Navigating the Complex Landscape of Energy Storage Permitting

A new analysis by DNV, the independent energy expert and assurance provider, finds that the Middle East is entering a period of rapid renewable power growth, led by very large solar projects and the increasing use of energy storage. The report, Rise of renewables in the Gulf region, unveiled today at the World Future Energy Summit, shows that variable renewable capacity in MENA is set to grow around tenfold by 2040 — and continue rising through 2060 — even as the region remains a major oil and gas producer.

Renewables are expected to become a central source of electricity supply in the coming decades. By 2060, electricity is expected to meet 35% of total energy demand in the region, with most of that electricity generated from renewables. Solar and wind together are projected to generate about 85% of electricity by that time, with solar accounting for about 45% and wind about 40%.

“The rapid rise of renewables in the Gulf, and MENA more broadly, is not replacing hydrocarbons overnight, but it is reshaping the power system,” said Ditlev Engel, CEO, Energy Systems at DNV. “GCC countries are building some of the world’s largest solar and storage projects while still supplying global oil and gas markets. This development is driven mainly by economics. Renewables now provide low-cost electricity, and clean power is becoming necessary for competitive industry and future hydrogen production.”

Mega projects and new electricity demand are accelerating growth

The report finds that growth is driven by both increased renewable supply and new electricity demand. Large renewable power projects are multiplying across the region, including very large solar plants, solar-plus-storage facilities, and new wind developments. Electricity demand is rising in sectors such as data centres, electric mobility, and green hydrogen production, while existing industries are increasing their use of low-carbon power in response to policies such as the European Union Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

The report notes that a key shift is expected around 2040. At that point, annual growth in renewable electricity is projected to exceed annual growth in total electricity demand, leading to a steady increase in the share of renewable electricity in the overall mix.

Solar leads, while wind and storage start to scale

Solar power remains the leading renewable technology in the region. Installed solar capacity is projected to increase from 76GW in 2024 to 340GW by 2029. By the end of the decade, solar is expected to supply close to one-fifth of all electricity. The share of projects combined with battery storage is also expected to rise as developers seek round-the-clock supply and greater system flexibility.

Wind power, though starting from a smaller base, is expected to triple in each decade from 2020 to 2060.. Wind generation patterns complement solar output, with higher production at night and during seasonal wind periods, especially when combined with storage.

Taken together, the report forecasts that solar and wind generation in MENA will increase about fourteen-fold by 2040, alongside a ten-fold rise in installed capacity. “The Gulf is moving from discussion to deployment,” said Jan Zschommler, Market Area Manager for Middle East & Africa, Energy Systems at DNV. “Utility-scale solar, wind, and storage projects are now being built at a pace that changes the regional power mix. Our modelling shows that renewables growth will exceed demand growth after 2040. That is when the transition in the region’s power mix starts to accelerate.”

Storage and system flexibility will be decisive

The report finds that energy storage capacity in the region is projected to soar from about 36GWh today to almost 9,500GWh by 2060. Batteries will increasingly replace thermal power plants as the main source of short-term flexibility. Regional interconnections will also support system balancing and electricity trade as renewable shares increase.

The findings in the renewables report sit alongside insights from DNV’s 2025 Energy Industry Insights survey, the company’s annual global outlook based on responses from energy executives across regions and sectors. In that survey, the Middle East emerged as the most optimistic region in the world about the prospects for the energy industry. A large majority of respondents expect both revenue and profit growth in the years ahead, and many point to rapid build-out of renewables and supporting infrastructure as a key driver. The survey highlights strong investment appetite, expanding project pipelines, and confidence in long-term growth trajectories, providing an additional perspective on how industry leaders in the region view the pace and direction of change.

The full report is available at https://www.dnv.com/energy-transition-outlook/rise-of-renewables-in-the-gulf-region/

DNV | www.dnv.com  

Sensational media coverage of rare turbine fires is driving community opposition and putting over 12GW of future onshore wind projects at risk across Europe, according to a new report from Firetrace International, ‘Fire Alarm: How isolated fire incidents could threaten EU onshore wind’. The findings draw on insights from experts across Europe’s wind industry.

This emerging risk comes at a pivotal moment for the sector. With offshore wind facing ongoing uncertainty, developers are increasingly focusing on onshore projects. Europe has seen a historic surge in proposals, with more than 200,000 MW of new onshore projects proposed in the last two years alone. Yet despite 189,641 MW of operational capacity, 56,563 MW of planned projects were cancelled, shelved or mothballed over the last 18 years – demonstrating how persistent permitting and community hurdles, often exacerbated by isolated turbine fires, continue to stall progress.

Without action to address public fears around turbine fires, over 12 GW of future capacity could be at risk.

