The latest estimate from the independent research and intelligence company marks a steep increase from its initial USD 25 billion projection, reflecting a broader scope of damage as ceasefire talks continue between the United States and Iran.

“Repair work does not create new capacity. It redirects existing ⁠capacity, and that redirection will be felt in project delays and into inflation far beyond the Middle East. The $58 billion bill is the headline, but the knock-on effects on energy ‌investment timelines ⁠globally may prove ⁠just as significant,” Rystad senior analyst Karan Satwani told Reuters.

Rystad sees total repair spending likely to average around USD 46 billion, with downstream refining and petrochemical assets accounting for ‌the largest share due to their ⁠complexity and extent of damage. Industrial, power, and desalination assets may add a further USD 3 billion to USD 8 billion in costs.

“Recovery timelines are starting to diverge between assets and countries, showcasing differences in domestic execution capabilities and access to supply chains. Iran faces the most widespread damage, with repair costs potentially reaching USD 19 billion, affecting gas processing, refining and export infrastructure. In contrast, Qatar’s impact ‌is more concentrated but technically complex, particularly at its ⁠Ras Laffan industrial hub, where repair work may overlap with ongoing LNG expansion projects,” Rystad said.

While engineering and construction will account for the largest share of spending, delays in procuring critical equipment will likely ‌determine recovery timelines. The biggest challenge, in Rystad’s opinion, will be procuring equipment and workers.

Rystad’s estimate also coincides with the assessment of Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), who believes that it will take about two years to recover the Middle East’s lost energy output. In an interview with German newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, the official said, “That will vary from country to country. In Iraq, for example, it will take much longer than in Saudi Arabia. However, we estimate it will take approximately two years overall to reach pre-war levels again.”

Birol has further warned the energy players, along with the broader global economy, against underestimating the consequences of a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

“Shipments of oil and gas that were already en route to their destinations before ‌the ⁠war in Iran began have now arrived, mitigating the impact of shortages. But no new tankers were loaded in March. There were no new deliveries of oil, gas or fuels to ⁠Asian markets. This gap is now becoming apparent. If the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened, we must prepare for significantly higher ⁠energy price,” the IEA boss remarked.

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The investment in the Canadian company will allow the Italian energy group to enter the critical minerals value chain, as European companies seek to reduce their dependence on China-sourced materials.

“The capital increase is aimed at supporting the development of the Matawinie Mine of high-quality natural graphite, a key feedstock for the battery sector, as well as other high-margin industrial segments. The Matawinie Mine forms the asset base for a vertically integrated project of natural graphite extraction and its refining at NMG’s Becancour Battery Material Plant,” ENI said.

“The investment in NMG is consistent with Eni’s strategy to diversify its supply chains. In particular, it enables Eni to enter the critical minerals value chain through a partnership with a leading company in the sector, while leveraging its distinctive technological know-how,” it added.

According to Eni, the transaction will also give it the option to negotiate exclusive supply agreements for graphite and other materials to support its gigafactory initiative to produce stationary lithium batteries in southern Italy.

The investment forms part of a USD 297 million capital increase at Nouveau Monde Graphite, alongside Canadian institutional investors ‌Canada Growth Fund and Investissement Quebec, as well as a public equity raise.

Following completion of the transaction, Eni will hold about 11.5% of Nouveau Monde Graphite’s share capital, in addition to gaining a seat on the company’s board.

The acquisition also serves one of the critical bedrocks for Eni’s goal to become a player in battery cell manufacturing for stationary energy storage systems. In September 2025, it started the development activities for a new lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cell factory through a joint venture (JV) called Eni Storage Systems.

Eni Storage Systems will construct a manufacturing hub at existing Eni facilities in Brindisi, southern Italy, with over 8GWh annual production capacity. The pre-construction work, which includes an initial engineering phase, along with the economic, financial and permitting assessments, is expected to be completed this year, after which the project will enter the execution stage.

Eni’s JV partner is FIB, a subsidiary of Italy’s Seri Industrial group, which owns several battery and materials companies. In October 2024, both ventures decided to cooperate in developing an industrial supply chain for LFP batteries, targeting the stationary battery energy storage system (BESS), along with the commercial and industrial (C&I) electric mobility sectors. The joint venture wants to capture more than a 10% share of the European stationary energy storage market.

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Other significant players were Embark Ventures, The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, Massachusetts Clean Energy Centre (MassCEC), Safar Partners, Climate Investment and Marathon Petroleum Corporation. The venture will now use the fresh capital to scale its business, apart from financing the deployment of a modular filtration platform into the refining and chemical sectors.

Via Separations’ expertise lies in providing filtration systems designed to lower energy use in industrial separation processes by up to 90%, apart from significantly reducing emissions in industrial processing.

