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Indian renewables companies urge a pause on auctions due to backlog
A presentation by the industry shows that India's renewable producers have urged the government to stop new project auctions, until stranded energy projects find buyers. Three major industry groups made a rare presentation jointly to the federal energy and renewables ministries. They said that more than 42 gigawatts (gigawatts) of auctioned power capacity has yet to be awarded contracts for power supply. Grids in the top-producing renewable states Gujarat and Rajasthan reject some green energy from operational projects - this is known as curtailment. The National Solar Energy Federation of India, the Sustainable Projects Developers Association and the Wind Independent Power Producers Association have all stated that delays in the upcoming transmission lines could lead to further curtailments. According to one attendee, senior government officials said that bidding couldn't be stopped?abruptly. However, they agreed to accelerate efforts to reduce curtailments through resolving the technical constraints. The participant declined to be identified as he wasn't authorised to talk to the media. The federal ministries of power and renewable energies did not respond immediately to requests for comments. The power ministry said previously that it wanted to?accelerate the signing of contracts by speeding up interstate transmission lines. Meanwhile, the ministry for renewable energy has partially blamed curtailments due to a slowing in power demand growth. Avaada Energy has not yet found buyers for the 9.5 GW capacity that it won at auctions. The presentation stated that ReNew Power was looking for buyers for 5GW and JSW Group, 2.7GW. The companies didn't immediately respond to our requests for comments. The industry groups called for the appointment of renewable energy experts to key regulatory agencies, and added that there was confusion caused by multiple agencies having overlapping technical standards. They said that "various bodies?across the eco-system continue to be dominated?by conventional power system expertise." The report also highlighted repeated delays in the transmission infrastructure. One project received five extensions of deadlines on requests for progress reviews every month.
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Ethiopian Airlines cancels flight to Tigray Region after clashes
Ethiopian Airlines cancelled its flights to 'Tigray' on Thursday, and residents in the northern region of the country rushed to withdraw money from banks following clashes between national and regional forces that raised fears of a renewed conflict. Ethiopia's National Army fought against fighters of the Tigray People's Liberation Front from late 2012 for two years. Researchers say that this conflict resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people through violence, collapse of healthcare, and famine. According to diplomatic and government officials, clashes erupted in the disputed western Tigray region earlier this week. Ethiopian national carrier official: "As from today, all flights have been cancelled." Without giving any reason, the official said. A resident of Mekelle in Tigray’s capital, reported that hundreds of people queued up to withdraw cash on Thursday. However, many banks were out of money. He said: "I tried to withdraw money from three Commercial Bank of Ethiopia branches but was told they didn't have any ..... I checked all the ATMs around town, but none of them had cash. A 26-year old Mekelle resident told how he tried unsuccessfully to send a parcel by air to Addis Ababa, the capital. I was informed that flights were cancelled as of this morning. He said there was also a "shortage" of cash. The Tigray War ended in November 2022 with the signing of a pact of peace, but there are still disagreements over various issues. These include contested territories?in western Tigray, and the delay of disarmament by Tigrayan troops. According to a diplomatic source, short-lived clashes broke out this week between Tigrayan and national forces in western?Tigray. Senior Tigrayan officials said that the regional government reached out to Addis Ababa for an explanation of the flight cancellations, but received no response. Senior officials from the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan government expressed their hope for a reduction in tensions. Both Amhara and Tigray claim Western Tigray to be part of their respective regions, although it is currently controlled by Amhara forces as well as the Ethiopian military.
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TSX futures are rising as oil and gold continue to advance.
