Sarastro
@financeguy.bsky.social
Institutional money manager 🇬🇧🇨🇭🇫🇷 Markets, energy, history, politics
“Solar prices are tumbling. The “levelised” cost of solar power, which combines capital and operating cost (though does not account for the “system costs” imposed by renewables’ intermittency) has plunged by around 90% since 2010.“ economist.com/finance-and-... from The Economist
Renewables are shining. The Iran war amplifies their appeal
Two new reports are a must-read of energy-starved governments
economist.com
As of April 2026, the subcontinent has achieved over 50% of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources — reaching this milestone five years ahead of its 2030 Paris Agreement target. gulfnews.com/world/asia/i...
India hits milestone: Renewable energy generation — 5 years ahead of 2030 Paris Agreement target
India hits its Paris climate target early with over half of power capacity from renewables, driven by solar, wind, AI data centres and grid upgrades.
gulfnews.com
This is a very interesting short piece that gets to the core issues… open.substack.com/pub/gerardre...
The Energy Shock Reshaping the Global Economy
The most important consequence of the ongoing crisis in the Gulf will most likely not be the military headlines but the economic shock that follows as rising energy prices spread across the global eco...
open.substack.com
“With the LNG drought pushing up electricity prices and photovoltaics providing a cheaper… alternative, a boom in rooftop solar is far more likely than a return to coal. Don’t look under the ground for the solution to the LNG crisis. The answer is in the skies.” www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
The LNG Shock Isn’t Driving Asia Back to Coal
If you’re given to the Sickos Guy view of world events, there’s one obvious way to make the current crisis in the Middle East look just that little bit more disastrous: As well as starving us of energ...
bloomberg.com
“The main message is that we’re going to get the energy transition forced on us in a very painful way that’s going to happen very quickly.” www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
The Strait of Hormuz Oil Shock Is Now Heading West
US government officials and Wall Street analysts are starting to consider the prospect that oil prices might surge to an unprecedented $200 a barrel.
bloomberg.com
“Compare India today with China at equivalent income levels. In 2012, China had negligible solar, and coal demand showed no signs of slowing. India in 2025 generates 9% of its electricity from solar, uses barely a quarter of the coal per person, and is already approaching its coal generation peak.”
The current energy crisis might globally speed-up the energy transition in an unprecendented reduction in fossil fuel use. In eg India, SE Asia EV for cars and solar + batteries instead of unsteady petrol, gas en coal imports.
Sarastro@financeguy.bsky.social · 5mo ago“The jump in renewables is expected to reduce India's dependence on coal as a primary source of electricity generation to 49% by 2035-36, from more than 70% currently, according to the National Generation Adequacy Plan released by the Central Electricity Authority.” www.vccircle.com/indiasolar-t...
the solar and wind buildouts getting stifled, and fighting against electric cars, are how this country is getting left behind, you cannot claim to be capitalist if you and fighting against global market forces
Sarastro@financeguy.bsky.social · 5mo ago“The jump in renewables is expected to reduce India's dependence on coal as a primary source of electricity generation to 49% by 2035-36, from more than 70% currently, according to the National Generation Adequacy Plan released by the Central Electricity Authority.” www.vccircle.com/indiasolar-t...
This is the REAL reason Trump hates solar power and wind turbines. Solar and wind power mean energy independence. Which means the oil, gas, and coal industries that fund his regime lose a major part of their market. Fuck the environment. Fuck other countries. Only corporate profits matter.
Sarastro@financeguy.bsky.social · 5mo ago“The jump in renewables is expected to reduce India's dependence on coal as a primary source of electricity generation to 49% by 2035-36, from more than 70% currently, according to the National Generation Adequacy Plan released by the Central Electricity Authority.” www.vccircle.com/indiasolar-t...
India was supposed to be a huge new market for LNG (liquefied methane). Much of it from Qatar. We were told it would replace coal. Even before Hormuz sent their LNG prices soaring, India had done the math and is moving to solar, wind and storage. Replacing coal as they go, just not with LNG.
Sarastro@financeguy.bsky.social · 5mo ago“The jump in renewables is expected to reduce India's dependence on coal as a primary source of electricity generation to 49% by 2035-36, from more than 70% currently, according to the National Generation Adequacy Plan released by the Central Electricity Authority.” www.vccircle.com/indiasolar-t...
“The jump in renewables is expected to reduce India's dependence on coal as a primary source of electricity generation to 49% by 2035-36, from more than 70% currently, according to the National Generation Adequacy Plan released by the Central Electricity Authority.” www.vccircle.com/indiasolar-t...
India solar to quadruple, wind to triple over a decade
India's solar power capacity is expected to quadruple over the next decade, while wind energy capacity could triple, according to a report published...
vccircle.com
“Thanks to .. falling costs, batteries are now seizing the role of last marginal generator… Electricity from a four-hour battery is now cheaper in almost every market that depends on LNG.... Even Saudi Arabia can now provide solar-plus-storage for less than gas.” www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Energy Falling Below $100 Shows the World a Way Out
Worried about the way crude oil has stampeded above and then back below $100 a barrel in a matter of hours this week? What if I told you that another crucial component of energy prices has just slumpe...
bloomberg.com
UK AR7 auction results are out today 🍃⚡ Excellent results with over 8 GW of capacity! The strike price of £91/MWh for England/Wales fixed projects was significantly below the administrative strike price of £113/MWh that so many reported on last year, but was always the upper limit.
www.pv-magazine.com/2025/11/24/i...
India awards 1 GW of round-the-clock renewables at INR 4.35/kWh
Railway Energy Management Co. Ltd. (REMCL) has awarded 1 GW of round-the-clock renewable energy capacity at INR 4.35 ($0.049)/kWh, with six developers securing allocations that will supply firm clean ...
pv-magazine.com
Much cheaper than coal. m.economictimes.com/industry/ren...
