Iran’s reported instruction for Houthi forces to prepare disruption at Bab el-Mandeb if U.S. strikes target Iranian power infrastructure could extend the conflict from Hormuz into a second critical energy corridor carrying about 7% of global energy flows. (Reuters) With Hormuz tanker traffic already at a 2-month low, simultaneous disruption would increase shipping, insurance and fuel costs while exposing ports, refineries and industrial supply chains, reinforcing the need for strategic inventories, bypass pipelines and hardened logistics infrastructure. (Reuters)
Strategic Moves | Capital flows in energy, infrastructure, and policy
Energy Systems & Grid Reliability
- Google and Cypress Creek Energy will add 1.8GW of solar and 2.9GWh of battery storage through the $3.5 billion Steel River Energy Center by 2029, supplying the Arkansas grid with round-the-clock clean power to offset data-center demand and strengthen regional capacity.
- OMV secured a €450 million EIB loan for a 140MW green hydrogen plant producing 23,000 tonnes annually by 2027, cutting about 150,000 tonnes of yearly emissions at the Schwechat refinery while reducing dependence on fossil-based hydrogen.
Resilient Infrastructure & Materials
- Syntetica raised $30 million from Lululemon, Bpifrance and other investors to scale a Clermont-Ferrand nylon-recycling facility producing hundreds of tons of pellets annually, reducing apparel supply-chain exposure to volatile petroleum-based Nylon 6 and 6,6.
- Airbus and MTU Aero Engines will form a joint venture to develop, certify and commercialize hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion systems, strengthening European aviation technology capacity while reducing long-term exposure to jet-fuel emissions and supply risk.
Resilience Finance & Policy
- General Fusion rose 40% in its Nasdaq debut under GFUZ with about $150 million in cash, but limited de-SPAC proceeds could delay its LM26 fusion system beyond 2028 and increase execution risk for a first power plant targeted around 2035.
- Deutsche Bank will fund 1,600 tonnes of Lufthansa sustainable aviation fuel, avoiding about 5,500 tonnes of lifecycle CO₂ while creating reliable demand for constrained SAF production infrastructure and reducing exposure to fossil jet fuel.
- Google, McKinsey and Tencent signed 10-year offtake agreements with Thryve.Earth for more than 635,000 tonnes of carbon removal across 6,000 hectares in Indonesia, providing financing certainty for agroforestry infrastructure that reduces fire, soil and ecosystem risks.
- Rize raised $31 million from BNP Paribas Asset Management, UOB, Temasek and others to scale methane-reduction and traceability systems across 300,000 hectares and 150,000 rice farmers by 2030, strengthening Southeast Asia’s food-system resilience while cutting exposure from a crop responsible for about 12% of global methane emissions.
- The Green Climate Fund unlocked an additional $4 billion by reducing balance-sheet reserves, increasing near-term project capacity to $5.65 billion and targeting at least $16 billion in climate investment for energy, food and water resilience across 134 developing countries.
Omer Agadi, Research, Endurance Capital
