The Státní pokladna Centrum sdílených služeb (buyer) published an open tender for the construction of the II and III stages of the Zeleneč Data Centre and extended the bid submission deadline.

• Main announcement: The buyer has launched an Open procedure (Procedure ID: 679e04d9-6703-4bca-b7da-31eb0b199ca2) for the construction of Stages 2 and 3 of the Zeleneč Data Centre, including trial operation, and operational service & maintenance of delivered technological equipment for 60 months; Estimated value excluding VAT: 490 000 000.00 CZK; Place of performance: Zeleneč, Prague-East; Estimated duration: 77 months; Submission is electronic via the buyer profile (https://mfcr.ezak.cz/profile_display_58.html).
• Background & procedure details: The procurement is governed by Directive 2014/24/EU and Czech Act No. 134/2016 Sb., award criterion is Price (100%) based on total bid price (Kč excl. VAT), procurement documents are partly restricted (protection of sensitive information), the review body is Úřad pro ochranu hospodářské soutěže, and the buyer changed the tender deadline to 12/01/2026 10:00 (change published; procurement documents updated on 02/01/2026).

Vistra Corp. announced it has executed definitive agreements to acquire Cogentrix Energy, consisting of 10 natural gas generation facilities totaling approximately 5,500 MW, for a net purchase price of approximately $4.0 billion.

• Transaction details and timing: Acquirer Vistra Corp. will pay a net purchase price of ~$4.0 billion composed of ~$2.3 billion cash, ~$0.9 billion stock consideration (5 million shares at $185/share), and the assumption of ~ $1.5 billion of indebtedness, less ~$0.7 billion NPV of expected tax benefits; the price equates to ~$730/kW for the portfolio. The transaction is subject to FERC, DOJ (Hart-Scott-Rodino), and state regulatory approvals and is expected to close mid-to-late-2026.
• Portfolio and financial rationale: The acquisition includes 10 plants (~5,496 MW) across PJM, ISO-NE, and ERCOT (assets listed in release), average heat rate approx 7,800 Btu/kWh with some units sub-7,000 Btu/kWh; Vistra expects mid-single-digit Ongoing Operations AF C FbG per share accretion in 2027 and high single-digit accretion on average 2027–2029, reiterates capital allocation plan with long-term net leverage target <3x, planned $300 million annual dividends, and at least $1 billion of share repurchases each year. Advisors: Goldman Sachs to Vistra; Evercore to Cogentrix; legal advisors listed.

The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) urges the Virginia General Assembly to pause approvals of hyperscale data center projects and to require full transparency and planning for energy, water, air, and community impacts (Warrenton, Va., Jan. 5, 2026).

• Main announcement: PEC calls for an immediate pause on approvals of hyperscale data center proposals, a full accounting of energy and infrastructure commitments by utilities, and a comprehensive and transparent plan to protect the grid, water, air and communities. The statement was made by Christopher Miller, president of The Piedmont Environmental Council, and includes specific legislative asks such as State Corporation Commission review of interconnection, statewide reporting on data center energy use, water consumption, and emissions, and air quality studies of cumulative generator impacts.
• Background and details: Monitoring Analytics, LLC raised concerns to FERC that adding more data centers risks reliability and affordability; PEC highlights that the state sales tax exemption for data centers cost Virginia $1.6 billion in FY2025. Other concrete requests include denial/rollback of the Department of Environmental Quality change on backup generator use, review of the massive state sales and use tax exemption, and protections to prevent residents and businesses from subsidizing data center infrastructure.

Thyssengas and Gasunie have agreed to explore converting existing natural gas pipelines to transport hydrogen between the Netherlands and Germany.

• Joint development agreement: The operators intend to convert existing natural gas pipelines to carry hydrogen at Oude Statenzijl (Groningen) and Vlieghuis (Drenthe), to connect Dutch industrial areas, import terminals, storage and production facilities with German industrial clusters in the Ruhr and chemical facilities in Rhineland.
• Implementation framework and scope: The agreement defines technical standards and organisational responsibilities, laying groundwork for future hydrogen interconnections across northwest Europe and potentially enabling transport to and from Denmark (per Gasunie Director of Hydrogen Transport Helmie Botter).

The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) and the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water have agreed to develop a joint auction under the H2Global double auction model to support green hydrogen market ramp-up.

