Oct 22, 2026 · Energy & Climate Daily Digest
A digest of energy and climate developments compiled for October 22, 2026, with summaries, links, and commentary.
I. Policy, Carbon Markets and Oil & Gas
1. European Parliament votes to push oil, gas and coal import methane rules out to 2031 (methane)
Summary:
On October 22 the European Parliament adopted its position on delaying parts of the EU methane regulation by 341 votes to 225, with 6 abstentions. Last week the Commission proposed a one-year delay to importer obligations due from January 1, 2027, and to methane-intensity reporting due in August 2028. Parliament instead wants three years. Under its text, importers would have until May 31, 2031, to show that crude oil, natural gas and coal contracts concluded or renewed since August 4, 2024, cover only fuel subject to monitoring, reporting and verification equivalent to EU rules. The first methane-intensity report would move to August 5, 2031, rather than August 5, 2029, under the Commission's proposal. EU oil and gas operators would also get three more years to file verified source-level and site-level reports: February 2030 for operated assets and August 2031 for non-operated assets. Oil, gas and coal from countries under EU import sanctions would not get the extra time. The Commission would have to report by July 1, 2029, on implementation and security of supply. The text is Parliament's negotiating position. Member-state ambassadors failed to agree on Wednesday, so talks with the Council are still ahead.
Links:
- European Parliament — Longer delay for methane rules on importers and producers
- EUobserver — MEPs back a three-year delay, longer than the Commission proposed
Commentary:
The vote is done and the law is not: three years is Parliament's asking price, and the Council did not follow on Wednesday.
2. Fahnbulleh says only she can make the final call on Rosebank (oil and gas)
Summary:
UK Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh told political journalists in Westminster on October 22 that the final decision on whether to approve the Rosebank oilfield is hers alone, not Prime Minister Andy Burnham's or Chancellor John Healey's. She called it a regulatory process rather than a policy process, said only a tiny number of officials can see the papers, and warned that if colleagues overturned the balance she strikes between climate commitments and jobs and growth, the courts would overturn it too. Rosebank lies about 80 miles, or 128 kilometres, northwest of Shetland. It is Britain's largest untapped oilfield and would also produce some gas; the oil would leave by tanker for international markets. In a BBC interview on Wednesday she had already called it a different proposition from the Jackdaw gas field, whose output is mostly for the UK. The Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled last year that the earlier approvals of both projects were unlawful because the climate impact of burning the oil and gas had not been taken into account. She did not announce an approval or a refusal on October 22.
Links:
Commentary:
What she tightened today is who holds the decision; the field itself still has no yes or no.
3. Burnham asks ministers to look at scrapping the gas standing charge; high-use poor households could lose (bills)
Summary:
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has asked Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh and Chancellor John Healey to examine removing the fixed daily standing charge on household gas bills and to report back to Parliament as soon as possible. The Independent reported that Fahnbulleh told a press lunch on October 22 that her department had treated the reform as a long consultation, while the prime minister wants the two ministers to come back with an answer. She said the public resents a fixed fee it cannot control, and that moving the charge into the unit rate would at least restore some choice over how much gas a household uses. Modelling, she said, suggests bills would fall for a large group of low- and middle-income households, while low-income households that use a lot of gas could be worse off and would need mitigations. The standing charge does not pay for the gas itself; it covers delivery, maintenance and network upgrades. She added that progress on the cost of living will decide whether the government wins the next election.
Links:
Commentary:
The option on the table is moving a fixed fee into the gas price; there is still no published bill showing who saves and who pays more.
4. California proposes letting stored CO2 cut compliance, with a leak buffer account (carbon market)
Summary:
The California Air Resources Board posted the initial statement of reasons for its Carbon Capture, Removal, Utilization and Storage Program on October 20, with consideration scheduled for January 28, 2027. The draft would let a covered entity deduct carbon dioxide captured by a unit installed after September 16, 2022, and permanently sequestered or utilized under a Board-approved protocol that meets tests of being real, permanent for at least 100 years, quantifiable, verifiable and enforceable. The entity would also have to place allowances in a new CCUS buffer account equal to the project risk rating multiplied by the reduced compliance obligation, and identify the number and vintage at least 60 days before the surrender deadline. For an unintentional reversal, the Board would retire one allowance from the buffer account per metric tonne. For an intentional reversal, the operator would have to submit one allowance for retirement within six months of verification or of an executive-officer assignment.
