The week ending November 29, 2025
Clean-Energy Update: What Moved in the Sector
Here are the key developments in clean and renewable energy over the past week — and why they matter.
Key Moves & System Upgrades
SISENER unveils smart hybrid renewables + digital-platform approach
- The Spanish engineering firm introduced a portfolio integrating solar PV, wind, battery energy storage systems (BESS) — and even green hydrogen — to build “hybrid” energy systems tailored to diverse site conditions.
- A key enabler is their digital platform SAGLAN, which supports design, construction, and operations/maintenance with real-time monitoring and AI-based optimization.
- Impact: By combining multiple renewable sources + storage + hydrogen + smart software, these systems can deliver more consistent, reliable clean energy — even in sites where single-technology renewables might struggle (remote, off-grid, or variable-resource regions).
- In a November 2025 technology brief, IRENA highlighted SIBs as a lower-cost, safer, and more resource-secure alternative to lithium-ion batteries.
- Manufacturers are targeting cell-cost levels as low as US $40 / kWh once production scales.
- Global production capacity is expected to hit ~70 GWh per year by end-2025 — with potential 5× growth by 2030.
- Impact: Cheaper, safer battery storage makes it easier to store surplus renewable power (solar, wind), smoothing out intermittency and making clean energy more dispatchable — a key for grid stability and wider adoption, especially in regions without battery supply risks or access to lithium.
- New York launched a solicitation prioritizing solar and wind projects that can begin construction by July 2026 or go live by end of 2027 — to lock in federal tax credits before they are reduced under current policy.
- The move is part of the state’s push to have 70% of electricity from renewables by 2030.
- Impact: This could trigger a wave of new projects, boosting clean-power capacity quickly — though it also raises pressure on labor markets and supply chains, possibly affecting costs and timing.
The government struck a deal with the Greens to overhaul environment laws, including stronger protections and clearer — and faster — approval paths for renewable energy and infrastructure projects.
- Meanwhile, construction kicked off on the multi-billion-dollar HumeLink Transmission Project, a 365 km transmission line to carry renewable power (from projects like Snowy 2.0) into the grid.
- As a result of ongoing renewables expansion + grid upgrades, Australia’s emissions dropped 2.2% in FY2025, bringing them 28.5% below 2005 levels.
- Impact: The legal reforms and infrastructure build-out lower barriers for future clean projects — accelerating deployment and improving reliability. Grid upgrades make intermittent renewable energy usable at scale, and near-term emission reductions show visible climate benefits.
- Recent data show continued cost declines for large-scale solar modules in Q3 2025.
- That cost easing, combined with advances in hybrid systems and storage (e.g. via SIBs), is helping developers structure more bankable — and affordable — renewable projects.
- Impact: Lower costs improve return-on-investment (ROI) for renewable projects, encourage further deployment, accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels, and enable adoption even in cost-sensitive markets.
Headwinds & Risks Highlighted
- The elimination of top-level renewable-energy offices at the United States Department of Energy (DOE) — including the offices for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean energy demonstrations — signals a steep regulatory shift in the U.S., which could disrupt national clean-energy momentum.
- With a rush of solar/wind tenders and storage systems being deployed quickly (e.g., in New York), there are already warnings that labor markets and supply chains might be strained, which could push up costs or slow project deliveries.
What This Means Globally — And Where Things Might Go Next
- The combination of hybrid renewables + advanced storage (like sodium-ion batteries) + smarter digital platforms is letting clean power behave more like traditional, dispatchable electricity — making it viable even in grids and regions where renewables were once seen as too intermittent or unreliable.
- Policy-driven pushes (tax-credit deadlines, legal reforms, grid investment) are compressing the timeframe for a clean-energy build-out — possibly triggering a fresh wave of project deployments before subsidies fade.
- As costs fall and technologies diversify (e.g., away from lithium), clean energy becomes increasingly accessible globally — opening the door for energy transition even in less wealthy or resource-constrained regions.
- But the shifting political/regulatory landscape (e.g., in the U.S.) introduces uncertainty: momentum could stall if support erodes — underscoring that the energy transition still depends heavily on policy, not just technology.