Futures tied to Canada's major stock index rose Thursday as precious metals continued their rally,?oil climbed on geopolitical worries, and investors assessed the Big?Tech reports from the U.S. As of 6:05 a.m., March futures based on Toronto's TSX Composite Index (S&P/TSX) were up 0.3%. ET. Gold spot gained 1.4% and briefly hovered near $5,600 an ounce. This was due to the demand for safe havens amid continued geopolitical unrest and concern over the autonomy of the U.S. Federal Reserve. The U.S. Dollar's decline?slowed on Thursday but it remained near multi-year lows. Silver prices remained stable, but copper and other metals prices increased. Brent crude futures surged past $70 a barrel for the first since September amid fears of an upcoming U.S. attack on Iran, a major oil producer. Wall Street futures were largely flat, as investors considered earnings from Microsoft and Meta. Microsoft's cloud revenue growth failed to impress, while Tesla and Meta surged in premarket trade after announcing plans to increase capex. The rise in commodity stocks has helped Toronto's?stock benchmark index to close higher on Tuesday, recovering from losses caused by Bank of Canada's flagging of uncertainty about future policy moves. As widely expected, the Canadian central bank left benchmark rates unchanged. On Wednesday, the?Fed held rates at their current level. Chair Jerome Powell noted that risks to inflation and employment had "diminished but still existed." Celestica increased its revenue forecast for the full year 2026, after the bell rang on Wednesday. Canadian Pacific Kansas City, however, slightly missed their fourth-quarter profit expectations. CLICK CODES TO GET CANADIAN MARKETS UPDATES: TSX Market Report Canadian Dollar and Bond Report Global Stocks Poll for Canada Canadian Markets Directory (Reporting and Editing by Jonathan Ananda; Utkarsh T. Tushar Hathi)
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EasyJet exploring Starlink Wi-Fi deal, but economics not right yet
EasyJet held discussions with Elon Musk’s Starlink to offer on-board Wi Fi, but the economics don't?stack-up?for British budget airline, Kenton Jarvis stated on Thursday. These comments follow a spat on social media between Musk and Ryanair's?Michael O'Leary in this month, over the cost to install?Starlink's WiFi service. O'Leary said that the fuel drag caused by 'Wi-Fi antennae' on planes would cost around $200 million per annum, and that only a few budget travellers were 'willing' to pay for the service. Jarvis said that "at the moment...where we are in our discussions with Starlink, economics don't quite work for us", though he added that the product is a "really great one", with high streaming speeds. Jarvis stated that?easyJet is also in contact with other providers on a market he described as "rapidly evolving". Jarvis said that the airline would continue to have conversations with 'Starlink' and other providers, and monitor prices and offerings. Jarvis added that he could not say exactly when the right time would be. (Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru. Mark Potter edited the article.
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Maguire: Germany's weak wind output will continue into 2026.
Germany, Europe's biggest wind power producer, has been suffering from subpar wind energy production for years due to wind speeds below average at the turbine level. The total German wind-powered electric output dropped by around 4% from the previous year in 2025, following a growth of less than 1% annually?in 2024. This was despite Germany's wind power capacity increasing steadily every year for more than a decade. Recent forecasts by LSEG for wind power production indicate that generation levels will be below the long-term norm throughout the first quarter this year. The first quarter of the year is traditionally when Germany's production of wind peaks. Therefore, any projected shortfalls in wind generation will strain the national utilities who must make up for the wind shortages by increasing their other sources. LONG STRETCH According to the think tank Ember's estimates, total wind-powered energy production in 2025 will be around 131 Terawatt Hours (TWh). This compares with annual outputs of 136.2TWh for 2024 and 135.2TWh for 2023. Monthly, the wind output was below that of the previous year for?the first four months in 2025 and again in December. The German wind power capacity increased by the most in 2017 despite this underperformance. According to Germany's Federal Network Agency, the total capacity of wind energy in Germany will increase by 4.9 gigawatts to 77.7 GW by 2025. Germany's energy system has also upgraded its existing wind power fleet in order to increase the generation of each wind farm. Older turbine blades have been replaced with larger and more efficient models across the country. In the early part of 2026, however, the German wind network will again be affected by long periods of low wind speeds. According to the German Meteorological Service (DMS), the average wind speed at turbine level was below 5.5 meters per seconds (12,3 miles per hour) during the first quarter 2025. This was the lowest reading in that time period for more than 50 years. According to the weather service PredictWind for 2026, average wind speeds are between 4 and 5 meters per second at key?wind farms. This is below the long-term average between 6 and 7 metres per second. The Earth's Poles are experiencing higher temperatures than the average global temperature. This is reducing pressure differences between Central Europe, the Arctic and other parts of the world. It also results in less wind for long periods. BALANCING ACT Since 2023, wind farms are Germany's largest source of electricity. Therefore, sustained periods of lower-than-expected production have ripple effects on its entire power network. Ember data shows that in 2025, utilities will increase gas-fired power by nearly 6%, to reach the highest level since 2021. This is to compensate for wind output reductions and a 19% drop year-over-year in hydropower generation. In 2026, after a near 40% increase in regional natural-gas prices this year alone, utilities will probably turn to more affordable generation sources to make up for system shortages. LSEG data shows that coal-fired power plants are most likely to be the source of replacement energy. They have so far increased their generation levels in 2026 compared with the same period in the year 2025. Nevertheless, sustained periods of increased coal-fired power generation will result in an increase in emissions in the power sector. Ember data indicates that Germany's coal-fired plants emit approximately 1 million metric tons per terawatt of electricity. Gas plants, on the other hand, emit around 460,000 tonnes of CO2. Even a three month period of increased coal-fired production could cause a significant increase in power pollution and undermine ongoing efforts to clean the energy sector. As Germany's electricity consumption peaks early in the year, due to increased heating requirements, it is likely that the fossil fuel power stations will continue to produce at a high level for the next few months. Wind speeds would have to increase in order for this trend to be reversed. This would allow utilities access more wind energy and power networks could reduce the output of fossil fuel plants. For the moment, however, there are few brisk wind gusts, which means that one of the largest networks of wind power in the world is a burden, rather than an asset, to Germany's energy system. These are the opinions of a columnist who writes for. You like this article? Check it out Open Interest Follow ROI on Twitter for the latest global financial news. Follow ROI on You can find us on LinkedIn. Listen to Morning Bid on the Morning Bid Daily Podcast Spotify Or the app. Subscribe to the podcast and hear the top news from markets and finance seven days a week.
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Nvidia CEO: China has not yet finalised the license for H200 chip
The Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated on Thursday that he hoped China would allow the U.S. tech giant to sell their powerful 'H200 Artificial Intelligence Chip in China and the license is currently being finalised. Huang arrived in Taipei after a trip to China, where he visited government officials, customers and partners. "The H200 license is currently being finalised. I hope that the Chinese government will also allow Nvidia the sale of the H200. They have to make a decision. "I'm hoping for a favorable decision," he said to reporters at Taipei Songshan Airport. I think H200 is a very good thing for American technological leadership. It is also good for the Chinese Market. "And customers would love to have H200," said he. "I'm waiting for a good outcome." We just need to be patient, he said. CHINA APPROVES CHIP BUYING WITH CONDITIONS Citing a source, reported on Wednesday, that China had given approval for ByteDance to buy more than 400,000 'H200' chips. The approvals were accompanied by conditions that one source deemed too restrictive. Customers have not yet converted the approvals into purchase orders. Huang stated that the company had not received such information, and that he believed that the Chinese government is still in the decision-making process. He did not explain 'why China is still deciding. China has not provided a reason why it hasn't approved the imports H200, but Beijing wanted to strike a balance between meeting the demands of its AI sector and nurturing its domestic semiconductor industries. The H200 chip from Nvidia, the second-most powerful AI chip in the world, has been a major point of contention between U.S. and China relations. Beijing has been the biggest obstacle to shipping despite strong demand for Nvidia's H200 from Chinese companies and U.S. approval of exports. Huang said that China had many chip manufacturers and Nvidia would need to compete very aggressively. The first thing we need are orders. Huang replied that he had a supply to support all his existing customers. If H200 is approved we will?work together with TSMC in order to plan and schedule the supply, and deliver as quickly as possible." HUANG SIGNALS INTERESTED IN OPENAI FINANCING ROUND Huang responded that he would love to invest in OpenAI when asked about a possible further investment in ChatGPT, but did not confirm the amount of funding. Nvidia, Amazon and Microsoft are 'talking about' investing up to $60 billion into OpenAI. The chip titan will provide up to $30 billion. The Information reported on Wednesday. The U.S. chip giant relies heavily upon Taiwan's supply chains, working closely together with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's biggest contract chipmaker. Major contract manufacturers such as Foxconn and Wistron are also involved. TSMC also invests $165 billion? in Arizona to build factories and meet the growing demand for products there. Huang stated that he expected the demand for TSMC wafers to far outweigh the energy supply in Taiwan. "I think it's fantastic for TSMC." TSMC now has a global presence," said the Taiwanese CEO, who added that he planned to meet TSMC's CEO C.C. Wei and the other Taiwanese partners in the supply chain. (Reporting and editing by Wen Yee Lee, Ben Blanchard, Himani Sarkar and Shri Navaratnam; Louise Heavens, Anne Marie Roantree and Himani Sarkar)
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Wizz Air announces quarterly loss and shares recovery hopes
Wizz Air reported on Thursday a "third-quarter" operating loss that was in line with its expectations. This comes after it raised its capacity forecast earlier this week on the backs of additional Airbus deliveries as well as the return of previously ground aircraft. Shares and profits of the airline have been pressured by problems with Pratt & Whitney engines owned by RTX, and conflicts in the 'Middle East and Eastern Europe. In a press release, Chief Executive Jozsef Vasradi stated that "we are slowly recovering from the engine related aircraft grounding" and that in the next fiscal year we will have 20-25 aircraft grounded on average due to powdered-metal issues. Wizz Air's shares rose over 10% by 0848 GMT, Varadi stating that he was happy to announce "no surprises, rather benign" results. The operating loss of Wizz 'Air increased to 123.9 million Euros ($148.5 Million) during the third quarter from 75.9 millions euros a year ago. LSEG polled analysts who expected a 137.95 million-euro loss. The airline's fiscal year ends March 31. Wizz Air stated that the larger loss was due to a "previously higher depreciation" charge on older aircraft. Varadi stated that total unit costs will rise over the previous financial year due to higher maintenance costs and inflation linked costs, uncertainty regarding Pratt & Whitney engines redeliveries as well as increased depreciation costs tied to the retirement schedule for the A320ceo Fleet. As of December 31, the number of aircraft grounded for engine repairs was down to 33, from 40 one year ago. Varadi said the number would fall to 25 by the summer of 2026 and all aircraft should be back in service by the calendar year 2027. Varadi stated that "we have a complicated relationship" (with Pratt & Whitney) and that he was confident about the "well-executed plan of recovery". Wizz Air, which left the Middle East in the past year, recently applied for U.S. permission to fly between Britain and the U.S.