Links:
- California Air Resources Board — Initial statement of reasons, posted October 20, 2026
- California Air Resources Board — Proposed buffer-account text
Commentary:
Stored carbon can shrink a compliance obligation, but the buffer account holds back allowances scaled to site risk, and the hearing is in January.
5. China's draft spot-market rules would let renewables bid jointly with on-site storage (power market)
Summary:
On October 19 the National Development and Reform Commission opened consultation on draft Basic Rules for Electricity Spot Markets, running through November 18, to revise the 2023 interim rules. pv magazine reported on October 22 that the draft proposes entry into force on January 1, 2027, for five years, and would let a renewable plant and its co-located storage act as one entity in bidding, clearing, dispatch, settlement and performance assessment. New-type storage, virtual power plants, load aggregators, smart microgrids and green-power direct-connection projects are named as new participants. Real-time markets would set dispatch for the next 5 to 15 minutes. Locational marginal pricing is the preferred clearing method, and the price-cap range is to be widened. Settlement would be daily, with monthly billing. The national draft does not set bidding formats, metering or settlement formulas for joint offers; those are left to regional and provincial rules.
Links:
- China News Service — NDRC seeks comment on basic electricity spot-market rules
- pv magazine — Draft spot rules back joint renewable and storage participation
Commentary:
Joint bidding is in the national draft; bid formats and settlement formulas still wait on provincial rules, and comments run to November 18.
II. Renewables, Storage and Projects
6. EBRD takes a stake in Scatec's Egypt platform, aimed at 2.7 GW of solar (project)
Summary:
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on October 22 that it will take a minority stake of up to $221 million, or €191 million, in Egypt Renewables Holdings B.V., a vehicle set up by Scatec, which remains the majority owner. The platform is meant first to add 2.7 GW of solar, 900 MW of wind and 4.2 GWh of battery storage in Egypt, and can also finance renewable acquisitions, development and construction across the southern and eastern Mediterranean. Harry Boyd-Carpenter, the bank's managing director for sustainable infrastructure, said the equity is meant to strengthen Egypt's energy security and cut reliance on imported fossil fuels. The projects sit under the energy pillar of Egypt's Nexus of Water, Food and Energy initiative, launched at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh. Since starting work in Egypt in 2012, the bank has invested more than €16 billion in 238 projects.
Links:
Commentary:
The $221 million buys a minority stake; the 2.7 GW of solar and 4.2 GWh of storage are what the platform plans to add.
7. Iraq drops import duties on solar systems; grid-connection rules are still a draft (solar)
Summary:
pv magazine reported on October 22, citing the Iraqi News Agency, that the cabinet has decided to eliminate customs duties on imported solar energy systems, to support a shift toward renewables and cut the cost of buying them. Electricity Minister Ali Saadi Waheeb had asked the prime minister last month to lower the duties. The rate was cut in February from as high as 33% to 5% on modules, cables, inverters and lithium batteries; this step removes what remained. The electricity ministry has finished a 40-article draft on connecting solar systems to the national grid, including smart meters that would let households exchange power with the network. The draft has gone to the State Council for legal text and would then need cabinet approval.
Links:
Commentary:
The duty goes from February's 5% to zero; the 40-article connection rule has not reached the cabinet.
8. France's economic-affairs committee strips out early termination of solar contracts (solar)
Summary:
The economic-affairs committee of France's National Assembly adopted an amendment to delete Article 82 from the 2027 budget bill. That article would allow early termination of solar contracts signed from 2006 to 2010 for plants larger than 250 kW, and would extend limits on generation during negative prices to plants from 100 kW, with lower compensation. The government hoped to save about €120 million, about $134.8 million, in 2027. The French Renewable Energy Association says more than 8,000 S21 contracts would be affected and that the scheme has supported about €10 billion of investment. The amendment, led by Julie Laernoes of the Ecologist and Social group and co-signed by 35 lawmakers, still needs the full National Assembly and the Senate. Debate in the Assembly is scheduled to start on October 27, with a vote on the full budget planned for November 17.
