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Ben McWilliams

@bmcwilliams.bsky.social
624 followers 109 following 282 posts

Affiliate Fellow, studying (European) energy, climate and clean tech at the Bruegel think tank.

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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 21h
〽️ European batteries surpass 100 gigawatt hours How much is that? Equivalent to roughly 10 million household batteries or theoretically storing continental European power generation for 20 minutes. Utility-scale segment growing rapidly y-o-y european-clean-tech-tracker.bruegel.org/s/PnOdfg
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 21h
Half of new heavy trucks sold in China are battery electric
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Battery electric share of EU vehicle registrations continues to grow and break records. 28 percent of new registrations in August. Up 10 percentage points year-on-year. european-clean-tech-tracker.bruegel.org/s/E2BN1A
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
An unfortunate consequence of Brexit is that the UK stopped reporting data to Eurostat. We use DUKES to recreate Eurostat-style energy balances 👇 For 🇬🇧 - Electricity is 22 % final energy demand - Wind & bioenergy are fastest growing in FE supply european-clean-tech-tracker.bruegel.org/s/AiSN7w
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Bruegel @bruegel.org · 25/09/2026
We've just had another summer of record droughts, heatwaves, and extraordinarily high fossil fuel energy prices - good news might seem scarce. But as Bruegel Affiliate Fellow @bmcwilliams.bsky.social entails, there IS a lot of good news about Europe's energy transition. 📺 Watch the full video
youtu.be
The good news about Europe’s energy transition with Ben McWilliams | Euopean Clean Tech Atlas
Clean technologies are reshaping Europe — its economy, its energy system and its industrial landscape. The Bruegel European Clean Tech Atlas maps this transformation — bringing together the best…
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The EU has asked China to voluntarily restrict exports of hybrid cars. A focus on hybrids is overdue. Since EU introduced tariffs on BEVs in October 2024, net imports of Chinese PHEVs alone have grown from neutral to €600 million monthly european-clean-tech-tracker.bruegel.org/s/hIuMig
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Since start of summer, Ireland, Italy and the UK stand out for high wholesale electricity prices. Expensive gas still setting the price in more hours than neighbouring countries. european-clean-tech-tracker.bruegel.org/s/Qm-ysQ
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Bruegel @bruegel.org · 22/09/2026
🚘The European Union’s automotive sector needs a plan, not undue protection 📑 Read the new Policy Brief by Benjamin Bjerkan-Wade, Ignacio García Bercero, Antoine Mathieu Collin, @bmcwilliams.bsky.social & @tagliapietra.bsky.social 🔗 buff.ly/2pW3xbX
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The European Union’s automotive sector needs a plan, not undue protection
European automotive policy should prioritise affordable competitiveness over protectionism, using resilience criteria and temporary safeguards
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
🆕 The European Union’s automotive sector needs a plan, not undue protection Faced with electrification, Chinese competition and stagnating domestic demand, the automotive sector attracts justified political attention. But the conversation is too centered around protecting incumbent industry 1/5
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Robbie Andrew @robbieandrew.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
And 70% in first two weeks of September.
Graph showing: Share of NEVs in total passenger car sales: China (Source: https://robbieandrew.github.io/china/)
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Cars with a battery on board are > 60 % of new Chinese sales in Q3 ! @robbieandrew.bsky.social
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The @financialtimes.com reports today that the EU has approached China to set voluntary export limits on plug-in hybrid vehicles to the EU. This is overdue. Chinese PHEV imports have exploded since EU tariffs targeting only BEVs. Undermining initial tariff purpose & bad for climate.
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Simone Tagliapietra @tagliapietra.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
SOTEU speeches represent a good indicator of Europe's policy priorities. Here it is a quick overview of how priority areas have evolved since 2020. Tomorrow at 14:00-15:00 CET we will unpack the speech with Bruegel colleagues in a live podcast - link here: www.bruegel.org/event/sound-...
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Europe's share of global patenting for wind and heat pump technologies is growing, whilst the share for nuclear is constant. For all other clean technologies, Europe's share in the global mix is declining. Part of an update to the @bruegel.org Clean Tech Tracker which now includes patents 👇
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Over summer, we have revamped the @bruegel.org gas import tracker. Mostly data pipeline, so webpage should look similar. Weekly updates are now resuming (thursday mornings) & data are downloadable now from the charts directly. Page has imports, LNG flows and storage balances 👇
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The Dutch government has lowered its winter gas storage target to 64%. For context, storages are at 52% today. A significant jump in daily filling would have been required to reach 80%, hence lower target should reduce price pressure.
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Robbie Andrew @robbieandrew.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Very strong policy support is sustaining strong growth in sales of battery-electric cars in France, reaching 38% in August, and 30% so far this year. Subsidies are higher for lower-income households, and there are also subsidised leasing schemes for this group. robbieandrew.github.io/carsales/?la...
Graph showing: Monthly sales of new passenger cars: France (Source: https://robbieandrew.github.io/carsales/?lang=en&freq=monthly&type=relative&sort=bev-share&country=France)
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Bruegel @bruegel.org · 02/09/2026
📢 BOOK LAUNCH 📗 The European Clean Tech Atlas offers a comprehensive map of Europe’s clean-tech transformation. ✒️ Hèctor Badenes Rodríguez, Benjamin Bjerkan-Wade, @mariejuge.bsky.social, @keliauskaite.bsky.social, @bmcwilliams.bsky.social & @tagliapietra.bsky.social 🔗 buff.ly/i4A4rX1
bruegel.org
European Clean Tech Atlas
The Atlas tracks Europe's clean-tech transformation, showing how adoption, investment and industrial change are unfolding across the continent
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Bruegel @bruegel.org · 23/08/2026
📗 Mapping Europe’s clean energy and industrial transformation 📅 2 September | 10:30–11:30 CEST 🗣️ Meet our speakers: @tagliapietra.bsky.social, Laura Cozzi @iea.org, Céline Gauer @ec.europa.eu & @bmcwilliams.bsky.social 🔗 Register now: buff.ly/cyVFQ4t #BAM26 #EconSky
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Noting that Belgium natural gas storage filling has accelerated rapidly since early July. Policy change? or what else caused this?
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Jaap Burger @jaapburger.eu · 16/07/2026
Open data = First of all, have a go at finding all our charging points out and about and make a note of their numbers. Good luck with the treasure hunt, and see you in a century!
Fetching EVSE Data

