September 23, 2026 · Energy & Climate Daily Digest
A roundup of energy and climate developments for September 23, 2026, with summaries, links, and commentary.
I. Policy and Carbon Markets
1. Germany commits for the first time to phasing out fossil fuels by 2045 (policy)
Summary:
The Guardian reported on September 23 that Germany’s government, in a roadmap published on Wednesday, made its first explicit pledge of “transitioning away” from fossil fuels by 2045; earlier commitments spoke only of carbon neutrality. The plan calls for raising renewables from about 55% to 80% of electricity generation by 2030, adding about 12 GW of onshore wind and targeting 215 GW of solar by 2030. The existing coal phase-down toward a 2038 exit was reaffirmed, with a possible earlier 2035 date. Methane emissions are to fall 30% by 2030 under the 2021 global methane pledge. Campaigners called the wording a notable shift but warned that the economy and energy ministry is still pushing for more gas.
Links:
Commentary:
Europe’s largest economy has written fossil exit into policy text, but gas and heating politics can still turn the roadmap into a statement fight.
2. EU states set MSR negotiating stance: pause surplus-allowance invalidation until 2030 (carbon markets)
Summary:
According to European Council messaging relayed on September 23 and coverage by Montel and Reuters, EU ambassadors agreed a Council negotiating position on amending the EU ETS market stability reserve (MSR). More than 3 billion allowances have been removed since invalidation began in 2023. While the Commission proposed an indefinite halt, member states chose a temporary suspension through end-2030 so surplus allowances above the current 400-million threshold stay in the reserve as a buffer against price spikes. From January 1, 2031, the invalidation threshold would rise to 800 million, then decline under the wider ETS review. The move responds to fuel-price pressure after the Iran conflict and requests from Poland, Italy and others to curb the ETS contribution to power bills. Talks with the European Parliament aim to finish by end-2026.
Links:
- PubAffairs Bruxelles — Council agrees targeted MSR amendment
- Montel — EU nations back keeping surplus ETS permits in reserve
Commentary:
The carbon-price “fire extinguisher” is being enlarged; short-term power-bill politics is overriding the long-term scarcity story.
3. Newsom clears a key step for California–Washington carbon-market linkage (carbon markets)
Summary:
California’s governor’s office announced on September 23 during Climate Week NYC that Governor Gavin Newsom has made the formal findings required by law (dated September 21) to advance linking California’s Cap-and-Invest program with Washington’s carbon market, allowing CARB to start the public regulatory process that is the final step before formal linkage. California has been linked with Québec since 2014 and last year extended Cap-and-Invest in statute; an early linkage agreement with Washington was signed in June. Officials say a larger, more stable market would cut pollution more cost-effectively while funding clean transport, housing, wildfire resilience and other community priorities—framed as a state-level hedge while federal climate policy retreats.
Links:
Commentary:
As Washington, D.C. steps back, the West Coast is turning carbon pricing into cross-state infrastructure.
4. Australia’s Coalition unveils a 30-day plan to scrap net-zero and offshore-wind pillars (policy)
Summary:
ABC, The Guardian and RenewEconomy reported on September 23 that the federal Coalition’s energy spokesman outlined an eight-point bill to be introduced within 30 days of winning office. It would repeal the Climate Change Act 2022 and legislated net-zero targets, abolish the Safeguard Mechanism, scrap vehicle-emissions standards, revoke four offshore-wind zones (Hunter, Illawarra, Southern Ocean and Bunbury), and seek to lift nuclear prohibitions. The Coalition says regulation should prioritise affordability and reliability and add a developer “code of conduct”; critics say the package would “let climate change rip.” The release lands as Victoria and New South Wales head toward state elections and energy politics hardens.
Links:
- ABC News — Coalition vows to take a chainsaw to climate laws and offshore wind
- The Guardian — Angus Taylor pledges to repeal swathe of climate policies
Commentary:
Australian politics is converting a power-bill narrative into a campaign menu for dismantling climate law—starting with offshore wind.
II. Electrification, Grids and Storage
5. IEA: Faster electrification could save fuel importers about $400 billion a year by 2035 (electrification)
Summary:
TaiyangNews and others reported on September 23 on the IEA’s Special Report on Electrification: under a High Electrification Scenario, fuel-importing countries could cut energy-import bills by about $400 billion a year by 2035, or more than $500 billion when measured against 2026’s higher energy prices. Cost-effective technologies available today, including solar PV and batteries, could raise electricity’s share of final energy from about 23% to around 33%, putting the COP31 presidency’s proposed 35% “35×35” target within striking distance. Meeting the pathway would require battery storage to rise roughly tenfold to about 2.9 TW by 2035 from roughly 300 GW at end-2025, alongside major expansion of grids and system flexibility.
