Middle East Conflict: 30 days, EU fossil fuel import costs increase by €14 billion. China’s new energy storage accounts for over half of global capacity for first time
（2026/3/30—2026/4/05）
Author: Shu-Xin Zhang
International Energy News
1. Middle East Conflict: 30 days, EU fossil fuel import costs increase by €14 billion
The EU Energy Commissioner stated in Brussels that within 30 days of the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, natural gas prices in the EU have risen by approximately 70% and oil prices by 60%. From a financial perspective, 30 days of conflict have added €14 billion to the EU’s fossil fuel import bill. Although there is no immediate shortage of oil and natural gas supply, markets for products like diesel and jet fuel are tightening. Simultaneously, constraints in the global natural gas market are intensifying, with spill-over effects on electricity prices, threatening costs for European industries and households.
Consequently, the EU stresses the critical importance of acting in unity and close coordination, avoiding fragmented national responses or market-disrupting signals. Measures must be targeted, temporary, and avoid worsening supply-demand dynamics. The European Commission is coordinating actions on natural gas storage replenishment and oil supply security and will soon propose a toolkit to support member states in protecting households and businesses. The Commissioner pointed out that this crisis once again exposes Europe’s fundamental vulnerability to external energy shocks due to its dependence on imported fossil fuels, emphasizing that energy independence is a strategic imperative for economic and security reasons. Developing domestic clean energy, electrification, interconnections, and energy efficiency is the only way forward.
2. Strait of Hormuz disruption prompts several nations to turn to coal
Ongoing shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have heightened energy supply uncertainty for several Asian countries heavily reliant on oil and gas imports. Recently, South Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia have introduced measures to increase coal use and production.
In South Korea, the government has decided to strictly enforce license plate-based driving restrictions for public sector vehicles and called for voluntary participation from the private sector. Simultaneously, the government announced the removal of the cap limiting coal-fired power generation to 80% of installed capacity. To alleviate short-term energy supply pressure, Thailand and Vietnam are currently boosting domestic coal-fired power generation to reduce dependence on imported energy. Indonesia, the world’s largest thermal coal exporter accounting for about half of global exports, has decided to revise its 2026 coal production quota, planning to increase output. It is also considering prioritizing coal produced for domestic use over export. The Indonesian government is reportedly reviewing a coal export tax, planning to raise the rate in line with rising international coal prices.
3. $3 billion green ammonia deal: World’s largest long-term green ammonia agreement
In March 2026, India’s Reliance Industries and South Korea’s Samsung C&T Corporation formally signed a 15-year green ammonia purchase and sale agreement totaling over $3 billion. Under the agreement, Reliance will supply green ammonia to Samsung C&T starting in the second half of fiscal year 2029. This is one of the largest long-term binding agreements in the global green fuel sector. The deal signifies not only the transition of green ammonia from concept to large-scale international trade but also hints at the emergence of an Asian hydrogen trade circle.
As a zero-carbon fuel and efficient hydrogen carrier, green ammonia can leverage existing ammonia transport infrastructure to significantly reduce transport costs. Against the backdrop of tightening global urea and energy markets and the highlighted fragility of traditional fossil fuel supply chains, its value for supply security is increasingly evident. Earlier in 2026, China's Envision Group delivered the world's first shipment of green ammonia to a South Korean company. This latest India-Korea deal further confirms the arrival of a commercial tipping point for green ammonia. With accelerated investment across the industrial chain, including electrolyzers, specialized ships, and ports, an Asian hydrogen trading structure is taking shape, with China, India, and the Middle East as producers, and Japan and South Korea as consumers, driving the formation of a new global energy order.
