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Sarastro

@financeguy.bsky.social
1.8K followers 638 following 666 posts

Institutional money manager 🇬🇧🇨🇭🇫🇷 Markets, energy, history, politics

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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
“A core reason for the shift? In the words of Energy Minister Akanat Promphan, to reduce reliance on “expensive and volatile spot LNG imports.” “
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
“Bangkok has other ideas. Under the government’s latest power market plan, released in draft form earlier this month, renewable energy will increase to 50% from 20% of the grid within the next decade, before rising as high as 89% around 2050.”
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
“Methane still provides almost two-thirds of electricity, a larger share than you’ll see in gas-fueled giants like the US and Russia. In Shell’s latest outlook, it’s the most exciting prospect in emerging Asia, with LNG imports five times higher in 2040 than they are now.”
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
“Thailand is the most prominent example. On paper, the country is a paragon of the gas market. Its economic boom in the 1980s and 1990s can largely be attributed to the opening up of domestic fields.
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The war in the Gulf is upending some conventional assumptions about the role of natural gas in the Asian power markets. It’s not just that the fragility of the supply chains have been exposed. It’s also the cost as David Fickling explores in this piece www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
bloomberg.com
The LNG Boom Is Losing Its Biggest Asian Bet
Emerging Asia is the future of the LNG market — one that never seems to show up in present-day reality.
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Lauri Myllyvirta @laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Read the full article at: www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-chi...
carbonbrief.org
Analysis: China’s CO2 emissions fall in Q2 2026 due to plummeting oil use - Carbon Brief
China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fell by 1% in the second quarter of 2026, as oil consumption plummeted amid the strait of Hormuz crisis.
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Ember @ember-energy.org · 03/09/2026
Europe can unlock 25 GW of new renewables by adding them to existing hydropower sites, bypassing grid capacity constraints 🇪🇺🔐 This strategy is called hybridisation – and it’s becoming increasingly important for countries facing gridlock. Elisabeth Cremona explains in our new #VideoBrief 🎥
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 16/08/2026
Solar getting more efficient all the time.
pv-magazine-usa.com
The world’s most efficient solar panel goes on sale later this year - pv magazine USA
Solar manufacturer Tandem PV has secured nearly $1 billion in Letter of Intent (LOI) agreements for its next-generation solar modules. The high-efficiency panels feature a perovskite-silicon 4T (four-...
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The Stinkfoot @thestinkfoot.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
It's hard not to think that stories about "Made in the USA" green energy leadership would be common if Trump didn't shoot US industry in the foot in his quest to prop up his oil baron buddies.
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ironeconomist.bsky.social @ironeconomist.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Future is going to be wild in latitudes that are sunny all year round. This is firm power at around 1/2 of the cost the uk is paying for raw wind generation.
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ironeconomist.bsky.social @ironeconomist.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Solar price declines not over yet!
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Among the more astounding of the data points talked about, was the viability of reaching 37% without breakthroughs, purely through engineering.
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
The company also noted theoretical peak efficiencies of 45% for two layers of perovskite atop silicon, and 50% for three layers, crushing the 23% efficiency seen in mass production panels today.
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
“Tandem PV said in an interview with Roth Capital recently that it sees a clear path to adding 2% efficiency per year without any major scientific breakthroughs. This trajectory would put the module at 37% efficiency by 2030.
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
This is a panel from Tandem with 30.4% efficiency compared with the best in the market - from LONGI- at around 25% today www.pv-magazine.com/2026/08/14/t...
pv-magazine.com
The world’s most efficient solar panel goes on sale later this year - pv magazine Global
Solar manufacturer Tandem PV has secured nearly $1 billion in Letter of Intent (LOI) agreements for its next-generation solar modules. The high-efficiency panels feature a perovskite-silicon 4T (four-...
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Even in markets with the highest solar shares globally, fossil generation continues to dominate non-sunny hours, .. [but] ..fully unlocking the next phase of growth needs extending solar into the non-sunny hours. Batteries are doing exactly that ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
ember-energy.org
Batteries have unlocked the era of anytime solar | Ember
Solar hit a record 10% of global electricity in the first half 2026, a quarter at midday and near zero at night. Now, battery storage is unlocking the next stage of solar growth in the non-sunny hours...
