It's Thursday. The transformer has spent a century as copper, steel and oil, with a waitlist to match. A data center developer just signed up for more than a gigawatt of the kind built from semiconductors.
In today's edition:
🔌 Big Story: a gigawatt of solid-state transformers
⚡ Quick Hits: Ørsted's Iceni battery, a Rio Tinto heat battery, Westinghouse fuel
💰 Capital: solar PPA prices up 4.9%
📋 Policy Watch: Virginia's grid utilization, New York thermal networks, balcony solar
📊 Chart of the Day: what drove UK power bills
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The Big Story
Vantage locks in a gigawatt of solid-state transformers
Vantage Data Centers signed a deal to secure more than 1 GW of solid-state transformers from Heron Power for its hyperscale portfolio, Data Center Dynamics reported. The companies say the units integrate conversion and storage, cutting conversion stages between grid and rack.
"By partnering with Vantage to deploy more than a gigawatt of Heron Links in data centers, we will move 800 VDC from a reference architecture concept to a repeatable, deployed platform, delivering power from grid to rack in an integrated system."
Each Heron Link is a 5 MW modular, wide-bandgap converter targeting more than 98.5% efficiency from medium voltage to 800 VDC, the companies say.
The deal supports Vantage's move to 800 VDC racks. No delivery dates, sites or value were disclosed.
Heron, founded in 2024 by former Tesla executive Drew Baglino, has raised $183 million, including a $140 million Series B this year.
Its planned Morgan Hill, California factory is slated to build up to 40 GW of units a year.
Source: Data Center Dynamics
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Quick Hits
Technology milestones from across the grid
From a heat battery in Queensland to Nevada's geothermal lease sale.
Ørsted finished building its 300 MW/600 MWh Iceni battery beside the Hornsea 3 onshore converter station near Norwich and began first-stage commissioning. ESS News
Rondo Energy and Rio Tinto began front-end engineering on a 360 MWh heat battery at the Yarwun alumina refinery in Gladstone, Queensland, backed by A$3.6 million from ARENA. Energy-Storage.news
SolarEdge said PG&E and SDG&E approved its Nexis IslandDER meter collar, built with ConnectDER, which adds solar and backup without rewiring the main panel. pv magazine USA
Westinghouse will invest $1 billion in a LEU+ fuel plant in Hopkins, South Carolina, targeting 2030, the first such US fuel factory in more than 50 years, World Nuclear News reported. World Nuclear News
BLM's Nevada geothermal lease sale drew about $4.83 million for 60 parcels, roughly half last year's $9.4 million, with Ormat the top bidder. Utility Dive
The Capital Stack
Solar PPA prices climb 4.9% as tariffs bite
LevelTen Energy's average solar PPA price rose 4.9% in the third quarter to $64.23/MWh, up 6% from a year earlier and 12.7% since Q3 2024, Utility Dive reported. Wind held flat for the quarter but sits 13.8% above a year ago. LevelTen ties the jump mainly to new trade tariffs and says Section 232 tariffs could add another $3 to $7/MWh.
Source: Utility Dive
Also in the capital stack:
Google and Entergy Arkansas amended their West Memphis data-center deal to add 1,400 MWh of batteries worth about $550 million, funded by Google's payments, plus two transmission lines. The amendment awaits Arkansas PSC approval, Latitude Media reported. Latitude Media
Ofgem opened its largest offshore transmission tender, seeking bidders to finance, own and operate £3.5 billion of Hornsea 3 transmission assets for up to 25 years of inflation-linked revenue. reNEWS
Policy Watch
Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power filed the nation's first grid utilization metrics under a Virginia law. Dominion reports 41% annual distribution utilization and about 80% at peak; Appalachian, 14% and 54%. Dominion's transmission load-relief warnings jumped from 8 in 2023 to more than 172 this year, mostly in data-center corridors. Latitude Media
New York regulators approved the state's first two utility thermal energy networks, $111.5 million across Orange & Rockland's $50 million Haverstraw pilot and National Fuel Gas's $61 million Buffalo project, and rejected nine others worth about $1 billion to customers. Canary Media
Rep. Rob Menendez (D-N.J.) introduced H.R. 10851, the first plug-in solar bill in Congress. It would require state commissions to consider balcony solar rules and fund rebates of up to $1,000 for lower-income households. It is unlikely to advance this Congress. Canary Media
Chart of the Day
Gas drove nearly 90% of the rise in UK power bills
Wholesale costs account for £161 of the £180 real-terms rise in a typical UK household electricity bill since the fourth quarter of 2020, according to Carbon Brief's analysis.
Source: Carbon Brief · October 21, 2026
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