Today's edition
—·Chips, power, and the grid
Desk
Stories on this desk are prepared with AI assistance and reviewed under Voltgrid News editorial standards and the corrections policy. The desk covers batteries, the grid, and cooling.
Corrections follow the corrections policy.
Grid · Oct 19, 2026, 14:25
AEP and X-energy will study a 960MW plant of twelve Xe-100 SMRs at a retired Indiana coal site, with Amazon funding development and buying the power.
Batteries · Oct 19, 2026, 14:25
Wood Mackenzie finds 4-hour BESS now cheaper than open-cycle gas peakers in all 43 markets it modeled, as gas turbine shortages push peaking costs higher.
Batteries · Oct 19, 2026, 10:14
Enertrag and Enlight, Vattenfall and Fluence, and Giga Storage advanced three German 4-hour BESS projects totalling 3.2GWh before a January 2027 FID cutoff.
Grid · Oct 19, 2026, 10:13
Fervo Energy is selling power from a 33MW unit at its $2 billion, 500MW Cape Station in Utah, the first utility-scale enhanced geothermal plant online.
Batteries · Oct 19, 2026, 10:13
VSL PowerHive will assemble LFP storage containers at a 7.5GWh-per-year plant near Chennai from April 2027, part of Vikram Solar's 30GWh-by-2030 battery plan.
Cooling · Oct 18, 2026, 16:52
Cooler Master has unveiled a 2,500kW in-row coolant distribution unit (CDU) for AI data centers, with mass production targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026.
Cooling · Oct 18, 2026, 16:52
Trane's LiquidStack CDU 2.X can remove up to 2.5MW of heat from AI servers and is built for several chip platforms, including Nvidia Vera Rubin. Ships Q2 2027.
Grid · Oct 18, 2026, 16:52
The EU has raised minimum import prices on GOES transformer steel until February 2027, after EU mills' share of their home market fell from 66% to 43%.
Grid · Oct 18, 2026, 16:52
Variable frequency drives, simple motor controllers, can cut motor power use 40 to 60 percent. Few US factories use them; makers want tech firms to help pay.
Batteries · Oct 18, 2026, 16:52
About 20.4GWh of big grid batteries came online worldwide in September, 61% more than a year earlier. China led, and Europe is growing fastest.
Batteries · Oct 18, 2026, 16:51
Flatiron Energy has raised about US$850 million for Energizar, a 1,200MWh battery project near Boston. Due in Q4 2027, it would be the US east coast's largest.