Solid-state, for real

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Hey,

Hope you had a great weekend. Quick note: I’m curious what topics and questions on climate, energy, and sustainability are front of mind for you at present. As I plan programming in the coming weeks and months, feel free to respond to this email with ideas or direct questions, and I’ll do my best to get to them. Cheers!

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ONE STORY IN A SENTENCE AND A CHART

• In 2025, the average battery energy storage system (BESS) in ERCOT earned 84% less than in 2023 (a high-water mark year for BESS revenues in ERCOT), signaling that saturation of BESS on grids can hamper profitability. Link.

NEWS, DATA, AND HEADLINES

• China's carbon dioxide emissions fell by 1% in the last three months of 2025, amounting to a 0.3% drop for the full year, according to new analysis from Carbon Brief. Emissions in China have now been flat or falling for close to two years, predominantly thanks to skyrocketing solar installations and EV penetration in the light-duty vehicle market. Per Wood Mackenzie, China's coal-fired power generation also decreased 1.9% last year, even as power demand surged 5% overall. Link. Link.

• Solar power, EVs, and other clean-energy technologies also drove more than a third of the growth in China's economy in 2025 and more than 90% of the rise in investment. Link.

Nuclear (fission and fusion)

• China made progress on multiple nuclear construction projects, with containment domes installed on both the Lianjiang NPP unit 1 and Xudabao NPP unit 1 (coincidentally, the projects are independent of one another), while the bottom containment part of Bailong NPP unit 1 was put in place. Lianjiang-1 is in the 29th month of construction, Xudabao-1 is in the 28th month, and Bailong-1 is in the 2nd month. Mind you, these are large reactors, not the SMRs that investors are pouring so much faith and capital into domestically. Link.

• Unit 1 of the Taipingling nuclear power station in China's Guangdong also reached criticality this week, seven years after construction began on the gigawatt-sized Hualong One reactor. The debut atom-splitting means the newest reactor is months, if not weeks, from entering commercial operation. Link.

• Helion, based out of Washington, announced that its Polaris prototype has set new fusion industry benchmarks, becoming the first privately developed fusion energy machine to demonstrate measurable deuterium-tritium fusion and to achieve plasma temperatures of 150 million degrees Celsius. Link.

• Inertia, based out of California, announced a $450 million fundraising round to commercialize its inertial-confinement-based fusion approach for utility-scale power production (most competitors focus on magnetic confinement). Bessemer Ventures led. Link.

• Japanese utility Tokyo Electric Power Co. restarted the No. 6 reactor at its Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, the world's biggest nuclear power plant, for the second time, after an issue last month delayed the process. The unit's power output will be gradually increased, with a goal of entering commercial operations on March 18. Link.

• Alva Energy, based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts, launched from stealth with $33 million in funding and a proposal to squeeze more capacity out of the existing nuclear fleet by retrofitting pressurized-water reactors. The round was led by Playground Global. The startup plans to boost capacity by building new steam turbines and electricity generators adjacent to existing facilities and upgrading steam generators during scheduled maintenance to help make existing plants produce 20-30% more steam. Link.

• Valar Atomics loaded the core of its Ward 250 small modular reactor onto a U.S. Air Force plane at March Air Reserve Base, completing an airlift to Utah's San Rafael Energy Research Center for testing. Backed by the Departments of Energy and Defense, the company’s proof-of-concept reactor aims to achieve criticality by July 4, 2026. Link.

EVs

• FAW Group, one of China's largest automakers with joint ventures with Volkswagen and Toyota, has integrated a new lithium-manganese semi-solid-state battery in a production vehicle. The 142-kilowatt-hour semi-solid-state battery has an energy density of 500 watt-hours per kilogram at the cell level, double that of today's lithium-ion batteries, resulting in a manufacturer-estimated range of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles). Link.

• BYD has achieved technical progress on its sulfide solid-state battery, reporting improvements in cycle life and fast-charging performance, with small-batch production expected in 2027. In addition to sulfide solid-state batteries, BYD is advancing its third-generation sodium-ion platform that reportedly supports up to 10,000 charge cycles. Link.

• 10 EV battery factories in North America are being retooled to produce batteries for grid storage instead. As US EV sales slow, in part due to the elimination of federal tax credits, demand for residential and utility-scale batteries is booming. Ford, Stellantis, and General Motors are among the manufacturers making the change. Link.

• The Federal Highway Administration unveiled a controversial proposal raising the domestic content requirement for federally funded EV chargers from 55% to as high as 100%. Under the proposal, all components of EV chargers purchased or installed with FHWA-administered funds would need to be manufactured and assembled in the U.S. to meet the new Buy America standards. Critics argue that no current EV charger manufacturers can meet a 100% domestic content threshold today, warning that these overly strict requirements will derail the expansion of EV charging infrastructure. Link.

• BYD sued the United States government over the 100% tariff on Chinese EVs that serves as an effective ban on Beijing's booming auto exports. Four U.S.-based subsidiaries of the world's largest EV manufacturer also filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade challenging the legality of the Trump administration's trade levies. Link. Link.