Use the bearer token to request charger details:

The charger label can be found physically on the charging point - it's typically a 4-6 character code displayed on the front or side of the unit.
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
A new report from the JRC shows gross value added grows far more in clean energy technologies than rest of economy for EU
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
BYD used to only sell battery electric cars in Europe. In late 2024, the EU put tariffs on these cars but not plug-in hybrid (and far more polluting) models. The results are striking. A policy that must change.
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
🆕 Q2 2026 clean manufacturing investments update Database now covers €227 investment made by 240 companies into 390 facilities. Electric vehicle investment has slowed since the Commission proposed weakening targets; battery investment grows steadily; solar investments remain announcements only
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Thanks to @keliauskaite.bsky.social for maintaining the @bruegel.org natural gas imports tracker for three years now! This her last update as she takes a new challenge at the Lithuanian government.
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Ugne Keliauskaite @keliauskaite.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Updated @bruegel.org European gas import data for week 26, June LNG and Q2 2026 gas imports by source: 📊 download data: www.bruegel.org/dataset/euro...
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Electric vehicle sales are up across Europe and slowly but surely this is reflected in economy-wide electrification data. By 2024, 0.7 percentage of final energy demand is electric. Share in Norway is 7 percent in 2023.
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
European natural gas storages are relatively low for this time of year, but still on track to reach 80 percent by 1 November. Storages are 48 percent full on June 27. Extrapolating the recent 30 days trend meets the needed 0.25 %pts/day to reach 80 percent.
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Georg Zachmann @gzachmann.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Climate impacts will become a structural macro-fiscal problem. With low private insurance, EU governments are sleepwalking into becoming disaster insurers of last resort. Our @bruegel.org Policy Brief on mitigating rising fiscal costs of climate disasters. 🔗 www.bruegel.org/policy-brief... 🧵1/10
bruegel.org
Planning for the rising fiscal costs of climate disasters
Low insurance coverage is turning EU governments into disaster insurers of last resort, strengthening the case for prevention and adaptation finance
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Helion has the world's first permit for a commercial fusion plant. *Aspiration* is 50 MW to Microsoft by 2028. www.reuters.com/business/ene...
reuters.com
Helion says it is first US fusion energy firm to clear regulatory licenses
Helion, a company seeking to generate power by replicating the nuclear fusion reaction that takes place in ​stars, said on Tuesday it is the first ‌such U.S. firm to get all of its needed regulatory l...
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David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Gas still has good economics in places like the US, the Middle East and Russia, when it’s often an almost cost-free byproduct of producing oil. But for all the noise about LNG project sign-offs in recent years, the demand just isn’t there.
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Four in ten new cars sold in the UK are electric. The government is reportedly considering weakening EV targets, but consumer demand continues to grow.
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Shaun Pinner @shaunpinner.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Four years after a Russian proxy court sentenced me to death in occupied Donetsk, I reflect on the destruction of Mariupol, Russia's filtration camps, and why those who never experienced the war are increasingly helping rewrite its history. open.substack.com/pub/shaunpin...
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
May LNG imports to the EU are down 1bcm ish on Strait of Hormuz closure. LNG imports from elsewhere staying stable for now. Regular set of @bruegel.org natural gas import and storage data updated courtesy of @keliauskaite.bsky.social
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Chinese investment into clean technology manufacturing has fallen sharply from highs in 2023. Driven by oversupplied markets and a tightening of policy.
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Akshat Rathi @akshatrathi.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
I see a lot of charts everyday. Few make me go: THIS IS CRAZY. www.carbonbrief.org/ai-boom-mean...
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