• Main announcement: Germany’s BMWE will provide up to 200 million euros from the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF) in the coming years and the Australian government will participate to the same extent to finance a joint German–Australian H2Global double auction that shares difference costs equally between producers and buyers; the auction is intended to deliver secure purchase agreements and regular price signals.
• Background and implementation details: The BMWE is conducting a public market consultation to design the auction and meet EU state aid requirements; the questionnaire is available in English until 16 February 2026 (link provided). Implementation and further development of H2Global will be managed by the non-profit H2Global Foundation, with its subsidiary HINT.CO GmbH using funds to balance price differences. Germany is also running joint auctions with the Netherlands and Canada and conducting its own renewable hydrogen tenders.

The European Commission has announced a pilot to boost plastics circularity and a proposal for a Circular Economy Act in 2026.

• Main action: The European Commission will propose a Circular Economy Act in 2026 and has launched a pilot focused on plastics that includes an implementing act under the Waste Framework Directive to set Union-wide end-of-waste criteria for mechanically recycled plastics (public feedback launched with this Communication), mass balance allocation rules for chemical recycling outputs (to apply to Single Use Plastics Directive targets), and the re-launch of the Circular Plastics Alliance with a joint workplan for 2026. Key timelines: Presented with this Communication (mass balance rules transmission), Q1 2026 (CPA re-launch and Trans-Regional Circularity Hubs pilot), Q2 2026 (amendment of Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 and initiation of separate customs codes), and November 2026 (ban on exports of plastic waste to non-OECD countries begins).
• Background and concrete measures: The package addresses market fragmentation, unfair import competition and investment gaps by: proposing end-of-waste criteria to reduce ~EUR 120 million/year in extra costs for the recycling sector (approx. EUR 260,000 per recycler on average); supporting chemical recycling with industry-planned investments of up to EUR 8 billion; coordinating with the EIB / JICE (JICE has invested >EUR 16 billion between 2019–2024); amending food-contact recycled plastics rules, creating separate customs codes, conducting audits of external recycling installations, and deploying TAIEX-EIR tools for control laboratories. All items are concrete regulatory or implementation actions with specified timelines (Q1–Q2 2026 and November 2026).

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and EXEO Group, Inc. have announced the deployment and start of commercial operation of Japan’s first GPU servers cooled with two-phase direct-to-chip cooling (DLC) at EXEO Group’s data center.

• Two-phase DLC circulates a non-conductive liquid/gaseous refrigerant through cold plates directly on GPU chips, enabling stable cooling of 1,000–1,400W GPUs, reducing fan power, lowering PUE, and mitigating CO2 emissions, operating costs, and failure risks in GPU servers used for generative AI.
• EXEO Group integrates MHI’s heating and cooling technology with its data center construction and operations expertise to deliver a one-stop GPU server service, and both companies plan to expand these low-environmental-impact solutions for large-scale data centers to support green transformation (GX) in the IT sector.

The Governance and Economic Policy Centre publishes an analysis by Nader Khalifa on the viability of East African NDCs, highlighting widening implementation and climate finance gaps relative to Paris Agreement goals.

• East African NDCs (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda) show increased ambition in 2030 mitigation and adaptation targets but rely on 70–90% external finance, need USD 280–300 billion by 2030, and currently implement only 20–30% of planned mitigation actions, constrained by weak MRV systems, limited mainstreaming in budgets, slow GCF/GEF disbursements (18–36 months) and low private investment (< USD 4 billion/year vs USD 24–30 billion needed).
• European and multilateral climate finance remains misaligned with African priorities, with only 12–15% of European climate finance reaching the poorest vulnerable African countries, adaptation finance below 30% of flows and far under the USD 52–57 billion/year adaptation need vs < USD 11.4 billion/year received, contributing to a USD 1.2–1.3 trillion finance gap for African NDCs by 2030 and prompting recommendations on institutional strengthening, MRV upgrades, climate finance strategies, community participation, and regional cooperation post‑COP30.

The Ministry of Environment (MOENV) of Taiwan has announced draft review principles defining which industries qualify as high carbon leakage risk entities eligible for up to 80% reductions in carbon fees if they have approved self-determined reduction plans.

