Just a few short years ago, utility planners didn’t need to worry much about load growth. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) 2015 Annual Energy Outlook forecasted annual load growth of less than 1% through 2040. Demand for electricity looks completely different today. A report released at the end of 2024 by the consulting firm Grid Strategies forecasts electricity demand growth of 16%, or 128 gigawatts, by 2029. The data center building boom is driving that growth, fueled by the emergence and rapid uptake of artificial intelligence across sectors. An analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that data center load growth tripled between 2014 and 2024. It’s expected to double or triple again by 2028. Rapid load growth challenges the work of utility resource adequacy planners, whose job is to ensure the power grid has sufficient electricity to always meet customer demand, including during periods of peak demand (like a scorching hot summer day). Resource adequacy planners must also contend with growing volumes of distributed energy resources (DERs) and intermittent generation, like solar and wind. The EIA expects wind, solar, and battery storage to account for 93% of all new generating capacity in 2025. A challenge today, not the distant future The combination of accelerating load growth and a growing proportion of renewables is an immediate reliability concern. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) 2025 Summer Reliability Assessment concluded that extreme heat may result in supply shortfalls this summer. What’s more, the report explained, the presence of inverter-based resources like solar, wind, and batteries increases reliability risks because they sometimes trip offline during grid disturbances.  Rob Homer, a senior product manager at Energy Exemplar, a leading energy modeling and simulation platform provider, quotes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) when he describes the

Santos Ltd. said Monday it intends to endorse to shareholders its potential acquisition by a consortium led by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC). The Australian oil and gas explorer and producer said it had received a non-binding indicative proposal from ADNOC’s global investment arm XRG PJSC, sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Development Holding Co. (ADQ) and Carlyle Group. This comes about a year after Santos and compatriot Woodside Energy Group Ltd. ended merger talks. “The proposal is for the acquisition of all of the ordinary shares on issue in Santos for a cash offer price of US$5.76 per Santos share”, which would be adjusted for dividends paid before a final proposal comes into force, Santos said in an online statement.  It received the proposal Friday. The price had been increased from two confidential offers of $5.04 per share and later $5.42 per share in March, Santos revealed. As of the close of Australian stock trading Friday, the proposal of $5.76 per share represented a 28 percent premium to Santos’ last closing price of AUD 6.96 ($4.53), 30 percent premium to Santos’ one-week volume weighted average price (VWAP) of AUD 6.82, 34 percent premium to the one-month VWAP of AUD 6.61, 44 percent premium to the three-month VWAP of AUD 6.19 and 39 percent premium to the six-month VWAP of AUD 6.40, Santos noted. Santos rose 10.92 percent to AUD 7.72 on the Australian Securities Exchange on Monday. The consortium intends to grow Santos’ natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) business to support demand in Australia, the Asia-Pacific and beyond, XRG said in a separate press release.   Earlier this month XRG announced a goal of building a top-five integrated gas and LNG business with a capacity of 20-25 million metric tons a year by 2035. Santos operates in Australia,

Open hostilities between Israel and Iran entered a fourth day on Monday with no sign of easing, stoking fears of a wider war in the oil-rich region. Iran fired several waves of drones and missiles over the last 24 hours, while Israel hit the Islamic Republic’s capital, Tehran, killing another key military official. Since Friday, 224 people have been killed in Iran, according to the government, which said most of the casualties were civilians. Iranian attacks left 14 people dead and about 400 injured, Israel’s emergency services said.  Tensions between the two countries erupted into direct conflict on Friday, when Israel launched surprise attacks on Iranian military and nuclear sites. Since then, its air campaign has underscored Israeli air superiority and exposed the constraints facing Tehran’s ability to respond effectively. For Iran, the showdown poses a strategic dilemma. It can’t risk appearing weak, yet its retaliatory options are shrinking – and proxy forces it supports across the region have been largely deterred by Israeli action. After having urged Iran to reach a nuclear deal at the onset of the Israeli attacks, US President Donald Trump on Sunday said Iran and Israel “should make a deal, and will make a deal.” “We will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran!” he said on Truth Social. “Many calls and meetings now taking place.” He also said, in later comments to reporters, that “but sometimes they have to fight it out.” There was little else suggesting an imminent breakthrough. “We are in an existential campaign,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said as he visited the site of a missile strike on the coastal city of Bat Yam on Sunday. “Iran will pay a very heavy price for deliberately murdering our citizens, women and children.” His defense minister said the “regime in Tehran” was now