Electrifying Heat-based Separation

“Via Separations is a membrane technology company driving the transition from expensive, energy-intensive thermal separations to efficient, lower-cost filtration. Via is operating at commercial scale, delivering value to industrial customers today with no green premium. Via Separations is a membrane technology company driving the transition from expensive, energy-intensive thermal separations to efficient, lower-cost filtration. Via is operating at commercial scale, delivering value to industrial customers today with no green premium,” the start-up explained itself through these words.

Via electrifies heat-based separation with modular filtration systems that integrate directly with existing industrial equipment, reducing the energy required for chemical separations in the process.

“These thermal separation steps account for roughly 12% of global energy use, driving significant fuel and steam demand across industrial separations. By replacing them with a mechanically driven membrane process, Via’s system can reduce energy use at the separation step by up to 90%, delivering lower operating costs, higher uptime, and a more flexible pathway to energy efficiency and electrification,” Via Separations remarked.

Via Separations’ membrane technology uses up to 90% less energy than traditional evaporation or distillation because it is a physical separation, rather than a thermal process. In the start-up’s language, “these membranes work like a coffee filter or pasta strainer, but for chemicals.”

These materials are made of a unique source called graphene oxide (GO), which is extremely stable in nature, ensuring the membranes withstand high temperature and corrosive process conditions, where typical polymer membranes don’t work at all. Via Separations has already proven the membrane technology at commercial scale in the pulp and paper sector, approaching two years of continuous operation at a Canadian pulp mill. The start-up is now expanding the technology’s deployment into refining and chemicals, with hundreds of millions of dollars of capital projects in the commercial pipeline. In 2025, the company also completed a pilot at a major Gulf Coast refinery.

The Via Ecosystem

Through its filtration systems, the start-up is driving both bottom- and top-line improvements for its industrial customers, reducing energy costs, apart from providing operational flexibility and de-bottlenecking production.

The start-up has tuned its durable graphene oxide membranes to perform challenging industrial separations across markets. The start-up continued, “Complete system integrates Via membranes into customers’ existing processes in a compact footprint. Via systems deliver quality separations while reducing costs, energy, and production bottlenecks.”

A very good example of Via Separations’ industrial innovation has been its first commercial-scale Black Liquor Concentration System (BLCS), which is operational at the International Paper site in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada. The global pulp and paper industry, known for annually producing over 400 million tonnes of paper, packaging, and tissue from wood fibres and recycled materials, faces one challenge: black liquor recovery. We are talking about the most capital and energy-intensive component of a Kraft pulp mill, which burns waste cooking liquor (12%-15% solids) in a specialised boiler to produce energy (steam/electricity) and recover inorganic cooking chemicals.

To address the challenge, Via has created Black Liquor Concentration System (BLCS), which concentrates weak black liquor before evaporation, translating to cost savings and operational benefits for pulp mills.

“Via’s Black Liquor Concentration System (BLCS) displaces steam use in evaporators using a reverse-osmosis-like process to directly remove hot, clean water from weak black liquor (WBL). The compact BLCS integrates into existing mill footprints to concentrate WBL up to 40% solids,” the start-up said.

Via Separations’ efficient concentration process eliminates production bottlenecks and reduces the energy consumption of black liquor concentration by up to 50%. The technology, if widely deployed, will help pulp mills realise additional free cash flow in the millions of dollars per year.

In the petrochemical industry, despite heavy crudes becoming more prevalent, refineries are facing limited capabilities when it comes to processing the fuel due to the size of the vacuum distillation unit (VDU). To solve this, Via filtration system is increasing the VDU capacity, reducing costs and energy consumption while unlocking additional heavy crude processing capacity.

Via’s innovations have been expanding in the chemical manufacturing industry as well. Acid processing is a large market that touches both the chemicals and refining sectors. Knowing the potential, Via is looking to provide on-site processing of sulfuric acid, reducing costs and emissions while enabling recovery of acid-soluble oils (ASOs).

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However, Asia is also the region that, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), has two growth engines: China and India, which are leading the continent’s renewable adaptation campaign. Southeast Asian countries also possess immense potential. Should the region double down on green sources to future-proof its energy security and economic outlook?

Rana Adib, the Executive Director of REN21, the global network of diverse stakeholders that enables the necessary changes to build the renewables economy for prosperous lives and societies, shared her insights on Asia’s renewable pursuit in an exclusive interview with International Finance.

An engineer by training, Rana Adib has worked in the private sector and applied research in the fields of renewable energy, energy access, waste management, and the biomethane sector. With her cross-functional profile, she likes to provide solutions that pave the way for a world built on renewable energy. She is also the chair of SLOCAT, an international multi-stakeholder partnership enabling knowledge and action for sustainable, low-carbon transport.