Links:
- TaiyangNews — IEA: Electrification could save $400 billion by 2035
- WRI — Statement on IEA Special Report on Global Electrification
Commentary:
Electrification is being sold as an energy-security ledger item—but only if grids and storage keep pace with demand.
6. Guterres launches a Global Grids Accelerator for Africa and Southeast Asia (power grids)
Summary:
Climate Home News reported on September 23 that UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched the Global Grids Accelerator on the sidelines of the UN Climate Summit in New York. The initiative aims to turn national grid-expansion plans into investment-ready projects by convening UN agencies, development banks, investors and utilities—without creating a new financing institution or announcing extra funding. The IEA says more than 2,500 GW of renewables are stuck in connection queues worldwide, nearly twice US generation capacity, and that meeting climate goals requires adding or refurbishing more than 80 million km of grids by 2040, with annual grid investment needing about 50% more by 2030. In Africa the focus includes Mission 300; in Southeast Asia it supports the ASEAN Power Grid. Grid limits helped cancel or stall about 50%–60% of renewable projects in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia between 2021 and 2025.
Links:
Commentary:
Renewables are being built faster than they can connect; the UN is choosing to broker deals rather than write new cheques.
7. GridStor closes $220 million financing for a 100 MW / 400 MWh Arizona BESS (storage)
Summary:
pv magazine USA reported on September 23 that Goldman Sachs-backed developer GridStor secured about $220 million in tax-equity bridge, construction and term debt for its White Tank battery project from ING Capital, KeyBank and Zions. The 100 MW / 400 MWh facility in Maricopa County, near Phoenix, has a 20-year tolling agreement with Arizona Public Service and is expected online in the first half of 2027. APS set a new peak-demand record on August 2, about 5% above the 2025 mark, as population growth, chip manufacturing and data centres lift load.
Links:
Commentary:
Surging Southwest load is turning longer-duration storage plus utility tolling into bankable standard kit.
8. Victoria requires new data centres to bring their own renewables and storage (policy / storage)
Summary:
Energy-Storage.News reported on September 23 that Victoria’s Sustainable Data Centre Action Plan, released September 22, will require new data centres to match new demand with new generation, meet their own connection and network-upgrade costs, and use recycled or non-drinking water for cooling. The state rules sit on a federal floor: in July the prime minister said large data centres must become net renewable generators and cut draw when the grid is strained, and the AEMC in August set a four-point framework on new renewable certificates, firming contracts and market registration. Victoria goes further on siting buffers and community-benefit sharing, consistent with a national approach that allows tighter—but not weaker—state rules.
Links:
Commentary:
AI compute is being forced to self-supply power—data centres shift from free-riders on the grid to mandatory storage hosts.
III. China and Regional Transition
9. China approves four-year hydrogen pilots in five city clusters under a “2+3” design (hydrogen)
Summary:
China Reform Daily / Sina Finance reported on September 23 that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission have approved four-year comprehensive hydrogen application pilots in five city clusters: Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, the Greater Bay Area, Northeast (including eastern Inner Mongolia)–Yangtze River Delta, Xinjiang–Chengdu–Chongqing, and the Yellow River “ji-bend”–Central Plains. The “2+3” pattern puts BTH and the Bay Area on transport, fuel-cell vehicles and hydrogen corridors, while the other three focus on industrial uses such as green hydrogen-ammonia-methanol, hydrogen-based chemicals, hydrogen metallurgy and hydrogen blending. Coverage frames the move as China’s shift from transport-only pilots to a dual track of transport and industry.
Links:
Commentary:
Pilots are pushing hydrogen from demo fleets into industrial feedstock substitution—success still hinges on price and logistics.
10. China tightens full-lifecycle rules for retired solar, wind blades and EV batteries (circular economy)
Summary:
Xinhua / China5e reported on September 23 that at a Ministry of Ecology and Environment briefing on September 22, officials said volumes of “new three” solid wastes—retired PV modules, wind blades and power batteries—keep rising, and regulators are strengthening oversight plus recycling and pollution control. The environmental code calls for recycling or harmless disposal of retired blades and modules and producer-responsibility systems for batteries matched to sales volumes; agencies say a full-lifecycle closed-loop framework is taking shape. The push sits inside the Beautiful China 15th Five-Year Plan’s dedicated solid-waste and new-pollutant chapter and the related solid-waste pollution-control plan.