Russia said its overnight missile and drone barrage struck the large Kremenchuk oil refinery in central Ukraine, which was previously targeted by Kremlin forces in 2022.  “A group strike with precision-guided air and sea-based weapons, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles” hit the facility in the Poltava region, Russia’s defense ministry said in a Telegram statement.  Acting regional governor Volodymyr Kohut said Russia’s main targets were energy and agriculture facilities in the city, located about 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Kyiv.  Images on social media showed the skies above Kremenchuk ablaze from the aerial bombardment.  “The night was difficult,” Kohut said on Ukrainian TV. “From 11:30 p.m until 4:00 a.m., a massive attack was happening.” Nobody was injured and Ukraine’s air defense shot down majority of the missiles and drones, Kohut said, without providing details about the status of the refinery.  Explosions and debris ignited fires, damaging residential buildings and vehicles after “a massive combined attack using missiles and drones,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on X.  Russia previously targeted the Kremenchuk refinery and surrounding areas with a series of missile attacks in April, May and June of 2022. The first strike shut down the facility, which supplied Ukrainian troops in the central and eastern parts of the country, and damaged much of its infrastructure.   Separately, fire broke out at an automobile plant in the Elabuga district of Russia’s Tatarstan region – some 1,400 kilometers from the Ukrainian border – as a result of fallen debris from Ukrainian drones, Rustam Minnikhanov, head of the region, said on Telegram. One person was killed and 13 injured, he said.  Ukraine’s General Staff said drones struck facilities in Elabuga that manufacture, test and launch unmanned aerial vehicles on the territory of Ukraine, in particular on energy and civil infrastructure. The impact of the strike

TotalEnergies SE’s Saft will deliver a battery energy storage system to Gurīn Energy Pte. Ltd. for a project in Fukushima, Japan. TotalEnergies said in a media release Saft will deliver a fully integrated lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery system with a total of over 1 gigawatt-hour (GWh) of storage, together with power conversion and power management systems from its partners, as well as Saft’s I-Sight cloud supervision and data management systems featuring AI-based functionalities. “Asia is a critical region for the sustained, long-term growth of Saft’s ESS business”, Vincent Le Quintrec, Saft Sales and Marketing Director for Energy Storage Systems, said. “Saft’s proven long-term record in lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage Systems, together with Gurin Energy’s ambition in renewable project development, will play an important role in Japan’s energy transition”, Le Quintrec added. The BESS will also be installed, commissioned, and serviced by Saft, TotalEnergies said. The BESS will be deployed at a stand-alone energy storage project to be built in Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture. The project will be capable of providing over 240 megawatts (MW) of power for four hours. Construction is expected to begin in 2026. Large-scale energy storage systems store and release electricity to help grid operators better balance demand and generation, TotalEnergies noted. Adding storage will ensure Japan has a stable energy supply and can maximize renewable energy use, aiding its goal of 40-50 percent renewable energy by 2040, up from 27 percent, and carbon neutrality by 2050. “At Gurin Energy, we’re on a mission to accelerate the energy transition in Asia, and we do this by developing projects that strategically advance the renewable energy landscape in the region. Our project in Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture is a groundbreaking project that will substantially contribute to the flexibility of the local, regional, and national power grids”, Ushio Okuyama, Country Manager

Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas company PT Pertamina (Persero) has launched the distribution of its Pertamax Green 95 product at three public filling stations in the Central Java Region. The company said in a media release that with the new additions its Pertamax Green product line is now available at 119 gas stations across Jakarta, West Java, Banten, Central, and East Java. The company said it markets the product through Subholding Commercial and Trading PT Pertamina Patra Niaga. The product has a Research Octane Number (RON) content of 95 mixed with 5 percent bioethanol based on plants such as sugar cane, thus producing lower emissions and being more environmentally friendly, Pertamina said. Simon Aloysius Mantiri, President Director of Pertamina, stated that Pertamax Green 95 involves local farmers and the national bioenergy industry. “The effort to present Pertamax Green 95 is proof of Pertamina’s commitment to presenting clean and environmentally friendly fuel. This step reflects Pertamina’s strategy in encouraging renewable energy innovation, prioritizing cross-sector collaboration, and providing real solutions for the community”, Mantiri said. Acting President Director of Pertamina Patra Niaga, Mars Ega Legowo Putra, noted that Pertamax Green 95 was introduced to the Indonesian public July 2023. “We want to create a double impact, namely reducing carbon emissions and encouraging green economic growth. We are targeting Pertamax Green 95 to be present at 150 gas stations by the end of 2025,” said Ega. To contact the author, email [email protected] WHAT DO YOU THINK? Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed. MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR