“Geothermal company Fervo Energy announced Thursday morning that it had started selling electricity from its Cape Station power plant to the grid on September 30, one day ahead of schedule.

With it, Fervo becomes the first enhanced geothermal company to reach a key commercial milestone. The power plant synchronized with the grid about a week ago, bringing online the first third of what will soon become a 100-megawatt power plant…

From groundbreaking to commercial operations, the first block at Cape Station took 23 months to complete. As Fervo refines its process, it is aiming to complete future blocks in as little as 18 months.

That sort of speed to power should appeal to power-starved data center operators, who have been scouring every part of the energy sector for generating capacity. Geothermal can also be developed in phases, similar to how data centers are developed, allowing hyperscalers to bring racks online as demand ramps up.”

From TechCrunch.

“Italy’s Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to legislation paving the way for a return to nuclear power nearly four decades after the Chernobyl disaster prompted the country to abandon atomic energy.

The measure cleared the upper house 81-51 with seven abstentions. It marks a major step in Premier Giorgia Meloni’s drive to bolster energy security and meet climate goals, even though the construction of possible new reactors is still years away.

The bill, which earlier passed the lower Chamber of Deputies, establishes a legal framework for next-generation nuclear technologies. It authorizes the government to draft implementing decrees over the next 12 months covering reactor licensing, safety standards, waste management and criteria for future sites.

The vote puts Italy on a path toward reintroducing nuclear power after voters twice rejected it in national referendums, first in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and again following Japan’s Fukushima accident in 2011.

Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, minister for the environment and energy security, said the vote marked a historic step forward for Italy.”

From Associated Press.

“The nation’s largest federally owned utility received permission on Tuesday to build a new type of small nuclear reactor in Tennessee, in the latest sign of growing momentum for U.S. nuclear power.

The Tennessee Valley Authority was granted a construction permit by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a small reactor at its Clinch River site, west of Knoxville. It’s only the second time that U.S. regulators have given approval to build a next-generation commercial reactor. The first was in March for a project in Wyoming backed by Bill Gates.

The T.V.A. is considering up to four new reactors at Clinch River that are designed to be much smaller than traditional nuclear power plants. The hope is these ‘small modular reactors’ will be easier to build and finance, potentially avoiding the delays and cost overruns that have plagued U.S. nuclear projects in recent decades.”

From New York Times.

“India, a country of nearly 1.5 billion people, has long relied on coal to power its growing economy. But over the last two years, it has seen a remarkable shift: The rapid buildout of renewable energy has halted the growth of coal.

Coal output is no higher than it was two years ago, even though power demand has continued to surge, according to an analysis from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. After decades of growth, coal is finally hitting a wall in India. The result is that, since 2024, power sector emissions have stayed roughly flat.”

From Yale Environment 360.