EirGrid to conduct marine and coastal surveys as it progresses offshore wind plans on Ireland’s south coast

EirGrid, the operator and developer of Ireland's electricity grid, will begin marine and coastal surveys in the coming weeks across Ireland’s south coast. 

The surveys will be conducted by Fugro, who were awarded a significant marine survey contract under EirGrid’s Offshore Marine Survey Framework. Following the successful application of EirGrid’s maritime usage licence from MARA, the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, the surveys will commence in July 2025 and are expected to be completed by September 2025.  

These surveys will enable progress on EirGrid’s Powering Up Offshore - South Coast project, which aims to deliver the grid transmission infrastructure needed to connect 900 MW of offshore wind generation to onshore grid connection points along Ireland’s south coast.  

Fugro will perform comprehensive geophysical, geotechnical, environmental and metocean surveys within Maritime Area A, or Tonn Nua of the Irish Government’s South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan (SC-DMAP), as well as intertidal non-intrusive landfall investigations involving geophysical and environmental surveys.  

Some of the landfall surveys are on private lands, however surveys are also scheduled on public beaches at potential landfall locations. The beaches where non-intrusive surveys will take place are Ballycroneen and Ballycrenane in County Cork and Carnivan, Long Gap and Blackhall Beach in County Wexford. EirGrid are engaging with councils, local communities, and landowners in relation to these works.  

Ahead of the beginning of the survey works, Chief Transformation and Technology Officer at EirGrid Liam Ryan said: “These surveys are key for assessing seabed conditions, soil properties, and environmental impacts across the landfall, intertidal, nearshore, and offshore zones related to cable corridors for the project.

"The insights gained as a result of this work will play a key role in informing plans for the installation of the transmission infrastructure for offshore wind energy and will guide how EirGrid progress the project in a way that is best for our marine ecosystem and local communities."

Kem One and EDF Sign a Memorandum of Understanding for a 10-Year Electricity Supply Contract

Paolo Barbieri, CEO of Kem One, and Marc Benayoun, Électricité de France (EDF) Group Executive Vice President in charge of the Customers, Services and Territories Division, signed on July 16, 2025, a memorandum of understanding outlining the principles of a 10-year electricity supply contract for Kem One’s seven industrial sites in France, located in Fos-sur-Mer, Lavera, Balan, Berre, Saint-Fons, Saint-Auban, and Vauvert.

According to the terms of the memorandum, Kem One and EDF plan to enter into a contract to supply part of Kem One’s electricity needs. The agreement includes balanced mechanisms for sharing risks and benefits between the two parties.

This contract, which is part of EDF’s commercial strategy to support industrial clients over the long term, is expected to be signed by the end of September 2025, with the first electricity delivery scheduled for January 1, 2026.

Paolo Barbieri, CEO of Kem One, stated: "This memorandum of understanding with EDF marks a decisive step toward strengthening the competitiveness and sustainability of our industrial sites. In a particularly challenging context for the chemical industry, having long-term visibility on our electricity costs is a strategic lever to ensure the continuity of our operations. Resulting from constructive dialogue and several months of collaborative work, this agreement will reinforce our local presence by securing the energy supply essential to our industrial processes. We thank EDF for its commitment to this structuring initiative, which supports the future of our sites and the development of our entire sector."

Marc Benayoun, EDF Group Executive Vice President in charge of the Customers, Services and Territories Division said: "The signing of this memorandum of understanding provides the visibility and stability Kem One needs to continue and expand its activities in France and Europe. It is another example of EDF’s commitment to supporting industrial players by providing reliable, low-carbon, and competitive electricity that promotes the country’s energy and industrial sovereignty."

From cables to transformers, E.ON strengthens energy transition in Germany with billions in investments

2025/07/15 - Through a comprehensive procurement initiative, E.ON is ensuring the progress of the energy transition in Germany for this decade and beyond. To this end, long-term contracts have been concluded with German and European manufacturers for core components to expand and modernize the grid infrastructure. The procurement volume for transformers, switchgear and local network stations as well as medium- and low-voltage cables reaches a total of more than six billion euros.

The scope of the procurement includes, among other things, more than 100,000 kilometers of medium- and low-voltage cables, several 10,000 digital local network stations, more than 500 medium-voltage circuit breaker systems for substations, and around 29,000 distribution and power transformers. By integrating these components into the German distribution grid, E.ON is enabling the connection of numerous wind and solar farms, the further ramp-up of electromobility and heat pumps, as well as battery storage systems and data centers.

Thomas König, Chief Operating Officer Networks in the Management Board of E.ON, emphasizes: ”Massive investments and at the same time consistent standardization and digitization are our central contribution as a grid operator to advance the energy transition in Germany and make it economical. Our long-term procurement strategy is an important part of our commitment to being a playmaker in the energy transition. In the long term, however, we can only make this contribution if the regulatory framework conditions are right.”

