π± Daily Decarbonisation Digest
The clean-energy morning brief
Monday 17 August 2026 Β· Compiled from public reporting in the last 24β48 hours
βοΈ Solar
β‘ Perovskite-silicon tandems push past the single-junction ceiling
LONGi's 34.85% tandem cell record now sits comfortably above the 33.7% Shockley-Queisser limit that caps conventional silicon, and a separate Chinese perovskite-organic tandem has been certified at 28.04% steady-state. Lab records still run well ahead of what you can buy β Oxford PV's commercial tandem modules are around 24.5% β but the gap between the two is what determines how much cheaper rooftop solar gets by the late 2020s.
Source: Interesting Engineering / Renewables Now
US on track for a record 43.4 GW of utility-scale solar this year
The EIA's latest outlook has developers adding 43.4 GW of large-scale solar in 2026 β a 60% jump on 2025 and just over half of all new US generating capacity. Texas alone accounts for roughly 40% of the planned build, with projects like the 837 MW Tehuacana Creek 1 in Navarro County due online before year-end.
Source: PV Tech
Tandem module costs are landing in a competitive range
Manufacturing cost estimates for perovskite-silicon tandem modules at 25β30% efficiency are now put at $0.29β$0.42/W. That is the number to watch: at the bottom of that range tandems start to make economic sense on roofs where area, not panel price, is the binding constraint β though mainstream residential availability still looks like a 2027β28 story.
Source: Energy Solutions Intelligence
π Battery Technology
β‘ CATL joins BYD in targeting 2027 solid-state trial production
CATL told investors last week it will begin small-scale pilot production of solid-state cells in 2027, matching BYD's timeline. BYD is pursuing a dual-electrolyte cathode design with solid buffer layers to slow structural degradation. Two of the world's largest cell makers converging on the same date is the strongest signal yet that solid-state is moving out of the lab β though pilot lines are still a long way from volume.
Source: electrive
Sodium-ion crosses from curiosity to procurement option
Commercial sodium-ion launches from CATL, Factorial and Delectrik, plus grid-scale pilots in California and New York, have moved the chemistry into the category of things buyers actually evaluate. Its pitch is not energy density but upfront cost, fire safety and cold-weather performance β which suits stationary storage far better than cars.
Source: Battery Tech USA
India's first utility-scale non-lithium storage, and a Danish salt cavern
Delectrik Systems won a tender to build a 100 MWh vanadium redox flow battery at the Khavda Solar Park β India's first utility-scale storage system that isn't lithium. In Denmark, Airengy and Nobian are assessing 2.5 GWh of compressed-air storage in a salt cavern. Both are bets that long-duration storage will be won by something other than lithium chemistry.
Source: iGrow News
π¨ Wind
β‘ World's first 16 MW tension-leg floating turbine commissioned
Ming Yang has commissioned CNOOC Anlan, which it says is the first 16 MW turbine on a tension leg platform, in 136 m of water some 136 km off Guangdong. It is supplying power to the Lufeng offshore oilfield. Tension-leg foundations matter because they hold the turbine far steadier than catenary-moored floaters, which is what makes very large machines viable in deep water.
Source: Offshore Magazine
He Dreiht complete; Inch Cape's transition pieces all in place
Cadeler installed the final turbine at the 960 MW He Dreiht wind farm in the German North Sea, and Seaway7 finished setting all 54 transition pieces at the 1.1 GW Inch Cape project off east Scotland. Two of Europe's larger in-build projects are now firmly into their closing phases.
Source: MarineLink / reNEWS
US pays RWE $1.22bn to vacate three offshore leases
The US government has agreed to pay RWE $1.22bn to give up lease areas off New York, California and Louisiana β a striking reversal of federal offshore wind policy. Meanwhile Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, the largest US project, was 81% complete as of 31 July with all 176 monopiles installed and 31 turbines standing.
Source: offshoreWIND.biz
Wales approves 200 MW of floating wind off the south-west coast
The Welsh government has granted planning consent for Cierco Energy's two 100 MW LlΕ·r floating projects in the Celtic Sea. They are modest in size but strategically placed: the Celtic Sea is the UK's designated proving ground for floating wind at scale.
Source: reNEWS
βοΈ Nuclear
β‘ Commonwealth Fusion raises another $1bn
Commonwealth Fusion Systems closed $1bn in additional equity on 10 August β the largest fusion raise since its own $1.8bn Series B in 2021. The money goes towards SPARC and the path to a commercial plant; the size of the round says as much about investor appetite for fusion as it does about CFS's progress.