• High carbon leakage risk industries include 17 sectors (e.g., steel, concrete, oil refining, chemicals, pulp and paperboard, plastics, glass, textiles, PCBs, optoelectronics, computers, data storage media) and a second category where annual carbon fees exceed 30% of gross profit, gross profit is negative, products face anti-dumping duties, or are significantly affected by U.S. reciprocal tariffs in 2025–2026; firms must submit documentation to MOENV by Jan. 31 of the fee payment year, and applications will be jointly reviewed with the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
• Under Taiwan’s carbon fee program, emitters above 25,000 metric tons/year CO₂ pay NT$300 (US$9.50) per tonne, reducible to NT$100 or NT$50 per tonne with approved reduction plans, and a further 80% cut for high-leakage industries; the draft, modeled on EU and South Korean carbon leakage methods, will be open for 14 days of public comment before finalization.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Barclays Europe have announced a first-time cooperation to support EUR 800 million of new investment in the European wind energy supply chain via a risk-sharing guarantee structure.

• EIB–Barclays Europe cooperation will back around EUR 800 million in investments for wind turbine and grid component manufacturers and suppliers across EU Member States, using risk-sharing on specialised guarantees (advance payment and performance guarantees) to unlock private capital for next-generation wind projects and grid connections.
• The initiative, aligned with the European Wind Power Package and REPowerEU, focuses on EU-based production and assembly capacity, aims to ease guarantee and working-capital constraints, support high-quality jobs in the wind supply chain, and contributes to Barclays’ $1 trillion Sustainable and Transition Financing target by 2030; it was announced in Frankfurt by EIB Vice-President Nicola Beer, Helen Kelly (Head of Corporate Banking, Barclays Europe), and Ingrid Hengster (CEO, Barclays Germany).

The Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) has acquired and tested a new deep-water subsea camera system (Sea Spyder Deep Water) from Subsea Technology & Rentals to monitor deep-sea habitats and vulnerable marine ecosystems along the Portuguese coast.

• Sea Spyder Deep Water system, including STR SeaTow 6000 electric winch with 6000 m drum capacity and 5000 m coaxial tow cable, was acceptance-tested on 17–18 December aboard the research vessel Mário Ruivo with participation from IPMA, Vórtice-Equipamentos Científicos, Lda., and STR; it enables real-time high‑resolution imaging of the seafloor down to 4000 m for identification and monitoring of deep-sea habitats and Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VME) under EU Regulation (EU) 2022/1614.
• The camera system will support management and monitoring plans for Oceanic Marine Protected Areas, contributing to Portugal’s 30x30 target and implementation of the National Network of Marine Protected Areas (RNAMP); the equipment was financed by Programa Operacional Mar 2030 under the projects “Programa Nacional de Amostragem Biológica (PNAB)” and “DQEM-Directiva Quadro Estratégia Marinha” (MAR-014.7.2-FEAMPA-00004) to strengthen national capacity for marine biodiversity assessment, fisheries management, and Good Environmental Status evaluation.

The European Commission has published the first Construction Products Regulation (CPR) Working Plan for 2026‑2029, setting the priority order, milestones and timelines for developing and updating harmonised technical specifications across all CPR product families in Annex VII.

• Work plan 2026‑2029 defines the sequenced launch of CPR Acquis Sub‑Groups, Milestones I–IV, and standardisation requests for over 30 construction product families, links with the Clean Industrial Deal, Circular Economy Act, ESPR and EU housing strategies, and mandates the digital product passport, environmental sustainability assessment (including GWP), fire and dangerous substances work, and possible green public procurement minimum requirements.
• Background measures include amending Annex VII (merging/renaming product families, adding decorative paints and wallpapers, extending heating/cooling appliances and cables coverage, including photovoltaic panels), preparing delegated and implementing acts on fire, environmental sustainability and labels (e.g. cement GWP label), and planning standardisation requests and deadlines (2025‑2029) for priority product families such as concrete, metals, cement, insulation, glass, chimneys, timber, aggregates, road products, floorings, building kits and others.

The European Commission has announced a comprehensive Battery Booster Strategy to strengthen the EU battery value chain, including a new Battery Booster Facility and forthcoming Industrial Accelerator Act.

