The US AI boom is facing an electric shock
The race for artificial intelligence dominance by Big Tech may hit a snag soon as U.S. power grids struggle to keep up with hyperscalers who spend a lot of money. Microsoft, Amazon Alphabet, and Meta are among the technology giants in America that have announced in recent months plans to spend over $600 billion in AI by 2026. Investors are already unsure about the viability of this strategy due to the investment wave. The ambitious U.S. AI plans will be hampered by power-infrastructure bottlenecks such as turbine shortages, slow 'grid expansion, and regulatory red tape.
Siemens Energy CEO: spin-off wind business idea is valid, but first turnaround must be achieved
Siemens Energy CEO, said on Tuesday that it is reasonable for activist investors Ananym Capital?to push?for the spin-off of a loss-making division of wind turbines?of the firm. Ananym, a U.S. company, said it took a stake in Siemens Energy in December and asked the management to review its wind division, Siemens Gamesa. It claimed that the division could be worth up to $10 billion and a spinoff would increase investor returns by 60 percent. Christian Bruch said, "This is a question I would ask myself every time." He added that the business should have a clear path towards double-digit profit margins.
Siemens Energy CEO: spin-off wind business idea is valid, but first turnaround must be achieved
Siemens Energy CEO, said that it was reasonable for activist investor Ananym Capital to push for a spinoff of?its wind turbine division. However, the business must first be stabilized and turned around. Ananym Capital, based in the United States, announced in December that it had acquired a stake of Siemens Energy. The company asked management to review Siemens Gamesa's wind division. It said the division could be worth up to $10 billion and that a spin-off would increase investor returns by 60 percent. Christian Bruch said, "The question is right and I'd ask it myself every time." He added that there should be a clear path towards double-digit margins.
The US Electric Grid is stressed by the cold weather
Electric grid operators in the U.S. took extra precautions on Saturday to avoid rotating blackouts, as frigid temperatures hit half of America's population. The PJM Interconnection – the largest?U.S. The PJM Interconnection, which serves 67,000,000 people in the East and Mid-Atlantic region, reported temporary spikes of wholesale spot?electricity? prices that rose above $3,000 per megawatt-hour on Saturday morning. Earlier levels were less than $200. Gridraven CEO Georg Rute is an expert in how weather impacts power line capacity. Rute said that a gas turbine 40 years old would turn on when it saw the super-high price.
Vistra buys Cogentrix Energy for $4.7 billion amid rising power demand
Utility Vistra announced on Monday that it has agreed to purchase Cogentrix Energy from Quantum Capital Group for $4.7 billion. The company is looking to meet the growing demand for power. The shares of the company increased by nearly 5% during extended trading. The Texas-based electricity company said that the deal included $2.3 billion cash, $900 millions in Vistra shares and $1.5 billion of debt. Tax benefits are expected to offset some of this amount. This deal follows Vistra’s $1.9 billion purchase of seven gas-fired power plants from Lotus Infrastructure Partners in May 2025. The combined capacity was nearly 2,600 Megawatts.
Japan's Osaka Gas begins unit at new 1,25-GW gas fired power plant in Himeji
Osaka Gas said that it had started commercial operations at its new 1,25-gigawatt, gas-fired power station in Himeji, Western Japan, on Jan. The company that also provides electricity said the plant consists of two 622.6 megawatt units. The No.2 unit is expected to start operations in May. According to a statement from the company, this facility uses natural gas as fuel and a high-efficiency gas-turbine combined-cycle system for power generation. Osaka Gas will increase its domestic thermal power production capacity to 3.2 GW from 2 GW once both units come online. Gas is a viable transition fuel to achieve the nation's net-zero emissions goal by 2050.
GE Vernova is expecting 80 gigawatts in gas turbine contracts before the end of the year
GE Vernova, a manufacturer of power generation equipment, said that it expects to sign 80 gigawatts in combined-cycle gas?contracts before the end of this year - as electricity demand from Big Tech data 'centers - ramps up. The demand for natural gas-powered?turbines has risen as U.S. electricity demand is at record levels due to the proliferation energy-intensive data centres supporting artificial intelligence initiatives. GE 'Vernova has sold all of its gas-turbines until 2028. CEO Scott Strazik remarked at a conference held for investors that there are less than 10% remaining to be sold the following year.