Links:
Commentary:
The committee removed Article 82; the full chamber opens debate on October 27, and the €120 million is still the government's savings target.
9. Ghana says it is procuring 200 MW of storage, charged by 200 MWp of solar (storage)
Summary:
Ghana's minister for energy and green transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, told the 16th meeting of ECOWAS energy ministers in Ghana on October 22 that the country is procuring a 200 MW grid-scale battery and a 200 MWp solar plant. The solar plant is meant to charge the battery, which would hold more than 1,500 MWh. He said storage lets a system keep electricity when it is available and release it when it is needed, while also providing services that make the grid more reliable and flexible. He urged member states to connect grids, build reliable infrastructure and align regulation, and noted that West Africa's gas, hydropower and solar resources complement one another. The report names no winning bidder, contract value or commissioning date.
Links:
Commentary:
The meeting produced a procurement announcement: 200 MW and more than 1,500 MWh, with no contractor and no price.
10. China's meteorological service releases a solar-radiation model for ultra-short PV forecasts (power weather)
Summary:
Xinhua reported on October 22 that the China Meteorological Administration has released Fengyuan, an artificial-intelligence model for sensing and forecasting solar radiation. It is described as the country's first end-to-end AI solar-radiation model driven by geostationary satellites fused with a minute-scale ground radiation network, providing real-time monitoring and ultra-short-term forecasts for national stations and grids. It was developed by the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, the Xiong'an Meteorological AI Innovation Institute and Tsinghua University's Department of Earth System Science. Wang Yaqiang, director of the academy's institute for AI weather applications, said the model breaks new ground in sensing, gridded forecasts and ultra-short forecasts for solar plants, and that tests show the accuracy and timeliness can support PV power prediction. Researcher Zeng Zhaoliang said the forecasts can support dynamic grid dispatch and storage dispatch and reduce swings in solar output. The model is already being tested on radiation-to-power forecasts at several plants. The report gives no error percentage.
Links:
Commentary:
What was released is an ultra-short radiation forecast meant to keep up with clouds; no error figure was published today.
III. Wind Permits and Extreme Weather
11. US Interior asks a court to send back the New England Wind construction permit (offshore wind)
Summary:
The Associated Press reported on October 22 that the Justice Department on Tuesday asked a federal court in the District of Columbia to remand the construction and operations plan for New England Wind, off Massachusetts, so the Interior Department can reconsider it. The plan was approved in 2024 under the Biden administration. It allows up to 129 turbines and 2,600 MW, enough for more than 900,000 homes a year. Developer Avangrid has not started construction and declined to comment on Wednesday. It is the fourth offshore project this administration has recently asked to reopen. Interior also wants to reconsider Revolution Wind, which has finished construction, and the Maryland offshore project, which has not started. Interior said on Wednesday that the filing followed the court's briefing schedule and was not a new policy announcement. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, said on Wednesday that the move could blow up a bipartisan permitting deal reached in September and not yet voted on.
Links:
Commentary:
What the court is being asked to send back is the 2024 construction plan; the 2,600 MW project has not started building.
12. The Pentagon clears wind projects in Maine and South Dakota; about 300 others remain held (onshore wind)
Summary:
Bloomberg reported on October 22 that the Pentagon on Thursday advanced proposed wind projects in Maine and South Dakota through a national-security review that has stalled scores of projects nationwide. A White House official, speaking anonymously because there has been no formal announcement, said more clearances are expected in the coming days and weeks, and that the shift is meant to build support for a bipartisan bill to speed permits for energy and infrastructure. A person familiar with the talks said the administration's promise covers about 30 of roughly 300 projects now suspended pending Pentagon approval. Whitehouse called it a start and said much more is still needed on wind and solar. The Senate is due to take up the bill when it returns after the November midterm elections. The report says Thursday's action has not been formally announced.
Links:
Commentary:
The clearances cover about 30 of roughly 300 stalled projects, and there is still no formal announcement.