Madhya Pradesh secures record-low price for solar-plus-storage power project
Madhya Pradesh has achieved India's lowest price for solar power with battery storage through a clean energy auction, with CEIGALL India and ACME Solar winning tenders. This deal could potentially res...
m.economictimes.com
I want to come back properly on this Economist piece that questions Britain's approach to net zero. It gets three things wrong imo: 1. Ignoring periods of v cheap renewable energy 2. Misdiagnosing the relative costs of renewables 3. Looking backwards, not forwards.
Is Britain’s net-zero push to blame for its high energy prices?
A mighty rise in electricity costs has complicated the drive for clean power
economist.com
Large chunk of the world won’t care about oil embargoes very soon
Felix Hamer • electricfelix@electricfelix.eurosky.social · last yr.@bhadrarukum.bsky.social: “The EV revolution comes to Nepal. Subsidies, hydroelectricity and a manufacturing powerhouse neighbor are moving the cars into Nepal faster than almost anywhere else.” ⚡️⚡️⚡️ #alwaysbecharging www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/b...
I think a big reason prices are so low in SA is that, while the costs of solar and BESS are falling yearly, Chinese manufacturers are also just undercutting everyone else in open/no tariff markets—see the two SA BESS systems that were priced at ~72/kWh: www.linkedin.com/posts/mlkubi...
📰 BESS prices outside China have just hit some fresh record lows – here's the latest on international #energystorage market benchmarks: | Marek Kubik
📰 BESS prices outside China have just hit some fresh record lows – here's the latest on international #energystorage market benchmarks: 💰 Some fresh public data has just dropped, and it’s clear ...
linkedin.com
Saudi Arabia is installing solar for 1.4 cents per kWh and is on pace for a 50% renewables electricity grid by 2030 In CT our standard offer rate is 9.7 cents per kWh for supply. Obviously we aren't a desert but it seems pretty feasible we can do a lot better than Natural Gas Ned is planning for
Sarastro@financeguy.bsky.social · last yr.Just take a look at the prices at which these deals cleared.. these are obviously for intermittent solar (without batteries) but all the same they represent interesting benchmarks for public procurement of solar power in sunny places
Sunny deals: Solar prices shine! #finsky
Sarastro@financeguy.bsky.social · last yr.Just take a look at the prices at which these deals cleared.. these are obviously for intermittent solar (without batteries) but all the same they represent interesting benchmarks for public procurement of solar power in sunny places
Desalination seems to currently use about 3 kWH per cubic meter, so at these prices, the water needed to grow a pound of almonds would cost you around $0.30
Sarastro@financeguy.bsky.social · last yr.Just take a look at the prices at which these deals cleared.. these are obviously for intermittent solar (without batteries) but all the same they represent interesting benchmarks for public procurement of solar power in sunny places
Yesterday the Saudi Government’s Renewables procurement body signed 7 agreements for PPAs with ACWA relating to 15 GW of solar power, the largest single deal that has been signed to date and significantly boosting the Kingdom’s plans to decarbonise its electricity grid by 2030. on.ft.com/4eSvrYa
Saudi Arabia to boost renewable energy with $8bn investment
ACWA Power leads consortium that will build five solar and two wind projects in the kingdom
on.ft.com
Sorry to wade into the air con wars again, but... I spoke to @jim.londoncentric.media last week about why more homes in London don't have air con. The bottom line is: air con in Britain is almost always a heat pump, and heat pumps are good for the climate www.londoncentric.media/p/why-london...
Why London homes don't have air con
Plus: Lego asks the London Conservatives to stop using yellow bricks to mock Sadiq Khan — and do you want to live in a former aircraft factory in Zone 3?
londoncentric.media
“The UK’s sea level is rising faster than the global average and at an accelerating rate… Sea levels have risen by 13.4cm in the UK since 1993, compared with a global average of 10.6cm, according to the annual state of the UK climate report published on Monday.” on.ft.com/4lzrgmM
UK sea level rising faster than global average, study finds
Britain is getting wetter and warmer as new temperature records become norm
on.ft.com
“..the unlevered after-tax IRRs of TEF .gas.. power projects have unlevered after-tax IRRs of 3%-28%, a sharp drop from pre-2025 levels as capital costs have surged by as much as threefold.“ www.enverus.com/newsroom/str...
Stranded sparks: Rising costs threaten viability of Texas Energy Fund projects | Enverus
Enverus Intelligence® Research (EIR) has released a report that analyzes how rising capital costs and supply chain delays have affected natural gas-fired power projects under the Texas Energy Fund (TE...
enverus.com
"In a ... hint of past financial turmoil, mortgage defaults begin to rise, along with ... credit card delinquencies. But this time, it’s different. Unlike other financial disasters, the underlying cause of this one is not financial, it is physical, and it is not clear how it will ever end."
Sarastro@financeguy.bsky.social · last yr.This is thought provoking from the FT. It’s already clear (as I have previously discussed in this stream) that insurance companies are raising premiums and withdrawing cover for housing in some US states given the frequency and intensity of wildfires, storms and hurricaines. on.ft.com/46dSz0R
This is thought provoking from the FT. It’s already clear (as I have previously discussed in this stream) that insurance companies are raising premiums and withdrawing cover for housing in some US states given the frequency and intensity of wildfires, storms and hurricaines. on.ft.com/46dSz0R
How the next financial crisis starts
The climate shocks that could trigger wider market turmoil
on.ft.com
Here’s Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness, discussing how solar and batteries can help reduce power prices across the economy www.facebook.com/share/r/16aF...
Redirecting...
facebook.com