• California's clean-truck incentive programme has reserved around $165 million for the Tesla Semi, even though the electric truck has yet to enter production. The next-largest grant recipient is New Flyer, a Canadian bus manufacturer, which is in line to receive ~$68 million. Link.

• Carmakers have registered around $55 billion in write-downs over the past year after the industry overestimated the pace of the energy transition, faced a reluctant US administration, and saw some companies struggle to keep up with new entrants from China. Link.

Policy

• President Trump announced that he is repealing the Environmental Protection Agency's scientific determination that greenhouse gases are dangerous to human health and the natural world, which will hamper the EPA's ability to legislate and limit greenhouse gas and other pollution from cars, trucks, power plants, and other industrial facilities. The move sets up a Supreme Court battle over the 2007 case Massachusetts v. EPA. Link.

• The newly introduced Hawley-Blumenthal bill would ban new grid-connected data centers, requiring that any new data center "derives all of its energy from a captive power plant, on-site power generation, or some other source separate from, and not deriving power from, the electric grid." Unlikely it passes, but it’s a sign of the times. Link.

• Chile's environmental regulator formally cancelled the proposed $10 billion, 3,000-hectare INNA green hydrogen and ammonia production facility after astronomers warned that its proximity to some of the world's most powerful telescopes would have made observation in the area nearly impossible. The area is home to the “Very Large Telescope” and will be the future home of the “Extremely Large Telescope,” which is under construction (yes, those are their real names and I love them). Link.

Power grids

• Base Power announced a new partnership with El Paso Electric, launching a pilot program to use home battery systems to strengthen the grid during periods of high demand. This program aims to create a more scalable model for utilities to add 24/7 dispatchable, demand-side capacity to the grid on significantly shorter timelines than traditional utility-scale infrastructure buildout. Link.

• Anthropic announced that it will cover consumer electricity price increases tied to its expanding data centers, fund 100% of required grid upgrades, and invest in new power generation. How they’ll disambiguate what price increases they’re responsible for versus which are driven by other factors, well, good luck to em’. Link.

• Fervo has drilled its highest-temperature well yet, tapping into a resource with temperatures above 555 degrees Fahrenheit at an approximate depth of 11,200 feet. An independent assessment found that the Project Blanford site in Millard County, Utah, has multiple gigawatts of heat that could be harnessed. Link.

• Danish energy giant Ørsted reported $500 million in profits for 2025, despite a loss of $10 million because of the work stoppage on Revolution Wind ordered by the Trump administration in December, a welcome reprieve from a slew of dismal prior years. Link.

• Battery and solar construction contractor SOLV Energy, based out of California, fetched a nearly $6 billion valuation as it debuted on the stock market. Link.

• NineDot Energy, based out of Brooklyn, raised $431 million in debt financing to build batteries in New York City. It plans to develop 28 battery projects totaling 494 megawatt-hours of energy storage capacity over the next two years. Link.

• Neara, based out of Sydney, a 10-year-old startup that provides digital models of power networks for utilities to plan and manage electricity grids, reportedly raised a $63.8 million Series D round at a $780 million valuation. The deal was led by TCV, with Partners Group, EQT, Square Peg Capital, and Skip Capital also participating. Link.

Other

• Chinese scientists discovered natural hydrogen sealed in microscopic inclusions near Tibet. This is the first such discovery in China (or in Tibet, depending on your political persuasions). Link.

• Thyssenkrupp Nucera's sales of electrolyzers for green hydrogen projects halved in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year. China's rise as the world's preeminent manufacturer of electrolyzers poses significant competitive pressure. Link.

• Hades, based out of Munich, raised €17.8 million (~$21.2 million) in a round co-led by HV Capital and Headline to develop ultra-deep drilling technology to extract critical minerals and geothermal energy from deep rock formations. Link.

• The nonprofit research group CarbonPlan launched a free app called Open Climate Risk that assesses wildfire risk for every building in the United States. You can enter an address to view a wildfire risk score, on a scale of zero to 10, along with an explanation of how it was calculated. The underlying methodology, data, and code are all public. Connecticut's Department of Insurance also launched a website that displays extensive information on the climate risk of every property in the state, where flood insurance in particular can be prominent. The details include each property's history of flood damage and other events predicted to worsen as the planet warms. Link. Link.

• Here’s a fun and optimistic one to end on (not that there wasn’t some positive stuff above): Kazakhstan's Tiger Reintroduction Program achieved record forest restoration results in 2025, planting over 37,000 seedlings and cuttings across nearly 10 hectares in the Ili River Delta and Southern Balkhash region. The tugai forest restoration, led by Kazakhstan's Committee of Forestry and Wildlife, with support from WWF and UNDP, aims to rebuild ecosystems capable of sustaining wildlife and prepare the land for the eventual return of tigers. Link.

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Go with grace,

— Nick