Here are the excerpts from the interview

With crude oil staying above $100 and disruptions in the Gulf, how do you see the global economy coping with this prolonged energy crisis?

In the short term, countries are focused on securing supply and managing demand through measures such as stock releases, subsidies and supply diversification. These can help cushion the immediate impact, but they do not address the underlying structural exposure. With around 20% of global oil trade passing through the Strait of Hormuz, disruptions quickly translate into higher energy prices, inflationary pressure and impacts on industrial competitiveness, particularly in import-dependent economies across Asia and Europe.

This situation highlights a broader point: systems that rely heavily on traded fossil fuels remain inherently exposed to geopolitical risks and price volatility.

After repeated energy shocks since 2022, do you think renewables are shifting from an option to a necessity?

Yes — increasingly, this shift is being driven by affordability, efficiency and resilience. Renewables are now among the lowest-cost sources of new power in many regions and offer greater price stability, unlike fossil fuels, whose costs are subject to global market fluctuations. As prices rise, households and industries are directly affected, while renewables combined with electrification can reduce long-term exposure to these shocks.

At the same time, energy efficiency is becoming more central. Electrified solutions such as electric vehicles and heat pumps are significantly more efficient than combustion-based systems, meaning less energy is required to deliver the same services — helping to lower costs and reduce vulnerability. Countries that rely heavily on imported fossil fuels remain structurally exposed. By contrast, systems built on renewables, electrification, efficiency and flexibility can improve resilience over time. In this context, renewables are increasingly seen not only as a climate solution, but as a key component of economic stability and energy security.

What is the likelihood of Asian governments accelerating the transition to alternatives beyond petrol, diesel, and gas?

In many cases, the current context is likely to reinforce this direction, although the transition may not be linear. Some governments may adopt short-term measures involving fossil fuels to manage immediate pressures. At the same time, the crisis is strengthening the case for electric mobility, public transport, clean electricity, storage and heat pumps, as well as for expanding domestic renewable energy supply. Given Asia’s significant reliance on imported fuels, there is a growing incentive to reduce exposure through electrification, energy efficiency and locally available renewable resources.

With global EV sales reaching 1.1 million units in February 2026, do you expect this growth to sustain or peak soon?

The outlook is likely to be more nuanced rather than indicating a clear peak. Overall, car sales may face downward pressure due to weaker consumer spending and broader economic uncertainty. However, the key trend is that the share of EVs within total car sales continues to increase. EVs represented over 20% of global car sales in 2024 and are on track to exceed 25% in 2025. In leading markets, shares are already significantly higher, including around 50% in China, while others such as South Korea (around 10%), Japan (around 2%–3%) and India (around 3%) remain at earlier stages, highlighting significant room for growth.

This suggests that accelerating investment in EVs, charging infrastructure and enabling policies could play an important role in reducing fuel import dependence and strengthening energy security.

Should automakers prioritise affordability to meet rising EV demand?

Affordability is now central to the next phase of EV adoption. Automakers are already shifting in this direction, driven by weaker consumer demand, geopolitical pressures and rising competition. At the same time, EV economics have improved significantly. In many markets, EVs are already cheaper to own and operate over their lifetime, and upfront costs are moving toward parity. The challenge is therefore no longer technology, but access — ensuring affordable options, financing and scale for mass-market adoption.

With countries like China, India, and Japan leading renewable adoption, should other Asian economies follow more aggressively?

The broader regional trend suggests increasing momentum, but the current crisis also shows that the transition is not always linear. In the short term, many countries are focused on securing fuel supply and managing demand, including subsidies, diversification, and emergency measures. However, this situation is already reinforcing the case for accelerating renewables, electrification and energy efficiency as more durable solutions.

China and India continue to drive large-scale renewable deployment, while Japan is expanding within a more constrained system. South Korea is also pursuing more ambitious renewable expansion plans, particularly in solar and offshore wind. At the same time, other Asian economies remain at earlier stages, highlighting significant room for growth. Countries that have already expanded domestic renewable capacity are generally less exposed to price volatility, which is becoming an increasingly important consideration.

Scaling up renewables, electrification, and efficiency can help reduce exposure to volatile fuel import costs, in addition to improving resilience to external shocks, supporting domestic economic development and new industries. In this context, accelerating the transition is increasingly seen not only as a climate priority, but as a strategic economic and energy security decision.

Despite leading Asia’s renewable adoption charge, Japan and South Korea are feeling the brunt of the global energy crisis, given their dependence on imported fuel. Should these nations take a hard look at their energy sourcing practices?

The current crisis underscores the structural dependence of both countries on imported fuels. Japan sources the vast majority of its crude oil (around 90%) from the Middle East, while South Korea imports roughly two-thirds from the same region, with much of this supply transiting through key chokepoints, such as the Strait of Hormuz. While both maintain strategic reserves, these provide only a short-term buffer.

Reducing this exposure over time will depend on accelerating domestic renewables, electrification, grid and storage infrastructure, and energy efficiency. More broadly, this reflects a shift in how energy security is being understood, from securing fuel supply to reducing reliance on imported fuels altogether.

Japan, after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, took a backseat in expanding its nuclear industry. Do you see things changing in this front post-Gulf crisis?

Japan’s energy policy had already begun evolving before the current crisis, with a more balanced approach that includes both renewable expansion and a gradual return of nuclear power. The current context may reinforce discussions around nuclear energy in terms of energy security. However, nuclear developments typically involve long timelines and remain subject to public acceptance considerations. In the near term, measures such as accelerating renewables, electrification and energy efficiency are likely to play a more immediate role in strengthening energy resilience.

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Antony Froggatt, Senior Director for Aviation, Climate, Energy, and Shipping at T&E, a Brussels-based NGO advocating clean transport and energy, told International Finance, “Many forecasters, such as the IMF (If energy prices sustain just a 10% increase over one year, this would add 0.4 percentage point to inflation and slow economic growth by 0.1%-0.2%,) and Fitch, suggest that higher energy prices will negatively affect global inflation and reduce global growth. The extent of these will depend on how high prices get, and how long they remain high.”

Jan Rosenow, Professor of Energy and Climate Policy at Oxford University and Senior Associate at Cambridge University, said, “The short-term pain is real. Higher inflation, squeezed household budgets, and recession risk in energy-intensive economies. But the adjustment mechanisms are also kicking in: strategic reserve releases, demand destruction, and accelerated supply from non-Gulf producers. The deeper concern is duration. A shock that lasts months reshapes investment decisions in ways that a spike lasting weeks does not.”

Clean energy pivot: A Must For Asia Now

In 2026, Asia has become the Europe of 2022. Back then, Russia, in response to the Western sanctions for the Ukraine war, significantly cut natural gas supplies to the continent, resulting in high energy prices and a cost-of-living crisis. Asia, which buys more than 80% of the crude that transits the Strait of Hormuz, is now facing an “energy emergency.”

This could prompt Asia to have a re-look at renewables and initiatives to future- proof both its energy security and economic outlook.

Froggatt commented, “I would argue that renewables have been a necessity for some time, and the economic case for them is even stronger now. As far back as 2020, the International Energy Agency called solar PV the ‘cheapest source of electricity in history’. Since then, the costs of not only renewables (solar and wind), but also storage options, particularly batteries, have continued to fall.”

Rosenow remarked, “Each successive shock – 2022, and now this – makes the economic and security case for domestic clean energy harder to ignore. Renewables are not just cheaper in many markets; they are now the geopolitically safer choice. The question is no longer whether to accelerate the transition but how fast institutions can move.”

EV: The Best Starting Point

Stating that higher fossil fuel prices affect consumers’ cost of living and the balance of payments of importing countries, Froggatt believes episodes like the 1970s global oil price spikes, and the European energy crisis in 2022 will only motivate policymakers to accelerate their efforts to limit their dependence on fossil fuels for economic and supply security reasons.

“We saw this in the EU with the introduction of the ‘Fit for 55’ package in 2022 to accelerate the transition away from imported fossil fuels. However, the majority of these measures will take time to have an effect. If we want to really reduce dependency on fossil fuel, structural changes with new investment are needed, particularly in infrastructure, such as the grids and buildings,” he stated.

Rosenow, on the other hand, remarked, “The pressure is certainly there. Asia bears the heaviest volumetric burden from Hormuz disruptions, and governments that were already energy-insecure are now facing acute supply anxiety. I’d expect faster permitting of renewables, more serious electrification policy, and renewed interest in long-term LNG alternatives – though the pace will vary significantly by country.”

To deal with the “energy emergency,” Asian countries are advocating solutions like a four-day workweek and preventing unnecessary travel to save fuel. This might make electric vehicles more attractive.

Froggatt says, “I would assume that sales will continue to increase. Globally, only around 10% of car sales are electric, but in leading countries, such as China and Vietnam, we are already seeing over 40% of car sales being electric. Consequently, as the cost of electric vehicles continues to fall and charging infrastructure becomes more available and robust, the pace of sales growth will accelerate, especially in an era of high fossil fuel prices.”

Froggatt also pointed out that in Europe, car manufacturers have failed to develop smaller, low-cost EVs fast enough. This is part of the reason why Chinese vehicles are entering the EU market so quickly.

“I think it is incumbent on all car manufacturers to make EVs to meet a variety of consumer requirements, which include those that are most affordable,” he said.

So, Asia should focus on the affordability factor, introducing tax credits for consumers, apart from setting up intensive charging networks.

“There have been significant cost reductions already. And in many markets, EVs are close to or at cost-parity over their lifetime. Further cost reductions are needed to shift the market faster to EVs,” Rosenow noted, while adding, “The underlying drivers – policy support, falling battery costs, expanding model ranges – remain intact. Short-term, high fuel prices actually reinforce the EV value proposition. The risk to growth is on the supply side: critical mineral availability and manufacturing capacity. I don’t see a near-term peak, but the rate of growth will inevitably moderate as markets mature.”

The Continent Holds Promise

As per the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Renewables 2025 report, two of Asia’s growth engines, China and India, along with the United States and Europe, were responsible for clean energy’s global expansion. Southeast Asia holds promises too. With an estimated 20 terawatts of untapped solar and wind potential (equivalent to around 55 times the region’s current total power capacity), the IEA sees the region as being more than capable of securing its energy security through the renewable route.

“The case for doing so has never been stronger. Energy import dependence is now visibly a security and economic liability, not just an environmental one. Southeast Asian economies, in particular, have strong renewable resource endowments – solar, geothermal, offshore wind – that remain underexploited. The Gulf crisis should be the catalyst for a serious regional rethink,” Rosenow said.

Froggatt too observed, “It is not just countries in Asia that can and should accelerate their use of renewable energy. Without accelerating deployment in the EU, the 2030 renewable energy target of at least 42.5% of energy from renewables will not be met. In developing countries, renewable energy is a way to meet rapidly increasing demand. Governments can take several steps to support the renewable energy sector. They can reduce construction risks and costs through accelerated planning, grants, soft loans, and other measures. Furthermore, they can implement support schemes, such as contracts for difference or feed-in tariffs, that create stable revenues. Governments can also help develop local supply chains, which provide additional price security and create local jobs. Finally, governments can set targets for renewable energy use, which gives confidence to investors.”

While noting that higher rates will raise the cost of capital precisely when deployment needs to accelerate, Rosenow advised, “The policy response matters enormously here: blended finance, public guarantees, and development bank support can reduce the risk premium that makes projects unfinanceable in the private market alone. Countries that get this right will attract investment; those that don’t will fall behind.”

Despite investing heavily in offshore wind, solar, and hydrogen strategies, Japan and South Korea still fulfil a massive chunk of their energy requirements through imported fossil fuels. Both of them are feeling the Hormuz pinch right now.

Rosenow said, “This crisis is a stress test they (Japan and South Korea) were always likely to fail. Both countries have made genuine progress in renewables but remain structurally dependent on imported fossil fuels in ways that leave them exposed to exactly this kind of shock. A serious reassessment of domestic generation capacity is overdue.”

Maybe, it’s time for Japan to shed the ghost of Fukushima.

Froggatt said, “Electricity generated from renewable energy is, under most conditions, far cheaper than that generated by nuclear power. In addition, renewable energy generation is much quicker to build. Therefore, although some countries may look again at nuclear power, I think that the higher costs and slowness to build – especially in countries that don’t already have a nuclear sector – will reduce the number of countries that actually start building nuclear power plants.”

Rosenow concluded, “The political and public calculus on nuclear in Japan was already shifting before this crisis, with several reactors being restarted. A prolonged Gulf disruption accelerates that conversation considerably. Energy security concerns now outweigh, for many policymakers, the post-Fukushima caution. I would expect Japan to move more decisively on restarts over the next few years.”

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The goals outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming require a significant drop in carbon emissions by 2050 across the verticals of the global socio-economic order, by shifting completely away from oil and gas consumption.

“We ⁠must, however, confront our ambition with reality and acknowledge that our societies have embarked on a transition, but at a pace that does not yet allow for the collective achievement of carbon neutrality as pursued under the Paris Agreement. Our own ability to achieve carbon neutrality together with society depends on technical innovation, public policies and consumer choices, meaning that the pathways to our carbon neutrality ambition must be reassessed and adapted over time in line with the ‌evolution ⁠of the global energy system,” TotalEnergies said in its annual sustainability report.

While TotalEnergies’ European peers BP and Shell aim to bring down the carbon intensity in their energy products by 2050, they have also said that the pace at which society transitions away from hydrocarbons would be an important factor to achieve the deadline.

“The company is not in a position to adopt a transition plan as defined by the European reporting standards and, as a result, cannot formulate ‘Net Zero’ targets in the meaning of these standards,” TotalEnergies said.