Ananym Capital launches activist campaign after acquiring stake in Siemens Energy
The Financial Times reported that Ananym Capital owns a stake in Siemens Energy, a German company. It is pushing Siemens to separate its wind business. Ananym has 'launched a campaign of activism against the company,' FT reported, citing sources familiar with the issue. The stake was not disclosed. Charlie Penner and Alex Silver, a former P2 partner, founded the activist hedge fund last year. Penner was the architect of a three-seat win at Exxon Mobil by 2021. Ananym claimed that Siemens' wind energy unit was holding back its gas turbine and grid power businesses…
Shell-led LNG Canada’s second processing unit is still down, according to sources
Two sources have confirmed that Shell-led LNG Canada’s second processing unit known as Train 2 is still down almost a month after it was first started up. On November 20, the company announced that a restart was scheduled for December 1, and would last approximately two weeks. On Thursday, a spokesperson for LNG Canada stated that it would provide an update this week. The complex, located in Kitimat (British Columbia), is the first major LNG-export facility in Canada, and the first in North America's West Coast. . LNG Canada will export 14 million tonnes of LNG annually when fully operational. The plant was started in July and has been running ever since.
As yttrium shortages grow, a new rare earth crisis is on the horizon
Due to Chinese export restrictions on yttrium, global supplies are in short supply. This has led to fears of shortages, and a rise in costs, which could affect aerospace, energy, and semiconductor production. In April, China, which is the primary source of this element, used in coatings that protect against high temperatures and in alloys for engines, limited exports, along with six others rare earths, in response to U.S. duties. The dispute is not fully resolved despite the high-stakes summit between U.S. president Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping last month.
Blackstone invests $1.2 billion to build a power plant in West Virginia
Blackstone announced on Thursday that its unit will invest around $1.2 billion in building a power station in West Virginia. The asset manager is stepping up efforts to meet the surging demand for electricity due to artificial intelligence and industrial expansion. Utilities, large investors and data center operators have increased their funding to build more power capacity. The Wolf Summit Energy Project, a 600-megawatt natural gas combined-cycle plant in Harrison County, will provide power to Old Dominion Electric Cooperative which services about 1.5 million people across Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. Bilal Khan is a senior managing Director at Blackstone.
Sources say Shell-led LNG Canada is facing problems when it ramps up its production.
Shell-led LNG Canada has been experiencing technical difficulties as it ramps production up at its liquefied gas plant in Kitimat. One LNG tanker was diverted away from the facility recently without superchilled fuel, according to data provided by LSEG and four sources. The facility is the first major LNG-export facility on the West Coast of North America and Canada, and provides direct access to Asia, which is the largest LNG market in the world. When fully operational, the facility will convert approximately 2 billion cubic feet per day of gas (bcfd). Market participants hope that this will increase Canadian natural gas prices.
Wartsila believes flexibility is key to ethanol power generation in Brazil
Wartsila, a Finnish company, is betting on a more flexible way to generate electricity with ethanol in Brazil. Similar efforts by large firms failed a decade earlier. Wartsila announced in March a partnership with a power station in Recife in northeast Brazil, where a 4-megawatt engine would burn ethanol during a 2-year pilot program starting in April 2026. The Finnish company touted its efforts as the first ever world trial of generating electricity using an ethanol powered engine. According to those who worked on the projects, similar experiments carried out by Brazilian corporate giants Petrobras or Vale failed due to high costs and low take-up.