Sensational media reporting is driving community opposition  

Although turbine fires are exceptionally rare – with global incident rates estimated at only 1 fire per 1,710 to 7,000 turbines, representing far less than 1% of the fleet – they often receive disproportionate media attention, frequently amplified by viral social media imagery. This coverage is often leveraged by local opposition groups, who reuse dramatic visuals and provocative language to influence authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs), resulting in project delays or cancellations that far exceed the actual level of risk.

These dynamics are intensified by a lack of timely, factual, and contextual information from the industry, allowing isolated incidents to be perceived as systemic problems and drive community opposition.

Europe needs standardised fire safety data and regulations

The report states that the industry must establish standardised, evidence-based data on turbine events to dispel myths and address misinformation. A central, publicly accessible database on turbine fires would help convey a clear, coherent message that steps are being taken to protect sites from fire risks and that these events are rare.

While data regulations are fragmented across Europe, a complete regulatory overhaul is unnecessary. Instead, stronger accountability and enforcement of existing industry standards would provide greater clarity and a more level playing field.

Greater data collaboration between OEMs, insurers, and regulators is also essential to identifying real risks and guiding the development of effective fire prevention and mitigation technologies. This coordinated approach would help the industry move from reacting to incidents toward proactively reducing them.

Engaging with local communities to win support

The report emphasises that early, proactive and continuous engagement is essential to building community support for onshore wind projects. Providing timely, transparent information from the earliest planning stages – and maintaining an open dialogue through regular Q&A forums, rather than one-off meetings – helps reassure local citizens about site safety.

Clear explanations of safety protocols – including routine maintenance operations and emergency response plans – should also be paired with relatable comparisons that help residents understand risk, since raw statistics are often misinterpreted.

Helping local residents to recognise the local benefits of wind farms, such as job creation and clean, more affordable electricity, can further boost support. Outreach to local schools also helps build familiarity with wind technology among younger generations

Together, these measures directly address the fear and uncertainty that often stem from limited information and misunderstanding and help local communities to understand the economic benefits of onshore wind projects.

Joe DeBellis, Global Head of Clean Energy Sector at Firetrace International, said: “Europe cannot afford to let rare turbine fires – or the sensational headlines they attract – derail the continent’s onshore wind boom. Dramatic visuals and inconsistent reporting often amplify perceptions of risk, fuelling misinformation and driving avoidable community pushback against projects that are vital to advancing the renewable energy transition. That’s why standardised, transparent fire-incident data, paired with early and meaningful engagement with local communities, is essential.”

“When people have access to clear information, understand the economic benefits of onshore wind sites and see developers addressing concerns upfront, trust grows. These steps will help safeguard the onshore wind pipeline, accelerate the energy transition, and ensure that millions of households continue to benefit from clean, reliable and affordable electricity for decades to come.”

Firetrace |  https://www.firetrace.com/  

Stardust Solar Energy Inc. (TSXV: SUN) (OTCQB: SUNXF) (FSE: 6330) ("Stardust Solar" or the "Company") announces the securing of a 20-year, utility-scale Power Purchase Agreement ("PPA") in Zambia to support a 30-megawatt ("MW") solar project with up to US$60-90 million in contracted gross revenues. The government-backed agreement establishes long-duration, recurring royalty streams. It represents the largest royalty-based infrastructure transaction in the Company's history, materially advancing Stardust Solar's diversified global solar royalty strategy.

Through its partnership with its Zambian subsidiary, Stardust Solar Zambia ("SSZ"), the Company has secured a 30MW PPA with Zesco Limited. Zesco Limited is a state-owned utility responsible for the majority of Zambia's national power transmission and distribution. The contract provides the right to sell solar-generated electricity to the Government of Zambia at a fixed rate of US$0.07 per kilowatt-hour ("kWh") for a 20-year term. Based on current assumptions and national energy demands, the project is expected to generate total gross revenues of approximately US$60 million to US$90 million over the contract life.

Under a fully executed loan and joint venture agreement dated January 12, 2026, Stardust Solar will fund project development, construction and provide all utility-scale engineering and technical oversight. In return, the Company will earn a 50% royalty on all energy revenues, after approved allowable operating expenses, for the remaining term of the PPA following repayment of the project loan and interest. This structure creates a high-margin, multi-decade recurring revenue stream.

"This agreement represents a defining milestone for Stardust Solar and the strongest validation to date of our royalty-based growth strategy," said Mark Tadros, Chief Executive Officer of Stardust Solar Energy Inc. "By securing a 20-year, government-backed power purchase agreement with a 50% recurring royalty interest, we are establishing long-duration, high-margin cash flows that directly support our objective of building a scalable global solar royalty platform while delivering clean, reliable energy to countries in need."

The 30MW utility-scale solar facility, comprising approximately 45,000 high-efficiency solar panels, is expected to reach commercial operation later this year upon completion of first 2MW of solar, phase 1 of the build. The project site includes 50 hectares of secured land, exceeding the requirements of the current PPA and providing capacity for further expansion under the existing development framework. Senior leadership will travel to Zambia in February to meet with government officials and utility stakeholders and attend the project's formal groundbreaking ceremony.