Recently, Reuters reported that “in ⁠2025, the French oil major emitted 368 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent, the bulk of which were so-called Scope 3 emissions from clients burning purchased fuels. ⁠This was down from 376 million tons in 2024 and within the company’s target to keep these emissions under 400 million tons through to 2030.”

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While net income increased to USD 282.4 million in 2025 (compared to USD 265.7 million in 2024), the year-on-year growth percentage stood at 18% from a normalised base of USD 239.6 million in 2024. Total assets grew by 23% to a record USD 13.4 billion (up from USD 10.9 billion in 2024), reflecting strong asset build-up momentum across Corporate Banking, Investments, and Treasury.

The Arab Energy Fund CEO Khalid Al-Ruwaigh said, “Our financial results reflect the strength and resilience of The Arab Energy Fund’s diversified business model. Achieving our fourth consecutive year of record net income, supported by a strong balance sheet, underscores our disciplined execution, prudent risk management, and continued ability to mobilise capital across the region.”

In terms of raising funds, the entity, during 2025, got USD 3.8 billion, reinforcing its diversified funding base and strong access to international capital markets. Asset quality remained robust, with a non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of 0.2%.

The Arab Energy Fund CFO Vicky Bhatia said, “TAEF has delivered, yet another strong performance, achieving its highest Net Income level of USD 282.4 million. We also raised record levels of funding in 2025, achieving effective pricing outcomes. We maintained strong operating efficiency, with a cost-to-income ratio of 19.5% and Capital adequacy of 30.45%, positioning us very well to fuel our future growth.”

Across The Arab Energy Fund’s business verticals, corporate banking expanded its portfolio to USD 6 billion, with net operating income reaching USD 140.1 million, supported by financing activity across the energy value chain, portfolio expansion and funding optimisation.

Investments and partnerships expanded the asset portfolio to USD 1.6 billion, generating USD 67.0 million in gross operating income. This growth was primarily driven by dividend income and ongoing portfolio diversification. Treasury and Capital Markets effectively managed the balance sheet, with assets totalling USD 5.5 billion and net operating income of USD 132.6 million. This success was supported by sound liquidity management, optimisation of investments in a declining interest rate environment, and disciplined funding execution.

And the positive momentum will continue in 2026, as the entity received regulatory approval to issue Panda bonds in China. This makes it the first multilateral financial institution from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to secure such approval, granting it direct access to the domestic bond market of the world’s second-largest economy.

Under the programme, approved by China’s National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors, TAEF can issue up to 10 billion Chinese yuan (USD 1.4 billion) in Renminbi-denominated bonds in multiple tranches over two years, providing flexible, long-term capital for the fund’s strategic investments.

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To fulfil the goal, Eclipse Energy is betting on the method of sending down microbes to eat oil molecules and liberate their hydrogen, instead of pumping harder or using a device to force oil to the surface.

The Houston-based start-up, which was spun out of Cemvita (a Houston-based company known for regenerating carbon waste into valuable resources), demonstrated the technology at an oilfield in California’s San Joaquin Basin earlier in 2025.

The company is also partnering with oilfield services company Weatherford International to deploy the technology on a global scale. The first projects in this direction will begin in January 2026.

Transforming Liabilities Into ‘Clean Energy Assets’

Eclipse Energy, previously known as Gold H2, has been developing the microbe-dominated hydrogen liberation technology over the last few years. It has been sampling microbes that naturally occur in oil wells, found at the interface between oil and water held in aquifers.

After consuming the oil, microbes break it down into hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Both then flow to the surface, where Eclipse and its industry partners will eventually separate the two. While about half of the carbon dioxide will likely stay in the reservoir, the other half could be captured using specialised equipment and either sequestered or used.

Interacting with media, Prabhdeep Singh Sekhon, CEO of Eclipse Energy, said, “The goal is to produce low-carbon hydrogen for around 50 cents per kilogramme, or the same price as hydrogen obtained by breaking down natural gas in an industrial plant, a process that releases more carbon dioxide. The resulting hydrogen could be used in petrochemical plants or burned for energy.”

Eclipse Energy’s method is about applying advanced subsurface science with deep genomic microbiology to transform end-of-life oil fields into hydrogen-generating assets. By integrating geoscience, reservoir engineering, and chemistry, the start-up wants to turn liabilities into productive resources, thereby extending the value of existing infrastructure for decades to come.

For the start-up, clean energy should also be cost-effective. Following this principle, it has established a pathway to generate hydrogen at USD 0.50/kg, making the microbe-dominated liberation technology cost-competitive with the exploration methods used by legacy natural gas clean energy players. Also, the hydrogen production method eliminates the requirement for water, thereby addressing two concerns of hydrogen production (carbon and water constraints) at one go.

