South America’s energy transition requires substantial investments in storage, back-up capacity and new grid infrastructure to manage variability and maintain reliability. Hydropower has traditionally provided the flexibility necessary to balance the system, but long-term uncertainty around water resources and the heightened risk of droughts due to climate change mean that complementary sources of back-up will be essential.
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Electric utilities and their regulators in areas with high electricity rates face tension between being obligated to support decarbonization and electrification objectives but also keep rates affordable for consumers. These competing objectives create an information gap and can slow down decision-making for regulators, utilities, and businesses. The brief finds that the estimated total cost of a small depot charging facility prototype is $7.9 million, a medium charging facility is $15.4 million, and a large prototype has a total cost of $15 million.
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The City of Seattle and Seattle City Light have made supporting transportation electrification a core priority for the years ahead. Although still nascent, ZE-MHDVs have the potential to be a significant source of new load for City Light because fleets serving the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma are expected to electrify over the next 10–15 years. This brief assesses existing strategic plans guiding City Light’s approach to transportation electrification.
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Brazil’s experience, particularly with bioethanol, exemplifies a compelling model for sustainable decarbonisation. It offers a low-cost and competitive pathway, significantly contributing to global energy transitions. By fostering market competition through a conducive regulatory environment and strategically employing tax policies to influence fuel consumption, Brazil actively supports the shift towards biofuels. This report focuses on the Brazilian experience and perspectives on ethanol, biodiesel and some advanced biofuels.
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The trajectory of Chile’s lithium mining industry is important for both the global battery electric vehicle transition and the country’s sustainable economic development ambitions. The report explores the economic potential of lithium mining and estimates the additional revenue and job potential if Chile were to onshore additional parts of the battery production supply chain. Further, the analysis assesses the GHG emissions intensity, water consumption, and social impacts of lithium mining and battery production in Chile.
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The first half of 2025 has seen significant and widespread changes made to federal energy policy and incentives available to the development of new wind and solar resources, which will cause a meaningful reduction in installations over at least the next decade and create heightened uncertainty for new development activity for some time to come. While this creates a challenging outlook for development and construction of new solar assets, in contrast it does result in a potentially improved outlook for existing, operational solar assets.
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The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the electricity reliability organisation (ERO) designated by the Federal Electricity Regulatory Commission (FERC), has released its 2025 State of Reliability (SOR) overview, providing a high-level summary of the performance of the bulk power system (BPS) during 2024. This assessment offers a data-driven evaluation of reliability, identifies emerging risks, and informs policymakers, regulators, and industry leaders on actions required to safeguard the resilience and security of the electricity grid.
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Two-thirds of adults (67%) and likely voters (66%) favor reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030; slightly fewer favor all the state’s electricity to come from renewable energy sources by the year 2045 (62% adults; 60% likely voters). However, 59 percent of Californians are not willing to pay more for electricity generated by renewable energy sources. Half or more say that the current price of gasoline (52% adults) and the rising cost of natural gas and electric utility bills (55% adults) is a major problem personally for them.
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The US electricity distribution grid is at a critical inflection point. Widespread electrification, especially of transportation is creating a surge in demand that is arriving quickly and unevenly. In key locations, such as warehouse districts, highway corridors, and dense urban zones, electric vehicle (EV) charging is poised to use a significant share of available grid capacity. Current connection speeds may delay activation of chargers, impeding access to clean mobility and potentially leading to further increases in costs for customers.
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The power sector is facing the highest level of growing demand in decades. This whitepaper examines the significant challenges facing the US power sector as it experiences unprecedented demand growth. It identifies practical solutions that enable the power system to accommodate this load growth in a timely and cost-effective manner aligned with public policy goals. It focuses on actionable, near- and medium-term strategies that maximise the value of the existing grid and improve investment planning for future infrastructure needs.
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Brazil has taken a leading role in positioning the just energy transition within the framework of the G20 in 2024. Seeking to continue these trajectories and project its global leadership, the South American country formulated three priorities in the G20 agenda linked to energy transition. The objective of this report is to characterise Brazil’s leadership capacity in the G20 by positioning the energy transition narrative as a way to observe changes and continuities within the processes at the BRICS Forum and COP30 in 2025.
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This paper “Taking Green Energy Projects to Court: NEPA Review and Court Challenges to Renewable Energy” by Resources for the Future highlights that nearly a third of solar projects and half of wind projects completing NEPA environmental impact statement reviews faced court challenges. Almost all cases were filed after the government agencies had issued their permitting decisions.
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In order to mobilize international resources to further Brazil’s climate agenda, the Brazilian government has adopted a series of initiatives. The country has also issued sustainable sovereign bonds and resumed the Amazon Fund. The common objective of these initiatives is to leverage international resources for financing climate projects and to create favorable investment conditions to drive foreign private capital to projects aligned with the national climate agenda.
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The Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) Program is California’s premier electricity sector research and development program. EPIC drives innovation and advances science and technology in energy efficiency, load flexibility, renewable energy and advanced clean generation, transportation, grid transmission and distribution, and among other areas important to California’s electricity system. This report summarises the progress and status of EPIC-funded CEC activities from January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2024.
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The magnitude and speed of projected load growth cannot be met with existing approaches to load addition and grid management. The situation necessitates a radical change to unleash the transformative potential of innovation. The retirement of firm power capacity is exacerbating the resource adequacy problem. 104 GW of firm capacity is set for retirement by 2030. This capacity is not being replaced on a one-to-one basis and losing this generation could lead to significant outages when weather conditions do not accommodate wind and solar generation.
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This brief “The Economic Benefits of Unleashing American Energy” has been prepared by The Council of Economic Advisers, an agency within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. The authors estimate that policies which support American energy dominance could raise GDP by at least 0.56-1.90 percent by 2035, or 0.31-1.23 percent without deregulation effects. Specifically, removing restrictions on commingling in offshore oil reservoirs could increase GDP by 0.03-0.13 percent by 2035.
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The brief address policies supporting carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies, including overlapping carbon dioxide removal (CDR) methods such as direct air capture (DAC) and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). It concludes that the U.S. carbon management policy landscape demonstrates notable progress particularly through the Inflation Reduction Act’s expanded 45Q credits, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s demonstration funding, and ongoing Department of Energy R&D initiatives.
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The report “Delivering Affordability: The Emerging Cost Advantage of Battery Electric Heavy-Duty Trucks and U.S. Policy Strategies to Unlock Their Full Economic Potential” by Energy Innovation and ICCT concludes that battery electric HDVs are approaching broad cost superiority, with modeled results showing net TCO savings over diesel by 2030 and thousands to tens of thousands of dollars in five-year TCO savings compared to diesel by 2035. While hydrogen fuel cell trucks may serve niche roles, battery electric HDVs are expected to be the preferred choice for most applications due to their lower capital, fuel, and maintenance costs.
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To address the potential impacts of renewable development on biodiversity, the IEA developed the Renewable Energy and Land-Use Model (REALM), which identifies areas of overlap between renewable projects, critical mineral mining, and conservation priorities. Using Canada as a case study, this report highlights areas of potential land-use conflict and shows how the country can reach its 30% by 2030 target without significantly hindering the wind and solar development needed to achieve its net zero targets.
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The analysis reveals that Colombia has strong potential for solar PV (1 604.9 GW) and onshore wind (31.5 GW), with priority zones identified in the northern and southwestern regions. The findings provide insights on maximum development potential to inform national infrastructure planning and contribute to high-level policy frameworks aimed at achieving universal electricity access and mitigating the impact of climate change.
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