2025-09-22 11:39
PARIS, Sept 22 (Reuters) - French utility EDF posted a strike notice on Monday for its hydro sector between 0900-1230 GMT on Tuesday. Recent strikes at the utility's power plants have had limited impact on electricity production. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/french-utility-edfs-hydro-sector-strike-tuesday-2025-09-22/
2025-09-22 11:23
LONDON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency is seeking to buy scandium oxide worth up to $40 million over the next five years from a unit of mining giant Rio Tinto to secure supplies of the critical material for addition to the national stockpile. Scandium is one of the rare earth elements, whose importance to the Western defence and technology sectors has been in the spotlight since China, the main producer, imposed export controls. Sign up here. "Scandium, until recently, was primarily sourced from China. In late 2024, China placed export controls on scandium, which constrained the supply chain and prompted this acquisition for the National Defense Stockpile," DLA said in a document , opens new tab published last week. It intends to buy 6.4 metric tons of scandium oxide within five years. In the first year it will be seeking almost 2 tons, equivalent to about 5% of last year's global production of scandium oxide, which, according to U.S. Geological Survey, totalled 40 tons with existing capacity of 80 tons. To increase domestic supply of scandium, the U.S. awarded up to $10 million to Elk Creek Resources, a unit of NioCorp Developments (NB.O) , opens new tab, in August. However, for now the U.S. government has to seek the product, used in many defence systems, from outside the country. "Rio Tinto Services Inc. has been identified as the only vendor available capable of fulfilling the government's required product needs at the capacity required for the contract," the document said. Rio Tinto (RIO.L) , opens new tab, (RIO.AX) , opens new tab said it would not comment on commercial matters, but added that it was "actively collaborating with the U.S. government to identify opportunities and leverage available support to increase domestic production and strengthen supply chains for the American market." In 2020, Rio Tinto's scientists became the first to develop a process which allows the extraction of high-purity scandium oxide from waste streams of titanium dioxide production, without the need for any additional mining. "Rio Tinto is uniquely positioned to help secure materials critical to America's future," the group said in an emailed reply to a Reuters' request for comment. Rio Tinto's facility in Quebec, Canada produced the first batch of scandium oxide three years ago and currently has the annual production capacity of 3 metric tons. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-agency-wants-buy-scandium-oxide-rio-tinto-defence-stockpile-2025-09-22/
2025-09-22 11:03
Eni agrees to buy power from 400-MW ARC fusion plant in Virginia Virginia's data centers drive demand for fusion energy Deal follows similar one with Google for 200 MW Fusion still has work to do on technology, says CFS CEO WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Italian energy company Eni (ENI.MI) , opens new tab said on Monday it struck a more than $1 billion power purchase with Commonwealth Fusion System's project in Virginia that the companies hope by the early 2030s will generate electricity through the reaction that fires the sun. Eni agreed to buy power from the 400-megawatt (MW) ARC project in Chesterfield County, Virginia, despite CFS not knowing exactly what the project cost or when it will be completed. Sign up here. Any power generated by the project is expected to go to the grid in Virginia, home to the world's biggest hub of energy-hungry data centers. "This is showing in concrete terms, that people that use large amounts of energy, that know the energy market, that they want fusion power and that they're willing to contract for it," Bob Mumgaard, CFS CEO and co-founder, said about the deal. Big Tech, utilities and energy companies are scrambling to secure electricity supply as U.S. power demand rises for the first time in two decades on artificial intelligence and data centers. Eni, traditionally a major fossil fuel company, is rebranding itself as an energy technology company, investing in CFS since 2018. Eni believes fusion is a "very disruptive, fundamental way," to solve energy problems including cost and sustainability, Lorenzo Fiorillo, Eni's technology, R&D and digital director, told reporters in a teleconference. CFS, which spun out of MIT in 2018, has raised nearly $3 billion in capital. It struck a similar power purchase deal in June with Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab Google for 200 MW from The ARC plant for an undisclosed price. ENI and CFS did not specify the amount of power in their purchase agreement. Physicists at national laboratories and companies have been trying for decades to use lasers or, in the case of CFS, large magnets to foster fusion reactions, in which light atoms are forced together under extreme heat to release large amounts of energy. In 2022, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California briefly achieved net energy gain in a fusion experiment using lasers. But achieving so-called "engineering break-even," in which more energy comes out of a reaction than the overall energy that goes into a fusion plant to spark a reaction, has been elusive. And for a plant to generate power from fusion, the reactions must be constant, not rare. "We're not here saying today that fusion power has no technology left to do," said Mumgaard. "But the character of that technology has shifted from ... 'Can this ever work?' into a question like 'Okay, what're the details of how, when and where?'" https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eni-strikes-more-than-1-billion-power-deal-with-us-fusion-firm-commonwealth-2025-09-22/