"This project reflects the type of long-term, infrastructure-aligned investment Zambia is actively encouraging," said Dr. Ochas Kashinge Pupwe, Principal of Stardust Solar Zambia and Megatricity Energy Limited. "Utility-scale solar developments supported by stable power purchase agreements play a critical role in strengthening national energy security, supporting economic growth, and accelerating the country's transition to reliable, low-carbon power. We welcome Stardust Solar's commitment to delivering scalable, technically renewable energy solutions in partnership with Zambian stakeholders."

This agreement reinforces Stardust Solar's strategy of building a diversified portfolio of long-duration, royalty-based solar assets designed to deliver scalable growth, recurring cash flows, and long-term shareholder value.

Stardust Solar Energy I www.stardustsolar.com

OLI is a collaborator in the Genesis Mission, a national initiative to build the world's most powerful scientific platform to accelerate discovery, strengthen national security, and drive energy innovation.

As part of the Genesis Mission, OLI expects to provide a chemistry base supporting AI and modeling efforts for the Mission's National Security pillar to support efforts that secure critical materials such as rare earth elements essential to advanced manufacturing and defense readiness.

"Real progress requires models that reflect how chemistry behaves in real systems," said Andy Rafal, OLI's Chief Executive Officer. "That has been OLI's focus for decades."

OLI develops the industry's most advanced, accurate and validated first-principles thermodynamic and kinetic models for electrolyte and water chemistry. Because critical materials processes are complex with sparse and variable data, AI systems require a chemistry framework that keep predictions physically realistic and operationally viable. OLI provides that foundation and serves as the chemistry intelligence layer that allows hybrid AI systems to learn, predict, and guide decision making with confidence, especially when accuracy is critical and the cost of uncertainty is high.

OLI's anticipated involvement in the Genesis Mission builds on more than a decade of collaboration with the DOE. Since 2013, the company has served as a founding member of the Critical Materials Innovation Hub, where its modeling frameworks have supported research on the extraction, separation, and refining of rare earths, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese from ores, brines, coal ash, produced water, and recycled electronics and batteries.

"AI has significant potential, but it must be grounded in true chemistry," said Andre Anderko, OLI's Chief Science Officer. "Our goal is to help ensure that the tools developed through Genesis reflect how chemical systems actually behave."

Leading companies across the critical-materials landscape such as Albermarle, SQM, Standard Lithium, Momentum Technologies and many others rely on OLI's models to make confident, chemistry-driven decisions that optimize process design, enhance product quality, and reduce operational risk in complex, high-pressure environments.

As the Genesis Mission moves forward, OLI expects to play a leading role in shaping the future of chemistry-informed AI. The company anticipates contributing to technical workshops, hybrid AI development, and collaborative research focused on shortening development cycles, reducing trial-and-error testing, and accelerating the shift from scientific discovery to U.S. based industrial deployment.

OLI | olisystems.com/why-oli/critical-materials-rare-earth-elements/

DOE Genesis Mission | energy.gov/genesis

BidItUp, a leading industrial asset auctioneer and industrial disposition partner, today announced a landmark 8-day online and live virtual auction featuring the manufacturing and R&D assets of XALT Energy, a U.S.-based lithium-ion battery manufacturer serving electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage system (ESS) markets.

Spanning two major Michigan facilities, the auction presents a rare opportunity to acquire late-model, production-proven battery manufacturing, automation, and laboratory systems—many available under power—allowing buyers to bypass long lead times, capital constraints, and global supply-chain delays associated with new equipment.

"This auction represents a unique convergence of scale, sophistication, and immediacy," said Tara Shaikh, CEO of BidItUp. "These are highly engineered systems that supported real-world battery production. For manufacturers, integrators, and technology-driven buyers, this offering provides a faster, more capital-efficient path to deploy or expand lithium-ion manufacturing capabilities."

The eight-day event includes assets from XALT Energy's 400,000-square-foot manufacturing campus in Midland, Michigan, as well as its R&D and prototype operations in Auburn Hills, encompassing the full lifecycle of lithium-ion battery development—from pilot and testing through high-volume production.

Auction Details

• Event Duration: 8 Days
• Bidding Format: Live Virtual Webcast & Timed Online Auction
• Inspections: By Appointment Only

Asset Locations

• Manufacturing Facility: Midland, MI
• R&D & Prototype Facility: Auburn Hills, MI

Highlights Include
Automated lithium-ion production assets from Tesla Manz and a ThyssenKrupp battery production line (under power), Bühler and Hitachi slurry mixing systems, G&G Lamistar coating lines, Kokam stacking equipment, more than 40 industrial robots from FANUC, ABB, and KUKA, extensive environmental testing chambers, battery cyclers, power and rectifier systems, and complete plant and facility infrastructure.

