renewables

TFIE hero graphic showing Ontario’s future electricity need as an energy gap filled by wind and solar, topped by a flexibility gap supplied by storage, hydro, transmission and flexible demand, leaving a smaller residual requirement for new firm nuclear power. Ontario should build clean energy and flexibility first, then size new nuclear to the durable gap that remains.

Ontario’s First Electricity Shortfall Isn’t A Capacity Shortfall

5 days Michael Barnard 0 Comments

Ontario needs a lot more electricity. Demand hit 145.6 TWh in 2025, up 4.4% in a year, and IESO’s reference case gets to 250 TWh by 2050. But its own range runs from 207 to 297 TWh. That’s not a rounding error. It’s a completely different buildout depending on which … [continued]

China is building renewables and nuclear power simultaneously, but one scales through repeated industrial throughput while the other advances project by project.

China Keeps Beating Renewable Targets And Missing Nuclear Ones

4 weeks Michael Barnard 0 Comments

China’s renewable and nuclear targets are often quoted as equivalent statements about the future. The delivery record says otherwise. Wind and solar targets have repeatedly been overtaken, sometimes years early, while nuclear operating-capacity targets have been missed despite continued approvals, construction and political support. Forecasts should be built from what … [continued]

Evidence board testing climate-tech claims against costs, customers, pilots, and repeat orders. Climate-tech claims need to be tested against comparators, customers, costs, and repeat procurement, not just announcements and pilots.

A Pilot Is Not Proof Of A Market

3 months Michael Barnard 0 Comments

Energy transition analysis is littered with evidence that is real and stories that are not. A pilot exists, therefore the market is forming. A government grant lands, therefore the technology has been validated. An offtake agreement appears, therefore customers must be willing to pay. A large company issues a press … [continued]

Africa solar infographic showing 4.5 GW reported additions versus 18.2 GW module imports. ChatGPT generated infographic showing the gap between Africa’s reported solar additions and module imports, where much of the real market may be hiding.

Africa’s Solar Boom May Be Hiding In The Import Data

3 months Michael Barnard 0 Comments

At the start of 2026, I predicted that Africa would surprise a lot of observers with solar deployment this year. That was in my 2026 energy predictions article, and the prediction was not based on one giant solar park, one government announcement, or one development bank programme. It was based … [continued]