2025-06-26 12:47
June 26 (Reuters) - Renewable energy developer Invenergy and social media giant Meta Platforms (META.O) , opens new tab have signed four deals to supply 791 megawatts (MW) more of solar and wind power to operate data centers, the companies said on Thursday. This is the latest in a string of deals by Meta to meet the surging power demand of its data centers needed for artificial intelligence technologies using clean energy. Sign up here. Last year, Meta had signed four contracts with the Chicago-based Invenergy for 760 MW of solar electricity. Invenergy said Thursday's deals bring the companies' total partnership to 1,800 MW. Meta has previously announced deals with several large solar projects, a geothermal startup, and is also seeking proposals from nuclear power developers. The electricity from Invenergy's solar and wind projects in Ohio, Arkansas and Texas will be delivered to the local grid, while Meta will receive the clean energy credits associated with the new generation capacity coming online, the energy company said. The companies did not disclose the financial details of the deals. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/invenergy-supply-meta-with-additional-791-mw-data-center-operations-2025-06-26/
2025-06-26 12:45
DHAKA, June 26 (Reuters) - Bangladesh's interim government directed authorities on Thursday to install solar panels on roofs of government buildings, including schools, colleges, and hospitals, in a push to generate clean energy and curb reliance on costly fuel imports. Bangladesh is currently governed by an interim administration, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, which took charge after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina quit and fled the country in August amid widespread protests. Sign up here. The interim government has struggled to stabilise the power sector due to growing demand and financial constraints. Yunus' directive came during a meeting of the 'National Rooftop Solar Program', held against the backdrop of a worsening energy crisis driven by volatile global fuel prices. Officials at the meeting cited a 2024 report by the International Renewable Energy Agency, which showed Bangladesh lagging far behind its regional peers in solar energy adoption. While solar power accounts for 24% of electricity in India, 17.16% in Pakistan, and 39.7% in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh generates only 5.6% of its electricity from solar sources, according to the report. To bridge this gap, the government has already floated tenders for 55 land-based solar power plants with a combined capacity of 5,238 MW. However, those projects are not expected to come online before 2028. Yunus instructed agencies to adopt rooftop solar systems that can be implemented quickly and encouraged a private investment model under which companies would install and maintain solar panels on public buildings, using rooftop space provided by the government. "The institutions won't have to pay electricity bills and can earn rent from their rooftops," Yunus said. The International Monetary Fund approved a $1.3 billion disbursement to Bangladesh this week from a $4.7 billion bailout package the country sought in 2023 amid dwindling foreign exchange reserves and rising import costs following a surge in commodity prices triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/bangladesh-orders-solar-panels-installation-public-buildings-tackle-energy-woes-2025-06-26/
2025-06-26 12:03
SYDNEY, June 26 (Reuters) - Bain Capital partner Mike Murphy is confident Virgin Australia's (VGN.AX) , opens new tab domestic business focus will help the airline withstand travel disruptions and oil price volatility created by the ongoing Middle East tensions. Bain, which bought Virgin for A$3.5 billion ($2.3 billion)including liabilities in 2020, raised A$685 million when Australia's second largest airline relisted on the Australian Securities Exchange on Tuesday. Sign up here. The private equity firm's stake was reduced in the initial public offering to 39.4% from about 70%. Virgin's debut on the ASX came hours after Qatar shut its airspace and prompted the airline to divert two Qatar-bound flights after Iranian missiles were fired at a U.S. base in the state. Virgin started Doha flights earlier this month under a lease deal with Qatar Airways which owns 23% of the carrier. "Our view on Middle East and oil is that as tricky as those issues are for an airline we're pretty well placed geographically and strategically in terms of the domestic focus to be assured as you could be being in this sector," Murphy told Reuters by telephone. "From an oil price volatility perspective, we're very comprehensively hedged out in the short to medium term." Virgin said in an exchange filing on Tuesday it has hedged 98% of its anticipated fuel usage in Brent crude oil at a cap of $70 per barrel for the first half of 2026. It has hedged 86% of its anticipated fuel usage at the same price in the second half. Virgin holds a domestic flight market share of 34.4% as of March versus Qantas' 37.5%, a recent report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission showed. Murphy said the decision made under Bain's ownership to pare back its international routes to be mainly a domestic carrier had strengthened Virgin's balance sheet and profitability. "Long-haul international was not a part of the business that ever made money ... those strategic decisions that the company of that era made resulted in a pretty overstretched balance sheet, a very weak set of margins," Murphy said. Virgin shares closed on Thursday at A$3.25, up 12% from the IPO price of A$2.90. ($1 = 1.5286 Australian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/virgin-australia-can-ride-out-middle-east-volatility-private-equity-boss-says-2025-06-26/
2025-06-26 12:02
COPENHAGEN, June 26 (Reuters) - Danish shipping company Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) , opens new tab said on Thursday it had reopened cargo acceptance to Israel's Haifa port for imports as of June 25 and that it expected to reopen exports from the location once a lower safety risk had been confirmed. Iranians and Israelis have sought to resume normal life after 12 days of the most intense confrontation ever between the two foes and a ceasefire that took effect Tuesday. Sign up here. Maersk on Friday said it had temporarily paused vessel calls at Haifa port, amid Israel's conflict with Iran. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/maersk-reopens-import-cargo-acceptance-israels-port-haifa-2025-06-26/
