (BSW-Solar) also sees progress regarding battery storage systems. The Berlin-based association points out that performance requirements and regulations for plant pools have been adjusted.

I helped drive this record-setting EV across Britain on sunshine alone — and the 870-mile trip cost absolutely nothing An electric Renault car being charged next to a man in the driving seat. (TechRadar)

For the first time, a production EV has driven the 870 miles from Land’s End to John o’Groats on solar energy alone, without taking a single unit from the grid. I went along for a wild ride that was absolutely free … Gareth Simkins of the trade body Solar Energy UK puts the wider picture into perspective: On one April afternoon this year, solar met 46 per cent of Britain’s electricity demand.

After record expansion, Brazil’s solar sector enters a new phase (Business News Americas)

The Brazilian solar energy market is going through a period of transition. After years of rapid growth, driven by the expansion of large power plants and distributed generation (DG), the sector is facing increasingly evident limitations in the electrical infrastructure, rising curtailment, high capital costs, and regulatory uncertainties … According to the Global Market Outlook for Solar Power 2026–2030 report, from SolarPower Europe, with the participation of the Brazilian Photovoltaic Solar Energy Association (Absolar) , Brazil fell from fourth to fifth place among the largest photovoltaic markets in the world due to its performance in terms of new capacity added in 2025.

Approval of UK’s second-largest solar farm ‘a step towards cheaper power’ says Solar Energy UK (Renewable Energy Magazine)

The UK has taken another step forward towards delivering cheaper, cleaner, homegrown power with the approval of the 740 MW One Earth Solar Farm – the second largest granted planning consent so far – which will account for over 1 percent of the 54-57 GW solar target set in the UK Clean Power 2030 Action Plan. The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan will help to insulate the UK from volatile international gas prices, and further boost the UK’s growing ability to attract significant investment into new energy infrastructure, growing the country’s economy and boosting jobs. The One Earth Solar Farm project is led by Solar Energy UK members PS Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

SolarPower Europe calls for clarity on EU inverter funding stop (Renewables Now)

SolarPower Europe has called on the European Commission to provide clarity on its decision to ban European funding for solar PV and battery storage projects using inverters from high-risk countries, saying the move has caused “deep uncertainty” across the sector.

Bureaucracy Is Strangling America’s Clean Energy Buildout (OilPrice.com)

The global energy system is facing a polycrisis. Consecutive and escalating geopolitical crises have thrown the world’s oil and gas markets into turmoil, the artificial intelligence boom is placing unprecedented stress on power grids and threatens to drive a major energy supply deficit in the near future, and all of this is taking place against the backdrop of dangerous heat waves, underscoring the cost of our energy system and the urgency of the global clean energy transition. So what is standing in the way of decarbonization? … “Permitting is one of the silver bullets of the energy transition,” said SolarPower Europe‘s Jonathan Bonadio. “When we get the paperwork and bureaucratic procedures right, solar and renewables will have a true fighting chance.”
Regional Developments
Africa

North America

Latin America

Asia

Australia

EU & UK
Social Media Highlights
  • Bruce Little – Founder of Grandparents for Our Revolution, a grassroots organizing community and progressive advocacy initiative – shared on Bluesky a Mother Jones article on solar energy outpacing coal, noting “Solar energy just provided more electricity in the US than coal for the 1st time on record. So, spending $700 million to bail out the coal industry is like throwing a lifeline to a ship that has already sunk.” garnering 3K likes.
  • Jerryscience shared on Instagram a post on Australia’s generating so much solar power that some households now get a few hours of free electricity, commenting “This policy acts as an elegant economic and behavioral incentive designed to shift energy usage away from the traditional evening peak and into the middle of the day.” Garnering 3.7K likes

 

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