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EasyJet reports summer bookings are on the increase after reporting a larger quarterly loss
EasyJet, a British budget airline, said that summer bookings are increasing, despite the fact that it reported an increased first-quarter loss, mainly due to expansion costs and lower winter prices. The company stated that the "traditionally busy January booking period" saw record numbers in terms of both revenue and volume, as bookings for summer 2026 continue to build. Winter is usually the slowest time for airlines. They rely on the spring and summer season to boost their earnings. EasyJet has reported an operating loss of 76 millions pounds ($105million) for the three-month period ending December 31 compared to a 40 million pound loss one year ago. The airline has maintained its outlook for 2026. Early trading saw its shares rise 2%. Wizz Air also reported an operating loss for the third quarter in line with expectations. Ryanair, the larger competitor, raised its fare growth outlook earlier this week after bookings for 2026 were strong. Ryanair, easyJet and other budget carriers have avoided many of the challenges facing Europe's largest airlines. These airlines have been squeezed due to a weaker transatlantic market linked to tariff threats by U.S. president Donald Trump. EasyJet raised its medium-term targets for?its Holiday Division in November but warned that winter sales would be softer. Holiday business continues to grow. The quarter saw a pretax profit of 50 million pounds, as the number of customers jumped by 20%. EasyJet Holidays reported that 47% of its forward bookings were sold in the second half of the year.
Pakistan is the latest Asian nation to introduce screening for the deadly Nipah virus
After India confirmed two cases of the deadly Nipah virus, authorities in Pakistan increased screening for people entering the country.
Thailand, Singapore Hong Kong, Malaysia Indonesia and Vietnam also have tightened airport screening.
Nipah can cause brain inflammation, fever and death. A vaccine is not available. Transmission from one person to another is difficult and requires prolonged contact.
In a recent statement, the Border Health Services Department said that it was "imperative" to increase preventative and monitoring measures along Pakistan's border.
The Department added that "all travelers must undergo thermal screening and a clinical assessment at the Point of Entry" which includes seaports and land borders, airports and border crossings.
Travellers will be asked to submit their transit history from the previous 21 days to determine if they have been to "high-risk or Nipah-affected regions".
Travel between Pakistan and India is very limited since their worst fighting for decades took place in May of last year.
The Hanoi health department ordered on Wednesday that all incoming passengers to Noi Bai Airport, especially those from India and West Bengal in the east, be screened.
The scanners will detect any suspected cases. The department stated that this allows for a timely investigation and isolation of the disease.
This comes after authorities in Ho Chi Minh City - the largest city in Vietnam - announced that they had tightened up health controls at international borders.
India's Health?Ministry said this week that the authorities had identified and traced at least 196 contacts related to the two cases, none of whom showed symptoms and who all tested negative for the virus.
Nipah, a rare viral infection, is spread mainly from fruit bats to humans. World Health Organization reports that it can be asymptomatic, but is very dangerous.
Scientists believe that the virus has been circulating in fruit bats and flying foxes for thousands of year.
WHO has classified Nipah a priority pathogen. India reports frequent sporadic Nipah infections, especially in Kerala, the state to the south, which is considered one of the highest-risk areas for Nipah.
According to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which funds a vaccine test to stop Nipah, as of December 2025 there were 750 confirmed Nipah cases worldwide, and 415 deaths. Reporting by Francesco Guarascio from Hanoi, MubasherBukhari in Lahore, and Ananda Teresia from Jakarta; editing by EdwinaGibbs.
(source: Reuters)