2025-09-22 10:48
Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet lays out new five-year plan Targets at least $500 mln in philanthropic capital Slide in official aid a focus at New York Climate Week, COP30 LONDON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - An alliance that installs renewable energy in developing countries wants to invest around $7.5 billion during its next five-year plan, executives told Reuters, and is seeking more philanthropic partners as richer nations cut government aid. The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, launched at global climate talks in 2021, has helped 30-plus countries to enhance electricity grids, set up battery storage and create jobs in the green economy. Sign up here. It secures free or cheap money from charitable or governmental sources to reduce the investment risk and draw in money from multilateral development banks and private sector lenders. The task has become harder since the U.S. administration under Donald Trump has led a shift away from development aid and climate finance. Founded by the IKEA Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation and the Bezos Earth Fund, GEAPP's partner roster has grown to include countries such as Britain and Denmark, the World Bank and private sector companies including GE Vernova. WORLD LEADERS GATHER FOR NEW YORK 'CLIMATE WEEK' As world leaders gather in New York for the U.N. General Assembly this week alongside the city's "climate week", Chief Executive Woochong Um said the group was seeking new partnerships. The alliance is also looking ahead to the next global climate conference in Brazil in November, when finding the finance to help developing countries shift to green energy is set to play a prominent role as it has at previous climate talks. "With aid budgets under pressure, we need new models to deliver development at scale," Um said, adding plans included "an Energy and Opportunity Coalition" to embed green energy in sectors such as agriculture and health. SIX-FOLD INCREASE IN CLEAN ENERGY NEEDED Underlining the scale of the challenge, the International Energy Agency has said clean energy , opens new tab investment in developing countries outside China needs to rise six-fold to $1.6 trillion by the early 2030s in order to hit the world's climate goal. Official development aid fell 7.1% in real terms in 2024, data from the OECD showed, the first decline for six years, led by a slide in U.S. funding, raising pressure on groups such as GEAPP to increase its range of backers. DIGITALLY-INTELLIGENT AND RENEWABLES-READY Um said the renewables alliance would seek to scale up its work on what it describes as "Grids of the Future", or ensuring power systems in emerging economies are renewables-ready, digitally intelligent, and financially sustainable. With battery storage projects under way in more than 20 countries - including India's first utility-scale standalone system - the group aimed to digitise millions of grids across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, he said. "In Jaipur, we're creating a live digital map of 6.5 million utility assets so the utility can spot problems before they cause outages," saving more than $50 million a year. "The ambition is to replicate this across 10 utilities in India, 10 in Africa, and 10 in Latin America and Southeast Asia, creating a global backbone of digital, renewable-ready distribution utilities." Over its first five-year plan, GEAPP has mobilised $7.8 billion in financing that it expects to deliver new and improved energy access to nearly 240 million people and reduce carbon emissions by 952 million metric tons, it said in a report to be released on Monday. Um said the alliance over 2026-2030 aimed to raise at least $500 million in philanthropic capital and leverage it around 15 times to unlock the $7.5 billion. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/bezos-backed-renewables-alliance-targets-75-bln-developing-countries-2025-09-22/
2025-09-22 10:45
CSRC advises brokerages to pause RWA tokenisation in Hong Kong, sources say Hong Kong aims to be a digital assets hub amid China's cautious stance Chinese firms' shares rally on virtual asset business interest in Hong Kong Sept 22 (Reuters) - China's securities watchdog has advised some local brokerages to pause their real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation business in Hong Kong, said two sources, signalling Beijing's concerns of a euphoric drive towards a booming digital assets market offshore. The RWA tokenisation process usually converts traditional assets such as stocks, bonds, funds and even real estate, into digital tokens traded on a blockchain. A raft of Chinese firms, including brokerages, have launched RWAs in Hong Kong over the past few months. Sign up here. At least two leading brokerages have received informal guidance from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) in recent weeks to refrain from conducting RWA business offshore, said the sources with knowledge of the matter. One of the sources said the latest regulatory guidance is aimed at strengthening risk management of a new business and making sure the claims