• Main actions and funding: The strategy launches a Battery Booster Facility mobilising EUR 1.5 billion in interest-free loans from the Innovation Fund for EU battery cell producers’ ramp‑up (first call in Q1 2026, first support in 2026), builds on EUR 1 billion in grants for EV battery cells and a EUR 200 million InvestEU guarantee top‑up (Dec 2024), allocates up to EUR 300 million for critical raw materials (lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, graphite), mobilises EUR 3 billion under the RESourceEU Action Plan within 12 months for CRM value chains, and plugs into a future European Competitiveness Fund (from 2028) for production ramp‑up.
• Background and structural measures: The strategy responds to global overcapacity (4000 GWh vs <2000 GWh demand in 2025), heavy foreign subsidies, and EU’s EUR 28 billion battery imports in 2024 (EUR 22 billion from China); it sets goals to cut single‑country raw material dependence by 30–50% by 2029, bans exports of waste Li‑ion batteries and black mass to non‑OECD from Dec 2026, introduces FDI conditionalities and use of Foreign Subsidies Regulation, prepares EU content requirements for EV and storage batteries via the Industrial Accelerator Act, mandates resilience criteria in EV support schemes from 1 January 2026 under the Net‑Zero Industry Act, and coordinates R&I and skills via Horizon Europe Batt4EU (EUR 925 million 2021–2027, EUR 382 million 2025–2027), the SET Plan, Net‑Zero Academies and a pilot Competitiveness Coordination Tool for the battery sector.

The European Commission has issued a Staff Working Document, Understanding the housing crisis, as the analytical basis for the European Affordable Housing Plan.

• Main findings and needs: The SWD concludes that housing supply has not kept pace with demand, especially in urban and tourist regions; the EU must add ~650,000 extra dwellings per year on top of the existing 1.6 million builds, requiring roughly EUR 150 billion per year to 2035 to close a 7.14 million-dwelling gap, while public investment in residential construction remains very low (EUR 7 billion or 0.04 % of GDP in 2023).
• Climate, social and infrastructure aspects: The document stresses that buildings account for >40 % of EU final energy use, around one‑third of GHG emissions, and about half of all extracted materials, and argues that affordability, sustainability and quality can be mutually reinforcing via energy‑efficient renovation (claimed 1:12 cost–savings ratio), climate‑resilient design, better use of vacant stock (~20 % of dwellings, 9.7 % of offices), denser land use, and upgraded infrastructures (grids, transport, water) to reduce both emissions and long‑run housing costs.

India and the European Union have delayed concluding their long-negotiated free trade agreement, with talks now expected to extend into next month and a narrower deal likely focused on resolving disputes over automobiles, steel, and EU carbon border tax rules.

• Key negotiation issues include the EU push to expand its ~80,000-car reduced-duty export quota to India, India’s demand to lower tariffs on steel exports to Europe, and greater flexibility on EU carbon border tax rules that New Delhi argues could disadvantage Indian producers; EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic recently visited India, and both sides aim to finalize talks by the next EU-India summit and potentially announce a deal during Ursula von der Leyen’s January visit to New Delhi.
• The talks, ongoing for nearly two decades, gained urgency after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on Indian goods, prompting India to seek alternative markets via accelerated negotiations with New Zealand, Chile, Peru, and Oman, the conclusion of a trade deal with the United Kingdom in July removing tariffs on products including cars and alcohol, while the EU simultaneously pursues diversification away from the U.S. and China and struggles to conclude its long-running Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay) trade agreement by year-end.

The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) is urging residents to oppose Orange County’s proposed Technology Zoning District for data centers and to attend the Board of Supervisors public hearing on Dec. 16.

• Main action & concerns: PEC calls on residents to attend the Dec. 16, 5 p.m. public hearing at the Public Safety Building, 11282 Government Center Drive, Orange, VA and/or submit written comments, arguing that the floating Technology District would enable unrestricted data center sprawl, speculative land purchases, siting in agricultural and residential areas, and massive campuses (e.g., up to 490 acres / ~21 million sq ft at Wilderness Crossing) with huge power demands potentially requiring new 230–500 kV transmission lines and use of eminent domain.

• Background & agreed provisions: The Planning Commission has recommended approval of the draft ordinance, which includes Special Use Permits for all data centers and on-site power generation and a ban on using drinkable water for cooling, provisions PEC supports; however, PEC stresses that Orange County already has vacant industrial land where data centers are allowed by right, and warns that the floating zone could drive land speculation, threaten farmland viability, and leave future officials free to approve very large data center projects across the county.