2025-06-26 11:58
MOSCOW, June 26 (Reuters) - Russia wants Iran to continue its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday. Iran's parliament approved a bill on Wednesday to suspend cooperation with the IAEA, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, after Israel and the United States bombed Iran's nuclear sites with the aim of preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Sign up here. Iran denies any such intention. Russia, which has a strategic partnership with Iran, has condemned the Israeli and U.S. strikes and says Tehran has the right to a peaceful nuclear energy programme. Lavrov noted that the Iranian parliament did not have executive power so its decision was advisory in nature. "We are interested in Iran's cooperation with the IAEA continuing," he told a press conference. "We are interested in everyone respecting the Supreme Leader of Iran, who has repeatedly stated that Iran does not and will not have plans to create nuclear weapons." https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/russia-says-it-wants-iran-keep-cooperating-with-un-nuclear-watchdog-2025-06-26/
2025-06-26 11:55
Dollar index falls to fresh 3-year lows Threat to US institutions' credibility a growing worry-investors Further downside to dollar seen LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - A battered dollar is taking another beating as investors, unnerved by fresh signs of an erosion in U.S. central bank independence, waste no time in pushing the greenback back to its lowest levels in over three years. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell "terrible" in his latest attack on the Fed chief and said he has three or four people in mind as contenders for the top Fed job. Sign up here. The dollar was back at multi-year lows against a basket of other major currencies on Thursday , erasing a brief respite provided by safe-haven flows related to Middle East tensions earlier in the week. Down 10% so far this year and set for its worst year since 2003, the dollar was expected to weaken further as renewed concern about Fed independence comes amid increased expectations for rate cuts and a looming July 9 deadline for trade agreements. "We are short the dollar in this environment, where there is an erosion of institutions," said Kaspar Hense, a senior portfolio manager at RBC BlueBay Asset Management. Being 'short' a currency means holding bets it will fall in value. "This is not currently 100% in the price, and it would still move markets if someone like Hassett or Bessent would get the job in order to cut rates, ignoring fundamental risk," Hense said. The leading contenders for next Fed chief reportedly include former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, National Economic Council head Kevin Hassett, current Fed Governor Christopher Waller, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. "I think the market is pricing in President Trump appointing someone who at least at first sight appears more sympathetic to his cause," said Societe Generale chief FX strategist Kit Juckes. Comments earlier this week meanwhile by Fed policymaker Michelle Bowman, recently tapped by Trump as the Fed's top bank overseer, that the time to cut rates is getting nearer weakened the dollar as rate-cut expectations rose. Traders now price in a nearly 25% chance of the Fed cutting rates in July compared to 12.5% last week. Trump's confrontations with longstanding allies over trade and security, and his attacks on the Fed, have revived questions in Germany around its holdings of central bank gold, some of which is stored at the New York Fed. And European Central Bank supervisors are asking some of the region's lenders to assess their need for dollars in times of stress, gaming out scenarios in which they cannot rely on tapping the Fed under the Trump administration, Reuters reported last month. Nick Rees, head of macro research at Monex Europe, said the big short-term risk for markets was that the Fed criticism continued. "I'll be perfectly honest, I'm currently rewriting them in light of what we are seeing right now," he said, referring to short-term currency forecasts. "We had thought the dollar should stabilize around current levels because the macro data is about to turn really quite positive." ING said the euro's break above $1.17 , put $1.20 firmly in sight although sentiment towards the greenback would have to deteriorate further to get there. INDEPENDENCE Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, noted that the dollar had not benefited as much as expected in the past two weeks from heightened Middle East tensions, a sign the dollar's safe-haven role had been hurt. In recent years, the currency has risen when oil rallies, but it gained just 0.7% last week. The dollar, the world's No.1 reserve currency, has come under fire this year from erratic U.S. policy making that has exacerbated economic uncertainty and put the notion of U.S. exceptionalism into doubt. Concern about Fed independence adds to the damage, investors said. Respect for independent institutions such as central banks has long been viewed as a key attraction of major economies, helping anchor economic stability and provide policy certainty. A survey of 75 central bank reserve managers published earlier this week by think-tank OMFIF showed that 70% of those surveyed said the U.S. political environment discouraged them from investing in the dollar -- more than twice the share a year ago. "Talk about having the next Fed chair announced within the next couple of months, that would be fairly disruptive," said Shah. "It brings up the whole concern about the credibility and reliability of U.S. institutions again, which is typically something that people don't like." https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/no-love-dollar-markets-fret-about-fed-independence-2025-06-26/