made by companies are backed by strong, legitimate businesses. The move comes as Hong Kong over the past year ramped up efforts to position the Asian financial centre as a digital assets hub, with many firms, including Chinese brokerages, preparing for the launch of virtual asset trading, investment advisory and virtual asset management. China, once the world's biggest bitcoin trading and mining centre, on the other hand, has taken a cautious approach towards digital assets after it banned cryptocurrency trading and mining in 2021 due to financial system stability concerns. Last month, Chinese regulators asked big local brokers to halt publication of research endorsing stablecoins in a bid to curb a surge in interest in the digital currency among domestic investors, Reuters has reported, citing sources. Beijing's latest move comes even as Hong Kong said in June its Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) are conducting a legal review of RWA tokenisation, drawing on international experience. The global RWA market is currently worth around $29 billion, according to data provider RWA.xyz. China Merchants Securities, citing industry forecasts, said last month the figure could exceed $2 trillion by 2030. It was not immediately known how long the Chinese securities regulator's informal guidance to some brokerages on halting RWA business in Hong Kong would remain in force. The sources could not be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media. The CSRC, HKMA, and FSTB did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong declined to comment. VIRTUAL ASSET FRENZY Chinese brokerage GF Securities' Hong Kong unit in June launched "GF tokens", a suite of yield-generating products that are backed by the prices of U.S. dollar, Hong Kong dollar and offshore renminbi, its partner HashKey Chain said at that time. China Merchant Bank International, a subsidiary of China Merchant Bank, last month assisted Shenzhen Futian Investment to raise 500 million yuan ($70.29 million) via the issuance of a RWA-based digital bond, CMBI has said in a statement. Spokespersons at GF and CMBI did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on whether they have received any regulatory guidance on their RWA plans. Besides brokerages, Chinese property developer Seazen Group (1030.HK) , opens new tab also said last month it was setting up an institute in Hong Kong to push RWA tokenization. Hong Kong's recent introduction of its stablecoin regime has fuelled a wave of crypto enthusiasm. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said earlier this month 77 firms have expressed interest in applying for a license as of August 31. Shares in Chinese companies, which expressed an interest in foraying into virtual asset business - a wider sector that covers trading and investments of digital assets, stablecoin and tokenisation in Hong Kong, have rallied in the recent past. State-owned Guotai Junan International shares once shot up more than 400% after the broker said that it had obtained regulatory approval in Hong Kong to offer cryptocurrency trading services in June. Shares of Fosun International jumped as much as 28% on Aug 12 on the news that its chairman Guo Guangchang, together with Fosun's stablecoin team, met with top Hong Kong government officials earlier in the month. ($1 = 7.1136 Chinese yuan renminbi) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/china-ask-brokers-pause-real-world-asset-business-hong-kong-sources-say-2025-09-22/
2025-09-22 10:44
LONDON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Hedge funds bought banks, insurance and consumer finance companies last week at the fastest pace in three months, Goldman Sachs said in a research note, amid increased dealmaking expected to boost profits and an expected further loosening of regulations. An index of European banks (.SX7P) , opens new tab has risen over 40% so far this year, while U.S. banks (.SPXBK) , opens new tab have advanced just over 20%. Sign up here. The funds picked no regional favourite, but North America and Europe took the bulk of long positions, betting that shares in these markets would rise, according to the Goldman Sachs note to clients on Friday that was seen by Reuters on Monday. Hedge funds, which had throughout August decreased trading levels, raised gross leverage levels last week by the largest amount in eight months, the Goldman Sachs note said. Gross leverage is a gauge of how much hedge funds are trading. Financial companies were the second most bought sector monitored by Goldman Sachs' prime brokerage unit, followed by tech stocks. "We were hopeful at the start of the year that pragmatism on the part of regulators and government would underpin a better year for the specialist lenders, both operationally and in terms of share prices. So far, so good," said a September 17 report by analysts at the UK bank, Panmure Liberum. Banks generally tend to make money in times of higher interest rates, but the prospect of lower interest rates was already baked into stock prices, its note said. The Fed last week cut rates for the first time since December and signalled further reductions at its October and December meetings given signs of a weakening U.S. labour market. Goldman Sachs (GS.N) , opens new tab CEO, David Solomon, said in a CNBC interview earlier this month that the bank expected its busiest week for initial public offerings since July 2021. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/hedge-flow-hedge-funds-pile-into-banks-insurance-consumer-finance-goldman-sachs-2025-09-22/
