 |
The Wire Thursday 12 November |
|
|
| |
The Wire · Thursday 12 November Good morning. Here is today's Energy & Infrastructure news. 👇 |
Five items overnight, every one dated, opened at the primary source and checked before it went in, with our read on each. Three minutes with your coffee and you are up to speed. |
|
Follow GridteamAI
The Wire is the morning. The rest of the day is on X, Bluesky, Substack and YouTube.
Grid, water, transport and every sector we track, as decisions land; The Big Build on Substack every Thursday; the film on YouTube.
|
|
Diesel 198.2p ↓ 0.4p | Brent $93 ↑ $1 | Power £212 ↓ £14 | CPIH 3.6% ↑ 0.3 | Bank Rate 4.0% – | GBP/USD $1.33 ↓ $0.01 |
The Pulse · figures to 11 Nov · the full board → |
|
|
01 |
 Environment · Environment Agency · 12 November 2026
Forever chemicals in England's rivers fall by up to 30%
The Environment Agency published a report on 12 November 2026 showing that PFOS levels in English rivers fell by around 30% and PFOA by 29% between 2016 and 2025, with PFOS in freshwater fish down about 49%. The agency said restrictions on the two chemicals have helped drive the reductions, though it found PFAS remain widespread. The findings will feed into the UK's first PFAS Plan, published earlier in 2026.
| | Our read The falls are real and show regulation can cut legacy PFAS, but the Environment Agency's own finding that exposure is still widespread shows the wider forever chemicals problem is far from solved. |
Read the source → |
|
|
02 |
 Energy & Grid · SSEN Transmission and National Grid Electricity Transmission · 11 November 2026
Scotland-England subsea power cable granted marine licence
SSEN Transmission and National Grid Electricity Transmission were granted a marine licence on 11 November 2026 for the Scottish waters section of the Eastern Green Link 3 subsea cable. EGL3 is a joint venture that will carry electricity between Scotland and England, connecting near Peterhead in Aberdeenshire. The licence follows several years of marine surveys and environmental assessment work along the proposed cable route.
| | Our read A marine licence does not build a cable, but it removes one of the approval steps standing between a decade of grid-reinforcement plans and the construction boats SSEN and National Grid still need to mobilise. |
Read the source → |
|
|
03 |
 Water · Uisce Éireann · 11 November 2026
Irish water utility to lay new water main in Letterkenny
Uisce Éireann, Ireland's national water utility, announced on 11 November 2026 that it will install about one kilometre of new water main along Speers Lane and Main Street in Letterkenny, to keep pace with new housing already going up in the town. Construction is scheduled to begin in January 2027 and finish in autumn 2027, carried out at night with temporary overnight road closures. A community information evening will be held on 18 November 2026 at Letterkenny Community Centre.
| | Our read The project is small by national standards, but it shows that housing delivery in Ireland rests as much on water mains being upgraded street by street as on funding announced nationally. |
Read the source → |
|
|
04 |
 Gas · Gas Networks Ireland · 11 November 2026
Five Irish teams compete for €1 million gas decarbonisation prize
Gas Networks Ireland said on 11 November 2026 that five Irish research teams are competing for a €1 million prize under its Research Ireland Innovation Challenge, part of a €2.6 million programme to decarbonise the gas network. The teams presented ideas covering seaweed, plastic waste and artificial intelligence at an event at TU Dublin's Grangegorman campus. Each team has received initial funding and now enters a seed phase ahead of a final prize round concluding next year.
| | Our read The prize money is modest next to the gas network's decarbonisation bill, but it shows Gas Networks Ireland trying to build a pipeline of home-grown technology rather than importing it. |
Read the source → |
|
|
05 |
 Applied AI · Cabinet Office / British Business Bank · 11 November 2026
British chipmaker Fractile raises over £500 million with government backing
Fractile, a British firm developing advanced AI chips, announced on 11 November 2026 that it has raised more than £500 million, backed by the government's Sovereign AI Venture Fund and the British Business Bank, alongside investors including CapitalG, Lightspeed and Redpoint. The round values the Bristol and London-based company at more than £5 billion. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the deal would boost the UK's ability to make AI chips and other advanced technology at home, noting Fractile's plans to expand its presence in Bristol.
| | Our read AI chips are usually designed and built far from Britain, so a government-backed, multi-billion-pound valuation for a home-grown hardware firm is a rare bet on building that capability here instead of buying it in. |
Read the source → |
|
|
On the house 👍
The full Wire archive, the Map of live UK and Ireland projects, the Boards and The Pulse, the prices and rates that move the industry, are open at gridteamai.com, no sign-in. The 64 Quarterly Sector Reports live in The Library: six pages of every UK volume free to read, £295 a volume.
|
|
 |
Talk to us
Building something? Tell us.
A contract won, a consent granted, a first spade in the ground anywhere in the UK or Ireland: send the release to press@gridteamai.com. We read every one and check it at the source. If it stands up, it goes in The Wire, with a link back to you.
|
|
|
