Global Scans · Energy · Weekly Summary

WHAT'S NEXT?: By 2025 solar energy will be the cheapest energy option globally. In 2040, oil and natural gas are expected to make up nearly 60 percent of global supplies, while nuclear and renewables will be approaching 25 percent. Improvements in energy efficiency in lighting and home appliances are expected to continue to push residential electricity use lower. The burning of coal will fall out of favor. Transportation energy consumption will be rising in correlation to growth in automated vehicles in the coming years.

• [New] The Nuclear Scaling Initiative is a collaborative effort of Clean Air Task Force, the EFI Foundation, and the Nuclear Threat Initiative to build a new nuclear energy ecosystem that can quickly and economically scale to 50+ gigawatts of safe and secure nuclear energy globally per year by the 2030s. The Nuclear Threat Initiative
• [New] Electricity demand in the United States is expected to rise significantly over the coming decades, driven by factors including data centers, the growing electrification of industry, and everyday energy needs like heating, cooling, and transportation. The Nuclear Threat Initiative
• [New] Global energy demand is projected to grow by 50% between 2020 and 2050, driven by billions of people in developing countries improving their living standards. Stanford Emerging Technology Review
• [New] Technological progress and gradually declining costs could allow geothermal energy to account for up to 15% of global electricity demand growth by 2050, provided economic conditions are favorable. Ecofin Agency
• [New] Falling equipment costs and efficiency improvements are projected to push the levelized cost of solar energy below $30 per megawatt-hour by 2035, and that cost profile is already shaping infrastructure decisions. Green Energy Stocks
• [New] Solar is expected to represent close to half of all green energy capacity in 2026. Green Energy Stocks
• [New] Global energy storage deployment will exceed 100 GW in 2026, driven largely by the need to integrate intermittent renewables with data center-scale loads. The Property Chronicle
• [New] The surging energy demand from AI-related data centers, expected to more than double global electricity use this decade, risks concentrating loads in a few geographic hubs, increasing costs, and straining already stressed grids. OBSERVER RESEARCH FOUNDATION ( ORF )
• [New] The energy demand of data centers in the United States is expected to rise from 4.4% of total U.S. electricity in 2023 to somewhere between 6.7 to 12% of total U.S. electricity by 2028. OBSERVER RESEARCH FOUNDATION ( ORF )
• [New] Duke Energy, a large utility, is collaborating with Amazon Web Services to expand Intelligent Grid Services that use AI to decrease the time to calculate power flow from weeks to months, maximize the use of renewable energy, and anticipate future energy needs. OBSERVER RESEARCH FOUNDATION ( ORF )
• [New] The sovereign wealth Fund of Nigeria and the World Bank agency have allocated $500 million for the renewable energy fund, which will invest in manufacturers of solar systems and mini-electric grids. AKM EN
• [New] India aims to develop 100 GW of hydro pumped storage by 2047 to stabilise its renewable energy surge. Current Affairs | Vision IAS
• [New] The US Gulf Coast region represents a critical chokepoint in global energy distribution networks, with recent disruptions highlighting the vulnerability of concentrated infrastructure to extreme weather events. Discovery Alert
• [New] The US Gulf Coast export disruption illustrated how modern energy infrastructure's efficiency gains from geographic clustering create corresponding fragility during extreme conditions. Discovery Alert
• [New] East Africa could leverage geothermal energy to support rising electricity demand, as technologies advance and economic conditions become more favorable. Ecofin Agency
• [New] RMI's analysis emphasizes that Indonesia's nickel and aluminum processing, increasingly powered by coal, poses a challenge but also opportunity: shifting to renewable energy for processing creates competitive advantage as customers demand green metals produced with clean power. The Economy
• [New] Malaysia's timely introduction of the NETR and NIMP 2030 with a whole-of-nation approach has enhanced the appeal of Malaysia as an attractive investment destination amid rising global interest in advanced manufacturing, renewable energy and digital economy. The Edge Malaysia
• [New] Malaysia could soon be primed to reap the benefits of new SMR developments in the energy space. The Star
• [New] Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, alongside KOC and the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy, will develop a co-generation power and steam plant at Ratqa, boosting heavy oil production and electricity capacity. Energetica India Magazine, India Energy News, Renewable Energy News, Conventional Power Generation, Companies Guide...
• [New] International tensions and strategic considerations interact with supply shortages to create complex risk scenarios affecting global energy security. Discovery Alert
• [New] The UK's £15 billion Warm Homes Plan marks a pivotal investment in sustainable construction, accelerating the shift toward energy-efficient buildings with solar panels, heat pumps and advanced insulation. Whole Life Carbon
• [New] A bottleneck in hydrogen distribution infrastructure could jeopardise billions of pounds of clean energy investment and slow progress towards net zero. ""

Last updated: 30 January 2026