• Event details:

  • Date & time: Thursday, Dec. 16 @ 5 p.m.
  • Location: Public Safety Building, 11282 Government Center Drive, Orange, VA (Board Meeting Room)
  • Subject: Public hearing on proposed Technology (T) Zoning District for data centers and related guardrails, siting, and permitting requirements.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and a coalition of 22 states and the District of Columbia have secured a court ruling blocking the Trump Administration’s attempt to terminate FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) disaster mitigation program and divert its funding.

• Court decision holds that FEMA’s abrupt termination of the BRIC mitigation program violated Congress’s appropriations, the Separation of Powers, the Appropriations and Spending Clauses, and the Administrative Procedure Act, and orders restoration of BRIC funds that support evacuation shelters, flood walls, wildfire grid protection, and water and transportation infrastructure.
• Over the past four years, FEMA selected nearly 2,000 projects for about $4.5 billion in BRIC funding nationwide, including 24 Michigan projects totaling more than $29 million in federal funding; the lawsuit was joined by attorneys general from 22 states and D.C. plus the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

The European Commission has proposed a Directive to amend and simplify Directive 2007/2/EC (INSPIRE) governing the EU Infrastructure for Spatial Information, mainly by deleting detailed technical rules on interoperability, network services, data sharing, charging and reporting, and aligning them with newer horizontal EU data legislation such as the Open Data Directive and the High-Value Datasets Implementing Regulation.

• Simplification measures: The proposal removes INSPIRE-specific obligations on network services, data-sharing rules, charging rules, the EU geo-portal, and reporting (Article 21), and instead relies on Directive (EU) 2019/1024, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/138, Regulation (EU) 2022/868, and Regulation (EU) 2024/903; it also repeals four implementing acts (Regulations (EC) No 976/2009, (EU) No 1089/2010, (EU) No 268/2010 and Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1372) and updates comitology to delegated and implementing acts under Articles 22a and 22b.
• Context and impacts: The initiative is part of REFIT, the GreenData4All and environmental simplification omnibus packages, supports the Green Deal Data Space and Data Union Strategy – Unlocking Data for AI, introduces a 12‑month transposition period, and is expected to cut administrative costs by 24–64 %, yielding EUR 6.36–16.96 million in annual savings (average EUR ~11.66–12 million) across EU‑27, while keeping metadata obligations and shifting access to data.europa.eu as the central open data portal.

Latvia, Austria, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia have jointly urged the European Commission to publish without delay a stand‑alone EU Heating and Cooling Strategy aligned with 2040 climate targets.

• Ministers from 11 Member States sent a joint letter on 9 December 2025 to Commissioner Jørgensen, stressing the central role of heating and cooling in achieving 2040 climate goals, calling for a comprehensive, cost‑efficient decarbonisation strategy that prioritises electrification, recognises other sustainable renewable energy sources, and reflects regional specificities and existing infrastructures.
• The letter recalls that 15 Member States previously issued a non‑paper and that Council Conclusions of 16 December 2024 called for such a strategy; the ministers welcome the Commission’s commitment to present a stand‑alone EU Heating and Cooling Strategy in Q1 2026 under the “Action Plan for Affordable Energy”, noting it should build on REPowerEU, enhance energy security, reduce energy poverty, and support energy system integration, sector coupling and flexibility.

Consumers Energy has announced that it is opposing Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s petition challenging a Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) order that establishes new customer safeguards for large data centers and other energy-intensive businesses.

• MPSC order issued Nov. 6 sets guidelines for energy use of new data centers and large-load customers (≥100 MW), requiring them to pay their full cost of service plus a share of system fixed costs, which Consumers Energy argues protects existing customers while supporting responsible economic growth.
• Consumers Energy, which serves nearly 2 million homes and businesses and 6.8 million residents in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, plans to file an updated Energy Supply Plan next year covering natural gas, renewable resources and battery storage to meet projected business growth and statewide energy needs.
• Event context: This is a news release/announcement, not an event notice.
• Regulatory context: The dispute centers on the Attorney General’s request for an MPSC rehearing of the Nov. 6 order; Consumers Energy publicly urges the Attorney General to drop the challenge and maintains the order is a “useful framework” for Michigan’s economic development.
• Data center relevance: The new tariff applies to data centers and other large-load users ≥100 MW, and Consumers Energy currently has one customer above 100 MW served under a special legislatively established rate.