13. Indonesia's fire hotspots fall to 565, and patchy rain is still not enough (wildfire)
Summary:
Reuters reported on October 22 that Berton Panjaitan, spokesman for Indonesia's disaster agency, said hotspots have fallen over the past week but sporadic rain is still not enough to put the fires out, and the country remains on high alert. Authorities call this the most intense forest-fire season in 11 years. El Niño has raised temperatures and left forest and peat more vulnerable; the fires have caused hundreds of thousands of respiratory cases, and haze has hit Singapore and Malaysia. EU Copernicus monitoring put carbon-dioxide emissions from Indonesian fires at 14.44 million tonnes from October 15 to 21, down from 22.22 million tonnes in the previous seven days. The forestry ministry's Sipongi platform showed 565 high-confidence hotspots on October 22, down from more than 1,200 on October 14. More than 69,000 firefighters are deployed, up from about 44,000 in mid-September, with about 50 aircraft for water bombing and weather modification. The weather agency said the rainy season, normally starting in October, will be delayed until November. At least 100 university students protested in Banjarmasin, and students also demonstrated on Wednesday in Pontianak and Samarinda.
Links:
Commentary:
Hotspots fell from more than 1,200 on October 14 to 565, and the week's fire emissions were still 14.44 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
14. Fire carbon on both sides of New Guinea is closing in on strong El Niño years (wildfire)
Summary:
NASA's Earth Observatory reported on October 22 that the Global Fire Emissions Database shows fires on the Papua New Guinea side of the island had released nearly 32 megatons of carbon by October 17, more than any other year on record by that date. Guido van der Werf, a fire scientist at Wageningen University, said emissions are already far above the 2015 total and that this year is very likely to surpass 1997 and become the highest on record for the country. On the Indonesian Papua side, fire carbon exceeded 35 megatons, the third highest after the severe El Niño fire years of 1997 and 2015. Papua New Guinea's National Weather Service said the southern Trans-Fly region has gone more than 90 consecutive days without rain, and that since August parts of the region have received about 5% to 10% of normal precipitation. The observatory notes that people ignite the vast majority of fires in this landscape, and that they spread when it is dry.
Links:
Commentary:
The nearly 32 megatons is cumulative fire carbon in Papua New Guinea through October 17, not carbon-dioxide equivalent, and the rain has not returned.
Today's Summary
- The European Parliament voted 341 to 225 to push monitoring of imported oil, gas and coal methane out to May 31, 2031, and intensity reporting to August 5, 2031. The Commission had proposed only a one-year delay. Sanctioned origins are excluded, ambassadors did not agree on Wednesday, and the Council still has to negotiate the text.
- UK Energy Secretary Fahnbulleh said only she can decide Rosebank under a regulatory process, that its oil would be exported, and that she was not announcing an approval or a refusal. The prime minister has asked ministers to study scrapping the fixed daily gas charge; she said modelling shows many low- and middle-income bills would fall, while low-income high users could lose.
- The Justice Department asked a court to remand the permit for New England Wind, up to 2,600 MW, where construction has not started. The same day the Pentagon cleared projects in Maine and South Dakota, described by a person familiar with the talks as about 30 of roughly 300 stalled projects, with no formal announcement. California's October 20 carbon-capture draft sets buffer allowances as risk rating times emissions reduced.
- The EBRD will put up to $221 million into an Egypt renewables platform planned to add 2.7 GW of solar, 900 MW of wind and 4.2 GWh of storage. Iraq eliminated import duties on solar systems, a French budget committee deleted the early-termination clause for solar contracts, and Ghana said it is procuring 200 MW and more than 1,500 MWh of storage. Indonesia's high-confidence hotspots fell to 565, with 14.44 million tonnes of fire carbon dioxide from October 15 to 21. Papua New Guinea's fires had released nearly 32 megatons of carbon by October 17.
Daily Framing:
Today in the energy and climate cycle was a day of stretched deadlines and permits pulled both ways: Parliament pushed methane checks on imported fossil fuels out to 2031, Britain put the Rosebank decision back in the energy secretary's hands, and the United States asked a court to reopen an offshore wind permit on the same day it cleared a small set of onshore projects.
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