ERCOT

tracked under Infrastructure ▸ Power grids

state of play · Infrastructure

A drone carrying Semtex, a military-grade plastic explosive not commercially available, was placed beside a Ukrainian Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft at Germany's Leipzig/Halle Airport overnight August 5; a DHL cargo aircraft struck an unknown object during its climb; investigators are searching for a second suspected flying object; German and NATO investigators are focusing on Russia as the likely actor. German Interior Minister Dobrindt described the incident as 'a new threat' to German infrastructure security. Leipzig/Halle is DHL's primary European cargo hub; the An-124 is one of the world's largest heavy-lift cargo aircraft. Counter-drone perimeter systems did not detect the tarmac-placed device, exposing a structural security gap at cargo facilities across NATO territory.

Auckland Transport confirmed the opening date of New Zealand's NZ$5.5 billion City Rail Link on August 5-6, after advertising billboards across Auckland accidentally revealed the date before an official announcement. The underground rail tunnel, discussed in Auckland for roughly a century, will allow trains to run through the city centre rather than terminating at Britomart station, the single piece of infrastructure that most changes Auckland's transport network capacity.

A Mediterranean cable cut blacked out Syria's internet for 48 hours before engineers rerouted via Cyprus and Turkey and spliced the fibre, a 1997-vintage single cable exposing how thin national redundancy is. Data-center load is straining the largest US eastern grid. The seabed and the grid remain the persistent single points of failure.

Watch: Leipzig/Halle investigation attribution and formal security-response from NATO cargo facility operators; whether the DHL aircraft collision and the tarmac drone are connected; CRL opening ridership figures in first weeks; cable-repair capacity and grid build-out.

Texas's independent grid operator managing 90% of the US state's electricity load for 26 million customers, central to data-center demand and grid reliability debates.

full dossier ›

AI data centres: global power demand

AI data centres consumed an estimated 415 TWh of electricity globally in 2024, about 1.5% of world demand, and are projected to nearly double by 2030, reshaping grid planning in the United States, China, and Europe while triggering ratepayer conflicts, water-rights suits, and a race to contract nuclear generation.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Texas regulator approves ERCOT 'Batch Zero', rationing grid access for data centers

The PUCT approved a new large-load process on 18 June; it allocates connections by transmission capacity and financing, not first-come-first-served

Who Decides ·10 takes ·Jun 25

ERCOT forecasts record 92GW summer peak, says Texas grid will hold

Data-center load pushes the 2026 summer forecast past the 85.5GW record; ERCOT puts the odds of a June emergency at 0.09%

The Long Game ·11 takes ·Jun 25

The briefing, by email