Dive Brief: Solar power purchase agreement prices remain essentially unchanged since the end of 2024, while wind PPA prices declined slightly in spite of uncertain and even adverse policy actions coming out of the Trump administration, according to data from LevelTen Energy’s PPA marketplace. The average North American solar PPA went for $57.04 per MWh in the first quarter of 2025, up 28 cents from the end of 2024 and 9.8% since this time last year. Wind PPA prices dropped more than 5% during the first quarter, but remain 4.4% higher than last year, according to LevelTen Energy. Although an ample supply of solar projects should put downward pressure on solar prices, developers may be reluctant to tighten their margins in the face of policy uncertainty, said Zach Starsia, senior director of the energy marketplace at LevelTen. Data from the next few months could clarify which direction prices are headed, Starsia said. Dive Insight: PPA prices have remained relatively static despite — or perhaps because of — the policy turmoil in recent months, Starsia said. It’s not just the Trump administration’s on-again, off-again tariffs that stand to increase costs for solar developers, he said. Renewable energy developers, who rely heavily on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during federal permitting processes, have also been impacted by the Department of Government Efficiency’s cost-cutting. And talk of revamping or repealing the Inflation Reduction Act — while still seen as unlikely — could hit developers hard, Starsia said. With a glut of solar projects set to come online in many U.S. markets, long-term analyses suggest that PPA prices should decline. But uncertainty about the future of trade and energy policy in the U.S. seems to have prompted most developers to hedge their bets by maintaining their asking prices — at least for now.

Power company VPI has called for clarity to progress the Viking carbon capture and storage (CCS) project and help drive the future of heavy industries in the Humber. VPI requested a signal from the UK government in its upcoming comprehensive spending review that it will be selected as an anchor emitter for the CCS project. The group owns the nearly 1.3GW Immingham thermal power plant, which provides power to the Humber’s two large oil refineries. VPI is planning to deploy a £1.5 billion carbon capture proposal, which will utilise Harbour Energy’s Viking CCS pipeline to transport carbon that will be buried in a depleted gas field in the North Sea. VPI chief executive Jorge Pikunic said: “Carbon capture and storage provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to turn the Humber into a powerhouse of the future. If missed, it may not come again. “For the last five years, public officials have worked tirelessly with industry to set in motion the development of Viking CCS, a unique carbon capture and storage network, here in the Humber. “Proceeding with the next stage of Viking CCS now will demonstrate how a strategic, mission-driven government can successfully transition an industrial hub into a future powerhouse, in a prudent, value-for money driven, just and meaningful way.” Viking CCS The Viking CCS pipeline will transport CO₂ captured from the industrial cluster at Immingham out to the Viking reservoirs via the Theddlethorpe gas terminal and an existing 75-mile (120km) pipeline as part of the Lincolnshire offshore gas gathering system (LOGGS). The project forms part of the UK’s track 2 CCS projects along with Scotland’s Acorn CCS project. While the UK government has backed the track 1 projects with around £22 billion of government funding, the track 2 proposal have not received similar pledges of support. Business leaders have warned

Oil and natural gas exploration and production company APA Corporation has recently made changes to its executive leadership team. The company said in a media release that Ben Rodgers has been named executive vice president (EVP) and chief financial officer (CFO), effective May 12, 2025. Furthermore, Steve Riley will continue in his role as president, while Shad Frazier joined the company as senior vice president, U.S. Onshore Operations. Additionally, Donald Martin will join the company as vice president, Decommissioning, effective May 26, 2025, APA said. In this role as EVP and CFO, Rodgers will oversee all financial activities and departments, including Accounting, Audit, Investor Relations, Planning, Tax, and Treasury. He joined APA in 2018 and previously served as SVP, Finance, and Treasurer. He also served as CFO of Altus Midstream and later as a director on the board of Kinetik Holdings Inc., APA said. He currently serves on the board of Khalda Petroleum Company, a joint venture between APA subsidiary Apache Corporation and Egypt Petroleum Company. In his position, Riney will continue overseeing asset development and operations. Both Frazier and Martin have been added to Riney’s team to help oversee operations. APA highlighted that Frazier has nearly 30 years of industry experience, most recently as vice president, Production Operations at Endeavor Energy Resources, LP. Previously, he held various leadership positions at Legacy Reserves and SandRidge Energy. Martin brings 20 years of operations and decommissioning portfolio experience, most recently as the head of decommissioning and projects at Spirit Energy. He has also managed decommissioning at Canadian Natural Resources, APA said. “I am pleased to welcome Ben to our executive leadership team. He has done a tremendous job and will bring valuable expertise to our financial operations”, John J. Christmann, APA Corporation CEO, said. “I am also excited to welcome both Shad and Donald