All assets are sold As-Is, Where-Is. Registration and full auction details are available at www.biditup.com

CyrusOne and Eolian, L.P. ("Eolian") announced a collaborative infrastructure deployment for a new data center campus, DFW7, currently under construction in Fort Worth, Texas, that will provide new digital infrastructure capacity for hyperscaler and enterprise companies.  By leveraging existing high-voltage transmission infrastructure and substation capacity adjacent to DFW7, CyrusOne and Eolian have achieved accelerated time-to-market for the strategic site. This innovative collaboration co-locates large-scale data center capacity at an existing grid-scale battery energy storage site.

In 2023, having developed and operated battery energy storage systems (BESS) across the US, Eolian identified an opportunity for CyrusOne to deploy new data center capacity at an accelerated rate by utilizing existing high-voltage infrastructure at Chisholm Grid, a 100MW BESS site seven miles northwest of downtown Fort Worth that began commercial operations in the ERCOT market in 2021. The companies then collaborated on a novel structure, enabling CyrusOne to break ground in April 2025 with an approach focused on optimizing the use of existing grid infrastructure and substations and compressing the timeline for datacenter deployment in one of the fastest-growing digital infrastructure markets in the country.

"Our customers' continued growth drives demand for new capacity.  Leveraging the existing infrastructure at the Fort Worth campus enables CyrusOne to deliver large-scale capacity to customers beginning in 2026," said Eric Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer of CyrusOne.  "CyrusOne is accelerating time-to-market for our customers by working creatively with Eolian as an established energy project developer and operator with existing sites in locations that would be difficult to replicate."

Eolian introduced the Fort Worth industrial campus to CyrusOne based on its operational experience at the BESS facility and its early identification of the substation as a key piece of infrastructure for load growth in the region. As part of this transaction with CyrusOne, Eolian will modernize and upgrade one of Texas' first utility-scale BESS systems while the existing infrastructure will provide energy supply to the initial phases of digital infrastructure.

"This project is about problem-solving— using existing infrastructure intelligently to deliver speed to power and speed to datacenter growth," said Aaron Zubaty, Chief Executive Officer of Eolian. "By developing flexible capacity resources at highly networked grid locations, we can enable hyperscale growth without duplicating facilities, expanding transmission, or utilizing additional industrial real estate. This is exactly how the grid should evolve — efficiently, quickly, and in direct response to real load growth. Projects like DFW7 prove that the fastest path forward is not necessarily only to construct transmission infrastructure, but also first to more efficiently use what we have already built."

The result of this collaboration is a forward-looking campus designed to support AI-driven compute growth, data center deployment, and long-term grid reliability in North Texas. The Fort Worth site represents another model for accelerating the co-location of digital infrastructure at existing electrical grid infrastructure.

Eolian | www.eolianenergy.com

CyrusOne | cyrusone.com

Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA), in conjunction with participating Florida municipal electric utilities and Origis Energy announced the completion of Whistling Duck Solar Energy Center, which is supplying nearly 75 MWac of solar electricity to four Florida communities. Whistling Duck Solar is the fourth solar site in the Florida Municipal Solar Project (FMSP) and concludes Phase II of the 300 MW project. Located in Levy County near Williston, Florida, the project supports FMPA's participation in affordable solar energy generation for its member utilities.

"As Whistling Duck commences its commercial operations, the Florida Municipal Solar Project can conclude Phase II of its solar expansion across 13 different communities," said Jacob Williams, general manager and CEO of FMPA. "Through this project, we have added 300 total MW of solar energy, which strengthens our ability to provide reliable and cost-effective solar power to our members while supporting long-term price stability for the communities they serve."

Homestead, Key West, Lake Worth Beach and Winter Park are each set to receive power from Whistling Duck Solar Energy Center. Homestead, Lake Worth Beach and Winter Park first began receiving solar power from Rice Creek Solar Energy Center last December at the initiation of Phase II of the FMSP.

FMPA serves as the project coordinator and participating municipal utilities - who are member-owners of FMPA - purchase power from the project. Origis Energy, a leading renewable energy and decarbonization solution platform, is the builder, owner and operator of the facility.

"We are proud of our continued partnership with FMPA and its participating members. Whistling Duck Solar will directly contribute to FMPA's goal of providing efficient and stable solar power to the communities it serves," said Vikas Anand, Chief Executive Officer of Origis Energy. "We are excited about the addition of this project to Florida's energy infrastructure."

Whistling Duck Solar achieved commercial operation in December 2025 and follows the successful completion of 75 MWac Rice Creek Solar Energy Center from December 2024. 

Florida Municipal Solar Project | www.fmpa.com

Origis Energy | www.origisenergy.com/project/whistling-duck.