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
This is an auction for 1GW of firm (I.e 24/7/365) renewables plus batteries. At US 5.5 us $ cents /kWh it is the lowest price that has ever been achieved, reflecting the falling costs of battery and solar costs. www.pv-magazine.com/2026/08/10/s...
pv-magazine.com
India's round-the-clock renewables tender attracts lowest bid of $0.055/kWh - pv magazine Global
The Solar Energy Corp. of India (SECI) has discovered a lowest tariff of INR 5.25/kWh in its tender to procure 1 GW of firm and dispatchable renewable energy (FDRE) on a round-the-clock (RTC) basis fr...
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
“Solar prices are tumbling. The “levelised” cost of solar power, which combines capital and operating cost (though does not account for the “system costs” imposed by renewables’ intermittency) has plunged by around 90% since 2010.“ economist.com/finance-and-... from The Economist
economist.com
Renewables are shining. The Iran war amplifies their appeal
Two new reports are a must-read of energy-starved governments
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
As of April 2026, the subcontinent has achieved over 50% of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources — reaching this milestone five years ahead of its 2030 Paris Agreement target. gulfnews.com/world/asia/i...
gulfnews.com
India hits milestone: Renewable energy generation — 5 years ahead of 2030 Paris Agreement target
India hits its Paris climate target early with over half of power capacity from renewables, driven by solar, wind, AI data centres and grid upgrades.
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
And if this is the likely path taken by countries that import O&G, the decline in the global trade in hydrocarbons will mean less demand and use of dollars. And that in turn means more funding pressure and greater risks to the US’ growth model (at the core of which is the large fiscal deficit). End
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
These were the questions that Keith Joseph was asking in the late 1970s about the UK. It’s also the question that Argentines were asking after the fall of the military junta in the 1980s and the Singaporeans have been asking themselves about their own role in the aftermath of US tarrifs.
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
What can they do to bring new industries and capital ? What skills do they have to build on? Can they continue to play as big a role in the global economy as they did before the war? And if so how do they reform to achieve that?
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
My comment: You can see that any such shift will mean diminished global economic importance of GCC hydrocarbons. The question is this: how can the GCC countries adapt to the likely shift while containing the economic and social consequences for their societies ?
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
This is also why the deeper consequence of the current crisis may not be the short term price spike but the longer term acceleration away from fossil fuels. Countries that depend heavily on imported fuels are reminded with every crisis that their economies remain exposed to geopolitical shocks.”
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
The longer the crisis persists the greater these impact become because higher energy costs accumulate across supply chains, the result of which is rising inflation, slowing economic growth, economic pain and social unrest."
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
“Chemicals, fertilisers, plastics, transport and manufacturing all depend heavily on hydrocarbons as fuels or feedstocks and as those input costs rise they are gradually passed through the entire system.”
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
“The most important consequence of the ongoing crisis in the Gulf will most likely …be ..the economic shock that follows as rising energy prices …Oil and gas sit are the basis of modern industry and when their prices rise the impact quickly moves far beyond the energy sector itself.”
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
This is a very interesting short piece that gets to the core issues… open.substack.com/pub/gerardre...
open.substack.com
The Energy Shock Reshaping the Global Economy
The most important consequence of the ongoing crisis in the Gulf will most likely not be the military headlines but the economic shock that follows as rising energy prices spread across the global eco...
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
“With the LNG drought pushing up electricity prices and photovoltaics providing a cheaper… alternative, a boom in rooftop solar is far more likely than a return to coal. Don’t look under the ground for the solution to the LNG crisis. The answer is in the skies.” www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
bloomberg.com
The LNG Shock Isn’t Driving Asia Back to Coal
If you’re given to the Sickos Guy view of world events, there’s one obvious way to make the current crisis in the Middle East look just that little bit more disastrous: As well as starving us of energ...
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
www.independent.co.uk/news/science...
independent.co.uk
Scientists achieve ‘impossible’ solar efficiency in renewables breakthrough
‘Spin-flip’ technique promises to shatter efficiency limits
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
“The main message is that we’re going to get the energy transition forced on us in a very painful way that’s going to happen very quickly.” www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
bloomberg.com
The Strait of Hormuz Oil Shock Is Now Heading West
US government officials and Wall Street analysts are starting to consider the prospect that oil prices might surge to an unprecedented $200 a barrel.
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
All quotes from Kingsmill Bond and Sunday Sinha here www.weforum.org/stories/2026...
weforum.org
How India is charting a new path into the electric age
India is bypassing the traditional fossil fuel developmental path by industrializing through cheap solar power.