Global energy major TotalEnergies SE signed a heads of agreement (HoA) with Energia Natural Dominicana Enadom, S.R.L. (Enadom) for the delivery of 400,000 tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year. TotalEnergies said in a media release that the HoA with the joint venture between AES Dominicana and Energas in the Dominican Republic is subject to the finalization of sale and purchase agreements (SPAs). Once the SPAs are signed, the agreement will start in mid-2027, with a 15-year term, and the price will be indexed to Henry Hub. The deal enables Enadom to supply natural gas to the 470 MW combined-cycle power plant, currently under construction, which will increase the country’s electricity generation capacity, TotalEnergies said. This project contributes to the energy transition of the Dominican Republic by reducing its dependence on coal and fuel oil through the use of a less carbon-intensive energy source, natural gas, the company said. “We are pleased to have signed this agreement to answer, alongside AES and its partners, the energy needs of the Dominican Republic. This new contract underscores TotalEnergies’ leadership in the LNG sector and our commitment to supporting the island’s energy transition. It will be a natural outlet for our US LNG supply which will progressively increase”, Gregory Joffroy, Senior Vice President LNG at TotalEnergies, said. TotalEnergies said it is the world’s third largest LNG player with a global portfolio of 40 Mt/y in 2024 thanks to its interests in liquefaction plants in all geographies. “This agreement with TotalEnergies is the result of the confidence placed in the Dominican Republic’s energy sector and, specifically, in Enadom and AES. This partnership, alongside Enadom’s, has demonstrated investment capabilities in providing natural gas to the Dominican electricity market by ensuring a reliable, competitive, and environmentally responsible energy supply. Enadom is proud to play a pivotal

E.ON has partnered with Cambridge-based innovator Superdielectrics to lower the cost of consumer electricity bills by bringing energy storage into people’s homes. Led by former chief executive of ITM Power, Jim Heathcote, and backed by 190 investors including board member Michael Spencer, the company has its sights on raising up to £60 million to commercialise its technology. Heathcote, who floated the electrolyser business on the stock market in 2004, said his latest company would be “looking to raise some money for a pilot production plant, probably £40m to £60m would be the range”. Timing would depend on capital markets, he added. He compared Superdielectrics’ technology to the personal computer, describing traditional battery storage technology as similar to the computer mainframe. “Imagine grid balancing with large-scale battery technology,” he said in an interview. “That is like the mainframe computer in the 1960s.” The company’s vision is to move towards a distributed energy storage system, a shift so great that it would be comparable to the roll out of the home computer. He said listing the energy storage company on the public markets “would be good for accelerating the company’s development”. “What we’re trying to do is to develop a completely new energy system that is lower cost than the existing fossil fuel system,” Heathcote said. “The storage technology has got to be low cost and safe so that when you add the cost of the renewables to the storage technology, the cost of the energy that you store and use is cheaper than the existing electricity price.” Heathcote explained that the membrane-based energy storage technology developed by Superdielectrics can help combat fluctuations in solar and wind power as more renewable energy is adopted on the grid. While solar panels are not prerequisite, homes with solar installed could make further cost savings

The Environmental Protection Agency is giving more than a third of U.S. coal-fired capacity two-year exemptions from the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule, according to a list of affected power plants the EPA appears to have released Monday. The exemptions are part of a broad Trump administration effort to bolster coal-fired generation, including by potentially revising the MATS rule. The EPA gave reprieves from the most recent version of the MATS rule to coal-fired power plants totaling about 71.3 GW, or about 37% of the U.S. coal fleet, which totaled about 193 GW at the start of 2024. Power plant owners receiving the largest exemptions are Southern Co., at about 11,285 MW; NRG, at about 7,100 MW; the Tennessee Valley Authority, at about 6,660 MW; and Basin Electric Power Cooperative, at about 3,960 MW, according to the units listed by the EPA and power plant data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Keystone-Conemaugh landed exemptions for two power plants in Pennsylvania totaling 3,823 MW, according to the EPA and EIA. Ameren Missouri received exemptions for two power plants totaling 3,490 MW, and Associated Electric Cooperative received exemptions for two power plants in Missouri totaling 2,482 MW. FirstEnergy’s Monongahela Power was granted exemptions for two power plants in West Virginia totaling 3,204 MW. Oklahoma Gas and Electric was granted exemptions for units in Oklahoma totaling 2,114. President Donald Trump on April 8 signed an executive order directing the EPA to allow certain coal-fired plants to comply with a less stringent version of the MATS rule for two years after it takes effect on July 8, 2027. The most recent version of the rule, which imposes more stringent requirements for control of those emissions, was put in place by the Biden administration. Trump said pollution control equipment that would enable the power plants