Precious metals are having a moment. Gold and silver surged to record highs in January, benefiting from an alignment of macroeconomic factors, evolving supply-demand dynamics, and renewed industrial demand.

Silver is having one of its most extraordinary years in modern market history.

Recently, the European Commission has approved a €400 million state aid scheme for Greece aimed at supporting the country's clean technology manufacturing sector. The scheme aligns with the Net Zero Industrial Act (NZIA) and has been authorised under the Clean Industries Agreement State Aid Framework (CISAF). It will promote domestic manufacturing of technologies including solar panels, wind turbines, heat pumps, electrolysers, and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) through direct grants and tax incentives.

On February 3, 2026, the United States and India formally signed a bilateral trade agreement, reaching a significant consensus on tariff arrangements for Indian goods exported to the US market. Under the terms of the agreement, the reciprocal tariff rate applicable to Indian goods (including solar modules and energy storage components) was reduced from 25% to 18%.

Recently, Moonwatt announced that its sodium-ion battery energy storage project, implemented in the Cleantech Park in Arnhem, the Netherlands, has been successfully put into operation. It is reported that this flagship project was jointly developed by Moonwatt, IPKW, and Veolia, marking the first practical deployment of a sodium-ion battery energy storage system specifically designed for hybrid solar power plants. The project utilizes Moonwatt's self-developed modular "string battery," which encapsulates sodium-ion battery cells in a passively cooled, sealed, and noiseless battery shell. Through a shared hybrid inverter and solar panels, it achieves DC coupling, effectively addressing challenges such as high costs and complex operation and maintenance during the hybridization of solar power plants, enabling seamless scaling from kilowatt to gigawatt levels.

4th Feb , LGES officially announced a cooperation agreement with Qcells, a wholly-owned subsidiary of South Korea's Hanwha Group. The agreement includes a 5 GWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) for energy storage projects in the US. LGES will provide full life cycle services, with delivery scheduled from 2028 to 2030.The ESS provided by LGES will adopt the latest containerized lithium battery solution, utilizing LFP batteries produced at LG's US factory. It is reported that the capacity of LGES's battery plant in Michigan, US. Qcells' solar panels are manufactured in Georgia, US. This cooperation will meet local manufacturing requirements in the US, further reducing trade and tariff risks.