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
“Zoom out to economy-wide electrification where India is keeping pace. Electricity now accounts for nearly 20% of final energy – matching China at equivalent income levels and rivalling advanced economies today.”
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
“Transport tells a similar story. India’s road oil demand, at 96 litres per capita, is half of China’s at the same stage of development…. Electric vehicles are nearing 5% of car sales, as adoption races up the S-curve. In three-wheelers, India leads the world…”
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
“Compare India today with China at equivalent income levels. In 2012, China had negligible solar, and coal demand showed no signs of slowing. India in 2025 generates 9% of its electricity from solar, uses barely a quarter of the coal per person, and is already approaching its coal generation peak.”
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Atmospheric Sciences @atmsciences.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
The current energy crisis might globally speed-up the energy transition in an unprecendented reduction in fossil fuel use. In eg India, SE Asia EV for cars and solar + batteries instead of unsteady petrol, gas en coal imports.
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Engineeringdude @engtechnic.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
the solar and wind buildouts getting stifled, and fighting against electric cars, are how this country is getting left behind, you cannot claim to be capitalist if you and fighting against global market forces
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Will (Stand On Guard) Hutchings🫐 @thecrazedspruce.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
This is the REAL reason Trump hates solar power and wind turbines. Solar and wind power mean energy independence. Which means the oil, gas, and coal industries that fund his regime lose a major part of their market. Fuck the environment. Fuck other countries. Only corporate profits matter.
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Justin Mikulka @justinmikulka.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
India was supposed to be a huge new market for LNG (liquefied methane). Much of it from Qatar. We were told it would replace coal. Even before Hormuz sent their LNG prices soaring, India had done the math and is moving to solar, wind and storage. Replacing coal as they go, just not with LNG.
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
“The jump in renewables is expected to reduce India's dependence on coal as a primary source of electricity generation to 49% by 2035-36, from more than 70% currently, according to the National Generation Adequacy Plan released by the Central Electricity Authority.” www.vccircle.com/indiasolar-t...
vccircle.com
India solar to quadruple, wind to triple over a decade
India's solar power capacity is expected to quadruple over the next decade, while wind energy capacity could triple, according to a report published...
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
“Thanks to .. falling costs, batteries are now seizing the role of last marginal generator… Electricity from a four-hour battery is now cheaper in almost every market that depends on LNG.... Even Saudi Arabia can now provide solar-plus-storage for less than gas.” www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
bloomberg.com
Energy Falling Below $100 Shows the World a Way Out
Worried about the way crude oil has stampeded above and then back below $100 a barrel in a matter of hours this week? What if I told you that another crucial component of energy prices has just slumpe...
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Nicolas Fulghum @nicolasfulghum.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
UK AR7 auction results are out today 🍃⚡ Excellent results with over 8 GW of capacity! The strike price of £91/MWh for England/Wales fixed projects was significantly below the administrative strike price of £113/MWh that so many reported on last year, but was always the upper limit.
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
www.pv-magazine.com/2025/11/24/i...
pv-magazine.com
India awards 1 GW of round-the-clock renewables at INR 4.35/kWh
Railway Energy Management Co. Ltd. (REMCL) has awarded 1 GW of round-the-clock renewable energy capacity at INR 4.35 ($0.049)/kWh, with six developers securing allocations that will supply firm clean ...
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Does this SMR have a CFD/ pricing framework for the output ?
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
Much cheaper than coal. m.economictimes.com/industry/ren...
m.economictimes.com
Madhya Pradesh secures record-low price for solar-plus-storage power project
Madhya Pradesh has achieved India's lowest price for solar power with battery storage through a clean energy auction, with CEIGALL India and ACME Solar winning tenders. This deal could potentially res...
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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
I want to come back properly on this Economist piece that questions Britain's approach to net zero. It gets three things wrong imo: 1. Ignoring periods of v cheap renewable energy 2. Misdiagnosing the relative costs of renewables 3. Looking backwards, not forwards.
economist.com
Is Britain’s net-zero push to blame for its high energy prices?
A mighty rise in electricity costs has complicated the drive for clean power
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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 29/07/2025
Large chunk of the world won’t care about oil embargoes very soon
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
Solar panels from $0.1/w ..
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
Versus a cost in London of £2.50 per cubic metre or $3.40. I find this extraordinary
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Sarastro @financeguy.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
I see that Hannah Daly concurs with your numbers so that’s about 4c cubic metre
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