Redefining The Innovation Game

Eclipse Energy’s technology, which produces hydrogen at a price point equivalent to natural gas (deliverable as clean molecules or clean electrons), can be deployed rapidly, as opposed to traditional hydrogen buildouts, turning uneconomic oil field liabilities into sustainable revenue streams.

“Eclipse Energy exists to do what no one ever has: produce clean hydrogen directly in the subsurface using biology, engineering, and existing energy infrastructure. It’s a new blueprint for decarbonisation, built for speed, affordability, and global impact,” Sekhon stated.

Apart from ranking among the cleanest hydrogen sources on the energy market, Eclipse’s method is capital-efficient, as it uses existing infrastructure, thereby driving best-in-class capital and operating costs and accelerating the path to profitability. The start-up’s industrial partners will not require new drilling, electrolysis, or energy-intensive surface facilities in the days ahead.

The biotechnology, in addition to enabling rapid deployment, has established modularity as its core operational principle to facilitate easy expansion with minimal investment while responding swiftly to market demands.

The exploration process begins with streamlined field screening and advanced microbial testing to identify and qualify the most promising reservoirs. After that, the start-up launches pilot programmes with customised nutrient packages, continuously adapting and optimising to maximise hydrogen production.

Once validated, projects can scale seamlessly into full commercial operations, creating long-term industrial partnerships that unlock reliable clean fuel, carbon tax savings, and powerful new revenue streams. As per Eclipse, this breakthrough hydrogen exploration and production method could potentially power Los Angeles for more than 50 years, while avoiding nearly one billion metric tons of CO₂.

“With multiple offtake pathways available, our partners can optimise returns across markets, policies, and demand, capturing both profitability and lasting impact in the transition to a cleaner energy future,” the start-up concluded.

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In a statement given to the Tadawul (Saudi Stock Exchange), the company announced that it has acquired gas-fired power generation assets with a capacity of 4.6 gigawatts, along with the water desalination assets with a capacity of 1.1 million cubic meters per day, related operations and maintenance companies from a subsidiary of the French-based entity.

“The acquisition follows an agreement signed between ACWA Power and Kahrabel FZE, a subsidiary of ENGIE, to acquire power and water assets in Kuwait and Bahrain for USD 693 million. The deal includes a 45% interest in both the Al-Ezzel and Al-Dur projects as well as a 30% holding in the Al-Hidd facility, all situated in Bahrain,” reported Arab News.

The arrangement also covers ENGIE’s interests in gas-fired power generation and water desalination assets in Bahrain. The Kuwait assets, which form part of the broader transaction perimeter, will be transferred following the completion of customary technical conditions. The Kuwait portfolio includes a 17.5% equity stake in Az Zour North IWPP (Independent Water and Power Plant/Project) as well as 50% ownership in Az Zour North Operations & Maintenance Co.

Marco Arcelli, ACWA Power’s CEO, commented, “The completion of the Bahrain-related phase of this larger acquisition marks a pivotal milestone for ACWA Power. It reinforces our position as a global leader in water desalination, significantly extends our footprint in the regional power generation market, and consolidates our presence in the attractive and dynamic Bahrain market, with Kuwait to follow. These fully operational assets, underpinned by secured offtake contracts, strengthen our financial position and enable us to continue providing safe and reliable power and water to local communities and industries across the region.”

“As for Kuwait assets, a few customary technical conditions are remaining, following which the transaction will be finalised,” the company added.

In December 2025, ACWA Power signed an agreement with Bahrain-based Bapco Energies to develop a solar power plant with a large-scale battery energy storage system in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Under the deal, both parties will work together to jointly develop a solar power plant with a projected generation capacity of up to 2.8GW over various phases. These acquisitions are seen as cornerstones of ACWA Power, fulfilling its broader objective of reaching USD 250 billion in assets under management by 2030.

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The start-up aims to utilise large solar arrays in geosynchronous orbit, approximately 22,000 miles above Earth, where satellites synchronise with the planet’s rotation to harvest sunlight. The breakthrough technology will then use infrared lasers to transmit that power to utility-scale solar farms on Earth, allowing these facilities to send power to the grid nearly around the clock.

Building Up The Concept Called Space Solar Energy

The concept of “Space Solar Energy” is taking shape quite nicely in the United States and will likely lead the next-generation clean energy research and development efforts. Among the players taking the lead in the research and development-related efforts in this arena, we have Overview Energy.

As the start-up plan revealed its use of the world’s solar panels as nighttime collectors of power beaming down from space, it also raised USD 20 million, and part of that has now gone toward an airborne demonstration of the start-up’s power-beaming technology. A light aircraft, in November 2025, transmitted power using a laser to a ground receiver over a distance of five kilometres (three miles).