Utility Vistra buys natural gas assets worth $1.9 billion for power needs
Vistra, a utility, announced on Thursday that it will acquire seven natural-gas generation facilities with a combined power of 2,600 megawatts from Lotus Infrastructure Partners, for $1.9 billion. The move is part of its efforts to meet the growing demand for electricity. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, electricity consumption will reach record levels in 2025-2026 due to the surge in demand from data centres looking to match Big Tech AI ambitions. Vistra reported that the deal included five combined cycle gas-turbine facilities and two combustion turbo turbine facilities spread across PJM New England, New York, and California.
Wood Mackenzie is concerned about the challenges of meeting the gas-powered energy demand in 15 years.
In a report published on Wednesday, Wood Mackenzie, an energy research company, said that the gas turbine market may have difficulty meeting strong demand over the next 15 to 20 years because of manufacturing constraints, increasing costs, and competition from renewables. Wood Mackenzie predicts that new gas-fired power generation projects will add around 890 gigawatts (GW) of capacity globally between 2025-2040. The U.S.A. and China are expected to lead the way with 47% annual additions in the same period. In Asia, high import gas prices can hinder growth. Decarbonization targets in Europe will push unabated natural gas to the fringes by 2040. The U.S.
PacificLight Power builds a hydrogen-ready gas powered plant in Singapore
PacificLight Power said that it received approval on Friday from the Singapore Government to build a hydrogen-fueled gas power plant at Jurong Island. The project is part of the city's plan to decarbonise their power grid which relies mainly on natural gas for generation. PLP said that it had received approval from Singapore’s Energy Market Authority to build, own and operate a combined cycle gas turbine facility (CCGT) capable of supplying at least 600 Megawatts (MW). This will begin in January 2029. PLP owns a CCGT plant on the island, which has been in operation since 2014 and has a capacity 830 MW.
Russia replaces foreign gas turbine technology with its own high-capacity, Russian-developed gas turbine
The Russian government has developed its own alternative technologies to Western technology that it cannot import. Vladimir Putin inaugurated the new unit of the Udarnaya Power Station in southern Russia via video link, during a ceremony broadcast on state television on Wednesday night. Putin stated that it was important that "we have new production plants and that we become independent, technologically sovereign, at least in the segment," he said. Previously, the majority of new power plants in Russia were based on gas turbines manufactured by foreign manufacturers such as Siemens, GE, and Alstom. These companies have since left the country due to the Ukraine conflict.
Siemens Energy settles with US over gas turbine contract dispute
Siemens Energy said it had agreed to pay $104m to settle with U.S. Authorities after using stolen trade secrets five years ago to inflate its bids on contracts. The proposed settlement between a U.S. Court in Virginia and Siemens Energy revolves around allegations that Siemens Energy used stolen trade secrets to bid for gas turbine equipment, as well as servicing, to Dominion Energy Inc. in 2019. The court will have to approve the settlement, which is scheduled on Dec. A case brought by General Electric, a competitor of Siemens Energy, was settled in 2021 between the two companies. Siemens Energy said on Tuesday that the settlement reached with the U.S.
Fincantieri Set to Acquire Remazel Engineering
Fincantieri has set the main terms and conditions for the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Remazel Engineering S.p.A. from Advanced Technology Industrial Group S.A. Remazel is a leader specialized in the design and supply of highly customized and complex topside equipment.The transaction enables Fincantieri to acquire highly specialized capabilities in the design and supply of cutting-edge top side equipment, while increasing its role as partner of the major international marine and subsea energy operators. With Remazel, Fincantieri strengthens its offer of end-to-end solutions consolidating its after-sale activities…
Jurong Port, MHI and JERA Explore Plan to Build Ammonia Power Plant in Singapore
A consortium of Singapore and Japanese companies have signed an initial agreement to build a power plant fuelled only by ammonia in the city state.Singapore's Jurong Port, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Asia Pacific (MHI-AP) and JERA plan to build the 60 megawatt (MW) gas turbine combined cycle plant on Singapore's Jurong Island, they said in a joint statement on Friday.Jurong Port and MHI-AP in August 2021 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a pre-feasibility study on ammonia direct combustion technology for green power generation which was concluded in March.The project aims to supply green electricity and develop an ammonia bunkering terminal for ships as part of Si