Links:
- China5e — MEE on solid-waste and new-pollutant governance
- Eastmoney — Keeping “new three” wastes in a closed loop
Commentary:
The renewables build-out is entering its second half: after install rates, retirement and recycling become the regulatory mainline.
11. North Sea taskforce: oil and gas is declining faster than new industries; ~115,000 jobs at risk (oil and gas transition)
Summary:
New Civil Engineer and World Oil reported on September 22–23 that the North Sea Transition Taskforce’s One Year On report says UK Continental Shelf oil and gas activity is falling faster than offshore wind, CCUS and hydrogen can expand, so the window for an orderly transition has “narrowed” but not shut. Oil and gas still support about 115,000 direct and supply-chain jobs, with an estimated 25,000 lost since the last general election, especially in northeast Scotland. The taskforce urges ending the Energy Profits Levy sooner and introducing the planned Oil and Gas Revenue Levy from 2027–28 rather than 2030, arguing skills and supply chains will otherwise vanish before low-carbon industries can absorb them.
Links:
- New Civil Engineer — Window for North Sea energy transition narrowed
- World Oil — North Sea oil and gas decline threatens 115,000-job workforce
Commentary:
The real just-transition risk is not drilling too long—it is old jobs disappearing before new ones arrive.
IV. Climate and Extreme Weather
12. Climate Impact Lab: a strong El Niño could drive 450,000+ extra heat deaths in six months (climate risk)
Summary:
Al Jazeera and AP reported on September 23 that the University of Chicago’s Climate Impact Lab estimates this unusually strong El Niño could cause more than 450,000 additional heat-related deaths through February 2027 versus a typical year. Global land temperatures could rise about 1.2°C, with extremely hot days about 44% more frequent. The Sahel faces about 66,800 extra deaths, led by Nigeria (~31,400), Indonesia (~19,300) and Sudan (~17,600); the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia combined ~19,400; India ~15,800; Brazil ~13,300. Researchers stress the highest risk in already-hot, lower-income places. The UN weather agency has put the chance El Niño lasts through February 2027 at 100%, with heat impacts possibly lingering into next summer.
Links:
- Al Jazeera — Powerful El Niño could cause more than 450,000 deaths
- The Hindu — El Niño-driven heat could cause nearly half a million more deaths
Commentary:
Climate impacts are being priced in human deaths—adaptation finance gaps become a public-health ledger, not only a moral appeal.
13. Hurricane Polo hits Category 5 as El Niño supercharges the Pacific (extreme weather)
Summary:
CBC and CNN reported on September 23 that Hurricane Polo intensified into a Category 5 storm, with the US National Hurricane Center citing maximum sustained winds near 265 km/h—among the strongest Pacific cyclones in decades—and a path skirting Mexico’s southwest coast. Mexican officials said landfall was unlikely, but hurricane-force winds extend about 65 km from the centre and tropical-storm winds about 169 km; Guerrero and Michoacán could see 8–15 cm of rain and landslide risk. Polo is the season’s third Category 5. CNN said El Niño plus already-warm oceans are acting like rocket fuel for eastern Pacific storms, with another tropical depression also threatening Hawaii.
Links:
- CBC — Hurricane Polo considered one of the strongest storms ever
- CNN — El Niño supercharging Pacific storms; Polo and Hawaii threat
Commentary:
The same El Niño signal shows up as statistical excess mortality on one side and Category 5 winds on the other.
Today's Summary
- Germany writes a 2045 fossil phase-out into a roadmap, while the EU pauses ETS allowance invalidation to cushion power prices—carbon markets split between tightening pledges and loosening supply.
- California advances linkage with Washington’s carbon market; Australia’s Coalition offers a 30-day package to dismantle net-zero and offshore-wind pillars, widening policy divergence.
- The IEA and UN reinforce an electrification-plus-grids story: import-bill savings depend on storage and network build-out, with Africa and Southeast Asia as accelerator priorities.
- A strong El Niño is quantified as 450,000+ extra heat deaths, and Hurricane Polo reaches Category 5—climate risk leaves the negotiating table for mortality and disaster tallies.
Daily Framing:
A day when electrification consensus heated up, carbon markets and Australian politics blew cold, and El Niño’s human toll was spelled out in the same news cycle—system bottlenecks and political forks arriving together.
This digest is compiled from real-time search results and is for reference only.