Domestic energy news
1. China’s new energy storage accounts for over half of global capacity for first time
By the end of 2025, China’s total installed new-type energy storage capacity exceeded 100 GW, accounting for over two-thirds of the country’s total electrical energy storage capacity. This represents a more than 40-fold increase compared to the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period. Its share of the global new-type energy storage market surpassed half for the first time, reaching 51.9%. In terms of technology, lithium-ion batteries remain dominant, accounting for over 96% of installed capacity. However, with the commissioning of several hundred-megawatt long-duration energy storage projects, frontier technologies like solid-state batteries and hydrogen storage are accelerating development, leading to a gradual diversification of the technology mix. Regionally, new energy storage projects are concentrating faster in areas rich in wind and solar resources, such as Northwest and North China, with Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang experiencing the fastest growth.
According to industry sources, China, the US, and Europe remain the three largest regional energy storage markets globally. China has led the world in annual new installed capacity for four consecutive years. With the rapid rise of markets in the Middle East and Latin America, the global energy storage market is expanding to a broader range of regions. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, new energy storage will become the primary carrier for new flexible regulation capacity in power systems. However, challenges remain, including improving market mechanisms, project management standards, and the maturity of some technologies. Therefore, it is necessary to accelerate the improvement of market mechanisms for new energy storage, explore ancillary service types suited to local conditions, gradually expand the scale of participation in ancillary services, and refine capacity pricing and reliable capacity compensation mechanisms to guide rational development.
2. China’s first 100-km CO2 pipeline operates safely for over 1,000 days
China’s first 100-kilometer long-distance carbon dioxide pipeline—the million-ton CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage) pipeline for the Shengli Oilfield—has operated smoothly for over 1,000 days, with total CO2 injection exceeding 1.3 billion cubic meters. This indicates that Shengli Oilfield’s CCUS technology has transitioned from “technical validation” to “industrial implementation.”
The pipeline connects Qilu Petrochemical with the Gaoqing oil region of Shengli Oilfield. It is a key component of China’s first million-ton CCUS full-chain demonstration project, the Shengli Oilfield million-ton CCUS project. The Shengli Oilfield CCUS team developed original theories and technologies for high-pressure miscible CO2 flooding and storage in terrestrial deep, low-permeability oil reservoirs, increasing the oil recovery rate by over 15 percentage points and the primary CO2 storage rate by 20 percentage points. They overcame key challenges for low-energy-consumption, low-cost million-ton CO2 capture, reducing unit energy consumption by 19% and costs by over 30%. They also developed critical engineering equipment for the entire process, solving difficulties in large-scale CCUS application. Currently, all CO2 injected by the Shengli Oilfield million-ton CCUS project is stored underground. Daily oil production from the project block has risen from 220 tons to 460 tons, doubling and continuing to grow.
3. World’s largest hydropower relief valve successfully developed
The world’s largest hydropower relief valve, independently developed by Harbin Electric Corporation’s Harbin Electric Machinery Company (HEC) for the Tarbela 5th Hydropower Extension Project in Pakistan, has successfully completed assembly and testing. With a nominal diameter of 3.5 meters, it sets a new world record, and multiple core technologies and innovative designs have reached internationally leading levels. The Tarbela Dam is Pakistan’s largest and most important power supply base. The 5th extension project is a key China-Pakistan energy cooperation project, with HEC manufacturing all three 470 MW Francis turbine units. The newly developed relief valve is nearly 5 meters high and weighs 92 tons. It can fully open rapidly within 8 seconds under sudden conditions such as load rejection, pipeline rupture, or spiral case overpressure, effectively controlling system pressure within safe limits and protecting critical equipment.
The valve uses a fixed cone design with a design pressure of 1.35 MPa, suitable for the extreme high-water-head operating environment. The product achieves several industry-first breakthroughs in design, including adapting to the special condition of the Tarbela 5th project's expansion during ongoing operation, and optimizing structural volume and jet trajectory for balanced performance. In terms of manufacturing, the research team tackled challenges posed by the large diameter and long stroke, achieving precise and stable control over the dimensions of large, thin-walled components, ensuring first-pass qualification of the product.
(Main news sources: CCTVNEWS APP, Xinhua New Media, International Energy Network, China Energy Network, National Energy Administration)