The volume of batteries in Europe's electric vehicle fleet is x10 that in stationary storage. Huge opportunity for those technologies and companies that are able to smartly integrate this into grids. @bruegel.org
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
A few weeks ago the European Commission proposed (after several leaks and heated internal debate) its "Industrial Accelerator Act". The Act proposes rules for green industrial policy, which would effect billions of euros in annual green subsidies. A short thread on research we just published /7
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Georg Zachmann @gzachmann.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
As there is increased nervousness about the availability of jet fuels in Europe the German government makes flying cheaper by lowering aviation taxes.
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Dave Jones @cleanpowerdave.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
A NEW TWIST in Africa's soaring solar story: It's now manufacturing its own panels. The factories use imported Chinese cells, which are 40% of the value of panels, keeping much of the value domestically. 9 GW of cells+wafers in Mar/Apr alone🧵
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Simon Kuestenmacher @simongerman600.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Journalism from @nytimes international articles since 2000 (n≈199,000) turned into a map. We see which topics were covered disproportionately. HT @tedalcorn
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Company-level battery cell manufacturing capacities in Europe show a couple of things: 1️⃣ Europe has healthy capacity (but capacity does not mean output & this still needs to scale with growing demand) 2️⃣ Foreign companies are hugely important
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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Three sectors. One chart. Three very different stories. Buildings: 33% electrified in 1990 → 47% today. Industry: 31% → 33%. Barely moved. Transport: ~1% then, ~1% now. The 23% headline hides three transitions at radically different speeds. Long read coming on Substack: janrosenow.substack.com
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
European electrification is edging forward. New Eurostat data show electricity's share of final energy demand rose by 0.7 percentage points between 2021 and 2024. Growth, but not at the pace required to meet 2030 or 2040 targets.
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Jenny Chase @solarchase.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
In a move as predictable as the sunrise, US solar manufacturers filed a trade case against Ethiopian ones. It's not the biggest waste of human ingenuity in the world today, but can't believe how much brainpower and money is going into this legal whack-a-mole. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
US Solar Manufacturers File Trade Dispute Against Ethiopia
A group of US solar manufacturers alleged Tuesday that some overseas panel makers are using production in Ethiopia to evade tariffs on Chinese components.
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Kira Taylor @kirataylor.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
EU clean tech manufacturing investment steady, as it plummets globally, says Bruegel - Improving economic policy. More in today's Energy Briefing from Contexte www.contexte.com/eu/news/ener...
contexte.com
EU clean tech manufacturing investment steady, as it plummets globally, says Bruegel - Contexte
Deep information.
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
US kerosene imports closing between a half and two thirds of the Hormuz gap for now. But seasonality (more jet fuel for summer flights) means this will be stress-tested more seriously in June/July. (On the other hand @financialtimes.com reports today consumers are not buying tickets)
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Europe's electricity revolution is driven by solar. Since 2020, solar output is up 220 TWh, while coal and gas are down 90 TWh each. Wind up 75 TWh. For context, demand is ≈ 2,800 TWh. european-clean-tech-tracker.bruegel.org/s/wnox9g
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Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Investment in clean technology manufacturing facilities is falling worldwide, despite global demand for clean technologies growing rapidly. Our new piece joint @bruegel.org @rhg.com unpacks what drives these trends. /4
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Bruegel @bruegel.org · 06/05/2026
🔔 UPDATED: 2026 European energy crisis fiscal response tracker 💭 How are European governments responding to the 2026 energy shock? 📊 Explore the updated dataset by @bmcwilliams.bsky.social, Thomas Mramor, @aroth.bsky.social and @tagliapietra.bsky.social 🔗 buff.ly/HlVKMkJ #EconSky
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