IRENA: 24/7 renewables now outcompete fossil fuels on firm cost

• IRENA's report on firm 24/7 renewables finds that round-the-clock solar and wind are now cost-competitive with fossil fuels in high-quality resource regions, with a further 30% cost reduction projected by 2030. Read the report.
• The finding has direct implications for hourly matching. The most common objection has been cost: procuring firm, round-the-clock clean power would cost more than simply buying dirty grid energy. In high-resource regions, that premium has now narrowed to the point where committing to 24/7 carbon-free procurement can mean locking in cheaper energy.
• Sourcing carbon-free energy around the clock is no longer just a reporting exercise. In many markets, it’s becoming the rational commercial choice.

Hourly matching enters the SBTi's Corporate Net-Zero Standard — reporting now required for large energy users

• A lobby group representing companies with USD 4.7 trillion in combined revenues, including Amazon, Apple, and Salesforce, pushed hard to keep hourly matching rules optional, directly contacting SBTi and GHG Protocol technical experts. Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft all claim 100% clean energy coverage using annual certificates, even as AI demand pushes all three to expand gas. The FT broke down the story. Read the article.
• Despite the lobbying, the direction of travel has not changed. SBTi's Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0, published this week, includes mandatory hourly matching disclosure for large energy users for the first time. Performance targets remain optional for now; reporting is not. We'll go deeper on what V2.0 means in next month's CFC.

China's clean energy buildout is hitting the limits of annual matching

• EnergyTag published analysis of where China's power sector goes next: the answer is increasingly about timing, not just volume. Read the piece.
• China now has enormous renewable capacity, but curtailment, negative pricing, and intra-day volatility mean the mismatch between when clean electricity is generated and when it is consumed is getting harder to ignore. Annual clean power claims flatten out exactly the hours that matter most.
• The pressure to shift is coming partly from outside: CBAM now requires hourly-matched clean electricity for market-based emissions calculations, which means granular matching is moving from voluntary best practice to a commercial requirement for Chinese exporters selling into Europe.

Texas moves to bring hourly EACs to ERCOT

• The Texas Energy Buyers Alliance (TEBA) proposed a voluntary hourly EAC programme for ERCOT that would cover any generation resource, not just renewables. This move would give buyers visibility into the source of their energy hour-by-hour. Read the proposal here.
• ERCOT’s current REC system is 25 years old, covers only renewable generators, and settles annually. The proposed EAC programme would track storage charge and discharge cycles, enable REC-backed long-term contracts for emerging technologies, and create the stronger audit trail that large buyers need.
• ERCOT would be among the first US wholesale markets to adopt comprehensive hourly EACs. Given the scale of Texas’ grid and its concentration of large industrial and data centre load, this is a significant market signal.

How to get Europe’s data centre buildout right

• As the data centre buildout accelerates, so too does the need for quickly accessible power. The US offers a cautionary tale. xAI, Meta, and others are building on gas; now 7 in 10 Americans oppose a data centre near them and 14 states have proposed moratoriums. Jigar Shah argues that Europe has a narrow window to set the rules for data centre development before it follows the same path. Read the full piece.
• Shah suggest a stronger and more responsible path should follow 5 priorities; (1) Require flexibility. With 10-100 flexible hours per year, Europe’s existing grids can absorb all new data centre capacity through 2035, (2) Funding infrastructure needs to be equitable, and should fall on the companies requiring it, (3) Maximise the CFE-storage combination, (4) Report with transparency, (5) Require utilities to evaluate and enhance their existing options before committing to new builds. This alternative is not complicated, and it will have dramatic positive impacts.
• The EU Commission is currently working on a label to benchmark data centre environmental performance. This is an opportunity to set a credible, evidence based standard that is consistent with the EU's broader energy and climate framework. The draft currently requires 15-minute matching within the same bidding zone for ERES-GOO.

What we're writing

Granular Energy joins the Climate Group 24/7 CFE Solutions Accelerator

• We have joined Climate Group's 24/7 Carbon-Free Coalition Solutions Accelerator alongside ACT Group, ENGIE, and Suzlon — bringing solution providers directly alongside corporate buyers committed to hourly clean energy matching. Read more.
• The Accelerator supports Coalition members in moving from ambition to action: understanding feasibility, affordability, and implementation of 24/7 CFE procurement through quarterly workshops and peer-to-peer learning.
• The first workshop took place on 22 May in Singapore. A second will follow in London during London Climate Week. If you're a buyer keen to learn more, get in touch.

A time for hope in Australia's energy transition

• Ian Lieblich makes the case for optimism on Australia's energy transition, a grid where the capital, the physical infrastructure, and the tracking system are converging at the same time. Read the insight
• The May budget — AUD 18.2 billion in net-zero spending plus a 50% CGT discount for foreign investors in qualifying renewable assets — is designed to pull in private capital at scale, and it's already showing up in the numbers: 4.45 GW of new grid-scale battery capacity came online in Q1 2026 alone, more than doubling installed capacity, with storage now setting wholesale prices in 32% of trading intervals.
• Those batteries are what make hourly matching viable, together with hourly-timestamped REGO certificates now being issued under the Guarantee of Origin scheme, the infrastructure to prove and trade clean energy by the hour is in place. Hourly matching is a reality in Australia. Hourly trading is next and Australia is shaping up to be one of the first markets where it becomes commercially live.

Where to meet us

• Intersolar, Munich — 23–25 June 2026. Pal Habsburg-Lothringen will be there. Come and find us if you are attending.
• Forum Europ'Energies, Paris — 30 June 2026. Bruno and Eleonore will be attending.