However, Overview Energy will be up against competitors like renewable energy player Aetherflux, which is also pursuing a laser-based approach. Then there are ventures like Emrod (pioneering commercially viable long-range wireless power transfer technology), Orbital Composites (a venture redefining additive manufacturing with advanced composites and robotic automation), and Virtus Solis (which has reportedly designed the world’s first space-based solar power energy generation system) that are developing their versions of microwave-based power transmission, which sends energy wirelessly using a different portion of the electromagnetic spectrum than Aetherflux and Overview.

Betting Big On Microwaves

Microwaves are less sensitive to clouds and humidity than infrared lasers, while the latter can’t transmit in cloudy weather since the suspended water droplets would absorb much of the energy. However, since microwave-based systems can’t reuse existing solar farms, they would have to build their own ground stations.

Also, the ground receivers need to be smaller in shape so that they can keep the costs down. In that case, the energy beams need to be tighter and more powerful to make sure they get caught by the receivers efficiently, without causing collateral damage to birds and aircraft.

While renewable industry players are working to address these challenges, Overview Energy has pitched the reuse of solar farms to mitigate some of those concerns. However, the real deal will be to convince people that energy beams from space are safe and won’t stray off target.

Also, the start-up will have to ensure its laser system is very efficient to prevent a situation where solar energy is converted to infrared light and back again.

The start-up is targeting a 2028 timeline to launch a satellite into low Earth orbit, far below the 36,000 kilometres (22,000 miles) at which it finally intends to operate. The satellite will start sending megawatts’ worth of power from geosynchronous orbit from 2030 onwards.

The innovation will also be facing two more rivals: cheaper grid-scale batteries, which are rewriting the United States’ energy storage rulebook, and nuclear fusion in the long run.

What prevented “space solar energy” from elevating from the concept stage to the commercial one were factors like expensive launches, fragile hardware, and, most importantly, the fact that the technology to beam power safely to Earth wasn’t ready.

However, with the rise of the private space industry, launch costs have dropped more than tenfold, and annual launches have grown massively as well. Mass manufacturing of satellites is now routine. High-efficiency photovoltaics and high-power, high-efficiency lasers have become inexpensive, reliable, and commercially available.

The start-up has set a standard for its action plan of sending megawatts’ worth of power from geosynchronous orbit: transmission must be completely safe for people, wildlife, aircraft, and other satellites, while the whole process should cost less than USD 1 billion, which will make it competitive with its industry rivals.

The start-up also plans to use significantly less land than traditional solar plants with battery storage. The solution has a distributed design, eliminating any single point of failure.

Taking A Pragmatic Path

Overview Energy’s satellites will operate at an altitude of approximately 36,000 kilometres (about 22,000 miles) in geosynchronous orbit, collecting sunlight continuously and transmitting it as low-intensity, invisible infrared light.

Since Overview Energy will be using existing solar projects as its infrared beam receivers, requirements such as new land, construction, and years-long waits for interconnection will be eliminated. The start-up’s satellites will be the first moving power plants, directing energy across regions in seconds and across continents in minutes.

This will lead to a situation where solar projects will be generating revenue during 65%-75% of operational hours, without making their assets sit idle. Utilities will be bypassing congested corridors and drawing on infinite energy reserves above the atmosphere. Households will see lower electricity costs, as satellites will be blunting the peaks that drive price spikes.

Off-takers like data centres will have access to massive energy capacity, which will help them come online in days instead of years.

The business is currently busy solving problems such as sourcing cost-efficient materials, precise tracking, and deployable architecture. The whole operational architecture is being tested and validated from lab to aircraft to orbit. Each phase is demonstrating the same core technology that will operate in space, focusing on real-world constraints, while helping the start-up inch toward its cost targets.

Airborne Demo Bringing The Concept To Reality

In November 2025, the start-up achieved a world first in power beaming, as it transmitted power from a moving aeroplane to solar panels on the ground, covering a distance of more than 5,000 metres in the process.

Overview Energy’s team installed laser and optical systems on a Cessna Caravan and flew at an altitude of over 5,000 m (16,500 ft). On the ground, it installed a receiver of standard solar panels, the same kind used in utility-scale projects or homes.

As the aircraft flew overhead, the system identified the receiver, locked onto it, and delivered power through an eye-safe beam. The panels convert that light into electricity in the same way they convert sunlight.

The whole experiment validated the performance of Overview Energy’s core technical pieces that will realise the concept of “Space Solar Energy.” The proof-of-concept phase has also been completed with the airborne technology demonstration. It will now be followed by a pilot low Earth orbit (LEO) mission in 2028 that will demonstrate the full system’s performance in space. The final step will be the Overview Energy’s geosynchronous orbit (GEO) satellites taking over the proceedings in 2029–2030, where they will see the sun 99% of the time.

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