** Maryland-based Constellation Energy signs a $1 billion deal to provide nuclear power and energy efficiency services to 13 federal agencies, marking the first time the U.S. has used a major energy purchase to support nuclear power as a clean energy source.
** An energy company threatens to sue federal regulators for denying its proposal to expand an Amazon data center located at a nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.
** Oil interests and business groups are suing Vermont, challenging a state law that would make fossil fuel companies pay for damages caused by climate change.
World
** The British Government has pledged to move forward the ban on the sale of new cars powered entirely by petrol and diesel engines from 2035 to 2030 but has said it will allow certain hybrid vehicles to remain on sale.
** German power prices briefly fell into negative territory early on Thursday, extending a trend being seen throughout countries in Europe as a jump in renewable power generation causes energy supply to outpace demand. Intraday power prices in Germany fell below zero for four hours as wind energy surged toward 40 gigawatts to outpace demand, Bloomberg reported.
** Vietnam’s capital Hanoi has been covered in thick smog over recent weeks, putting it at the top of a list of the world’s most polluted cities, as the government said it would push for more electric vehicles (EVs) to alleviate the problem.
** Finland’s power grid operator Fingrid asked a Helsinki court to seize the Eagle S oil tanker in a bid to secure the company’s claim for damages related to the breakdown of the Estlink 2 electricity cable. The undersea power cable linking Finland and Estonia was damaged on Dec. 25 along with four telecoms lines, and Finnish authorities boarded the tanker the following day.
** Slovakia’s coalition government will discuss retaliatory measures to take against Ukraine after it halted the flow of Russian gas through its territory to Slovakia, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said.