Source: World Nuclear News
ITER installs sixth tokamak sector module, six months early
The sixth of nine sector modules went into the ITER tokamak pit on 3 August, almost six months ahead of schedule. After years of slippage, the assembly phase running early is a genuine change of tempo for the project.
Source: World Nuclear News
South Korea names SMRs and fusion as national growth engines
Seoul has designated small modular reactors and fusion among seven next-generation industries it will back as future economic drivers. Separately, Videberg Kraft is developing a 1.4 GW plant on Sweden's west coast built around three Rolls-Royce SMRs, and Oak Ridge has licensed cryogenic pellet fuelling technology to Type One Energy.
Source: UPI
β¨οΈ Heat Pumps
β‘ Off-grid UK homes can now claim up to Β£9,000
From July 2026, properties off the gas grid β oil and LPG heated β can claim up to Β£9,000 under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, above the standard Β£7,500 for air and ground source heat pumps in England and Wales. Dropping the EPC prerequisite has also cut paperwork, and grant approval turnaround has roughly halved since 2025.
Source: Grant UK
European sales up 17% in Q1, with Germany up 55%
Around 575,000 units were sold across Europe in Q1 2026, 17% ahead of the same quarter last year, after 2.9 million units in 2025. Germany's first-half sales rose 55%; Austria's fell 30% after subsidies were withdrawn β a fairly blunt illustration of how much of this market is policy-made.
Source: pv magazine
The Β£15bn Warm Homes Plan starts to bite
January's Warm Homes Plan set aside Β£15bn across schemes, including a bigger BUS allocation and Β£2bn of low-interest loans covering heat pumps, solar and batteries. UK installations were already running at a record pace β 35,387 in the first nine months of 2025, up 11% year on year β before the loan facility opened.
Source: Dalrada Technology
π§ Hydro
β‘ Global pumped storage passes 200 GW for the first time
The IHA's World Hydropower Outlook puts global pumped storage at 201 GW after a record 11.6 GW was added in 2025, part of 28 GW of total new hydro taking installed capacity to 1,469 GW. A further 243 GW is under construction with a 621 GW pipeline β pumped hydro is on course to roughly double within 15 years, and remains by far the largest form of grid storage in service.
Source: International Hydropower Association
Record US federal funding for hydro and pumped storage in FY2026
The Senate's FY2026 spending package includes the largest federal investment in hydropower and pumped storage since the programme was reinstated in 2008. Much of the value is in upgrading and re-licensing existing dams rather than new build.
Source: International Water Power
Shangyi hits two construction milestones
China's Shangyi pumped storage station has closed its lower reservoir for water storage and installed the Unit 1 rotor. Austria's 480 MW Limberg III entered service last September after four years of construction, adding to Europe's Alpine storage fleet.
Source: International Water Power
π Wave & Tidal
β‘ First DNV prototype certificate for a wave energy converter
CorPower Ocean's C4 device off AguΓ§adoura, Portugal has received the first DNV Prototype Certificate awarded to a wave energy converter β after surviving 18.5 m waves. Certification is the unglamorous milestone that unlocks insurance and project finance, which is precisely what wave power has always lacked.
Source: International Water Power
Tidal stream reaches its most credible pipeline yet
Orbital Marine, SIMEC Atlantis and Nova Innovation are all advancing multi-MW arrays, with six of Orbital's next-generation O2-X turbines due in Orkney between 2026 and 2028. Orbital's existing 2 MW O2 has run at EMEC since 2021 with capacity factors above 40% and availability over 90% β strong numbers in genuinely brutal water.
Source: Offshore Industry
Bottom line
Today's theme is technologies crossing from demonstration into procurement. CATL and BYD both landing on 2027 for solid-state pilots, CorPower's first-ever wave certification, and Ming Yang's 16 MW tension-leg floater are all steps out of the lab β while pumped hydro quietly passing 200 GW is a reminder that the largest storage asset class is still the oldest one. Policy is pulling in opposite directions across the Atlantic: the UK is topping up heat pump grants to Β£9,000 for off-grid homes as European sales run 17% ahead, while Washington is paying RWE $1.22bn to hand back offshore wind leases. Fusion money keeps arriving faster than fusion electricity, with Commonwealth's $1bn raise the biggest since 2021 and ITER now running six months early on assembly. For UK homeowners the practical news is the simplest: the grant is bigger, the paperwork is lighter, and approvals are twice as fast as last year.