Focus on standardization and digitization

A central part of the procurement initiative is the standardization of components. The reduction of technical variants improves the planning and the production processes for manufacturers. In addition, there will be an overall acceleration of grid expansion and modernization. E.ON is thus taking on a pioneering role and paving the way for potential industry standards.

With its stable supply chain, E.ON is also striving for further digitization of its grid and system landscape. In addition to constructing digital local network stations, E.ON will standardize the control systems of its distribution system operators in Germany by 2029. The decentralized energy system of the future requires a new form of grid control that is based even more on real-time data. Digital components ensure reliable grid operation at all grid levels, even with a sharp increase in decentralized feed-in and new consumers.

European value creation ensures affordability and jobs

The procurement initiative makes an important contribution to limiting the costs of the energy transition. This includes a high procurement volume, joint process optimization, the standardization of components and long-term contracts. The newly concluded contracts provide manufacturers with the security they need to plan production and investments, for example in new plants or production lines. Most of the components are produced in Germany and other European countries, which secures and creates new jobs in the supplier industry.

Strategic partnerships for investments

The initiative is based on a new procurement strategy by E.ON for core grid expansion components. In partnership with suppliers, E.ON developed solutions and optimized procurement and processes. The contracts with the suppliers have been designed flexibly to allow for regular product development and the adaption of technical innovations at any time.

Con Edison to Report 2nd Quarter 2025 Earnings on August 7

NEW YORK - Consolidated Edison, Inc. (Con Edison) (NYSE:ED) plans to report its 2nd Quarter 2025 earnings on August 7, 2025, after the market closes.

Consolidated Edison, Inc. is one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy-delivery companies, with approximately $15 billion in annual revenues for the year-ended December 31, 2024 and $71 billion in assets as of March 31, 2025. The company provides a wide range of energy-related products and services to its customers through the following subsidiaries: Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., a regulated utility providing electric service in New York City and New York’s Westchester County, gas service in Manhattan, the Bronx, parts of Queens and parts of Westchester, and steam service in Manhattan; Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc., a regulated utility serving customers in a 1,300-square-mile area in southeastern New York State and northern New Jersey; and Con Edison Transmission, Inc., which falls primarily under the oversight of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, invests in electric transmission projects and manages, through joint ventures, both electric and gas assets while seeking to develop electric transmission projects.

Uniper sells its 18.26% shareholding stake in AS Latvijas Gaze to Energy Investments SIA

Uniper sells its 18.26% shareholding stake in AS Latvijas Gaze to Energy Investments SIA.

The sale of this non-strategic minority equity participation in AS Latvijas Gaze (https://lg.lv) is part of the conditions that Uniper must fulfill under EU state aid law. On 20 December 2022, the EU Commission approved the stabilization package for Uniper under EU state aid law. As part of the approval, the EU Commission defined a series of structural remedies that Uniper must fulfill.

About Uniper

Düsseldorf-based Uniper is a European energy company with global reach and activities in more than 40 countries. With around 7,500 employees, the company makes an important contribution to security of supply in Europe, particularly in its core markets of Germany, the UK, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Uniper’s operations include power generation in Europe, global energy trading, and a broad gas portfolio. Uniper procures gas – including liquefied natural gas (LNG) – and other energy sources on global markets. The company owns and operates gas storage facilities with a total capacity of more than 7 billion cubic meters.  

Uniper aims to be carbon-neutral by 2040. To achieve this, the company is transforming its power plants and facilities and investing in flexible, dispatchable power generation units. Uniper is one of Europe’s largest operators of hydropower plants and is helping further expand solar and wind power, which are essential for a more sustainable and secure future. Uniper is gradually adding renewable and low-carbon gases such as biomethane to its gas portfolio and is developing a hydrogen portfolio with the aim of a long-term transition. The company plans to offset any remaining CO2 emissions by high-quality CO2-offsets.  

Uniper is a reliable partner for communities, municipal utilities, and industrial enterprises for planning and implementing innovative, lower-carbon solutions on their decarbonization journey. Uniper is a hydrogen pioneer, is active worldwide along the entire hydrogen value chain, and is conducting projects to make hydrogen a mainstay of the energy supply. 

South Africa's Eskom targets mainly clean energy sources by 2040

JOHANNESBURG, July 16 (Reuters) - South African state-owned power utility Eskom aims to shift to mainly clean energy sources by 2040 from its current predominantly coal-based generation fleet, it said on Wednesday as it laid out its latest plans for the change.

Eskom aims to have 32 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2040, compared to less than 1 GW now, while it wants its coal capacity to shrink from 39 GW to 18 GW over that time, a company presentation on its energy sources to lawmakers showed.