In late March 2026, the Philippine DOE mandated the expedited grid integration of 22 renewable energy projects (1,471 MW) by April 2026 to mitigate fossil fuel price volatility stemming from Middle East conflicts. This emergency deployment is heavily concentrated in solar PV, with 12 projects accounting for a dominant 1,284 MW of the total capacity.

With utilization rates among Korean battery manufacturers remaining around 50% and reflecting a timing mismatch between demand and supply, utilization is increasingly emerging as a key indicator of cost structure and operational efficiency in a context where capacity expansion has preceded demand realization.

Markets frequently mistake an industry's sudden breakout for its origin. China's long-duration energy storage (LDES, ≥4 hours) sector did not abruptly emerge in 2026. Following policy incubation (2023-2024) and initial scaling (2025), 2026 marks a definitive inflection point, driven by a validated, closed-loop business model and exponential growth in grid-connected capacity.

SMM, March 31 – In March 2026, China's metallurgical-grade alumina output rose 10.56% month-on-month but fell 3.33% year-on-year. From a capacity perspective, as of the end of March, the national installed capacity stood at approximately 113.22 million tonnes, with some growth driven by the gradual commissioning of new alumina projects in Guangxi. However, operating capacity declined 2.1% month-on-month and 8.7% year-on-year. Although new projects were brought online, they were still in trial production at the end of March and did not contribute effective output, leading to a decline in the overall operating rate. Looking at output structure, total production in March increased from February, but average daily output declined. The main reasons are: on one hand, several enterprises in Guizhou and Guangxi carried out various levels of maintenance; among them, one Guizhou-based company shut down part of its production lines due to operational pressure, significantly lowering the operating rate in southern China. On the other hand, northern regions such as Henan and Shandong saw relatively stable operations, mainly fulfilling long-term contract deliveries. In Shanxi, some enterprises continued upgrading their production lines, causing a slight decline in the operating rate. These factors combined led to a month-on-month drop in average daily output in March. Looking ahead to April, the oversupply pattern in the alumina market is expected to persist. First, newly added capacity in Guangxi and Chongqing will be gradually released, driving overall output higher and intensifying competition within the industry. Second, attention should be paid to the indirect impact of geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East: some overseas alumina originally destined for the Middle East has been forced to be re-exported to China, resulting in an unexpected increase in China's imported alumina volume. This will likely impact the domestic market and may restrain the release of domestic production capacity. Based on a comprehensive assessment, China's operating alumina capacity in April 2026 is expected to be around 86.63 million tonnes.

[SMM Steel] On March 24, 2026, Jindal Steel Limited (JSL) announced the completion of its 6 million mt expansion project at the Angul steel mill in Odisha. The milestone was marked by the firing of the third basic oxygen furnace (BOF3). With this expansion, the Angul facility's capacity has doubled to 12 million mt per year, bringing JSL’s total domestic installed capacity to approximately 15 million mt per year. The project includes integrated upstream and downstream infrastructure to drive higher volumes and revenue growth.

SMM News: As of March 20, 2026, the market price for Praseodymium-Neodymium (Pr-Nd) metal in China stabilized temporarily at 890,000–910,000 RMB/ton. This article utilizes the SMM Pr-Nd Terminal Demand Calculation Model to dissect the demand logic for 2026 across three core sectors—New Energy Vehicles (NEVs), Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles, and Wind Power—explaining the current supply-demand dilemma facing the NdFeB magnet and broader Pr-Nd markets.

It was learned from State Grid Xinjiang Electric Power Co., Ltd. that as of March 18, 2026, Xinjiang's cumulative outbound transmission of new energy electricity reached 304.36 billion kWh, surpassing the 300 billion kWh mark and accounting for about 30% of its total outbound electricity transmission. Xinjiang was an important power-sending region for the country's west-to-east power transmission and green electricity exports. By the end of 2025, Xinjiang had completed the construction of six 10-million-kW-level new energy bases, with installed new energy capacity reaching 169 million kW, accounting for 64% of Xinjiang's total installed capacity.

On March 12, PetroChina’s Tarim Oilfield “Aksu, Shaya County, Fuman Block PV Green Electricity Direct Connection Project” officially received approval from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region National Development and Reform Commission, making it PetroChina’s first approved green electricity direct connection project. Located in the Taklamakan Desert south of Shaya County, Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, the project is a comprehensive green energy project integrating generation-grid-load-storage. According to the plan, the green electricity direct connection project will build a PV power station with a total installed capacity of 100,000 kW as the source of green power. To ensure stable power supply and reduce the curtailment of PV power generation, an additional 20 MW/80 MWh ESS power station will be added to serve as a super “power bank,” effectively smoothing PV fluctuations and ensuring continuous power supply to the load. Connecting the power supply and the power consumption side will be a planned 2.5-km direct power transmission line and a 110-kV substation.

It is learned from the State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co., Ltd. that on March 10, Zhejiang's maximum output of photovoltaic power exceeded 40 million kilowatts for the first time, reaching 42.52 million kilowatts, accounting for about 49% of the real-time load of the whole society. In recent years, under the leadership of the "double carbon" strategy, Zhejiang has been accelerating the construction of a new power system and a new energy system, and new energy represented by photovoltaics has developed rapidly, and has played an important role in Zhejiang's power supply guarantee and the clean energy production and consumption process in Zhejiang. According to the data of State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power, by the end of 2025, the installed capacity of wind and photovoltaic new energy i

Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, said on the 12th that the global installed capacity of nuclear power currently under construction had reached about 70 gigawatts, the highest level in 40 years.