Ørsted has lost a UK Supreme Court case over whether it could claim tax relief on geotechnical and environmental surveys for offshore wind farms that never progressed to construction. The ruling confirms that expenditure on early-stage site investigation and feasibility work for prospective projects does not qualify as “research and development” for UK tax purposes when no tangible asset is created. Developers may now need to reprice front-end survey campaigns and reconsider how they structure pre-consent ground investigation and design studies.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is pressing the World Bank at the IMF–World Bank spring meetings to redirect green lending towards “high-quality, durable” critical minerals mining and processing projects, particularly rare earths, to counter China’s control of over 90% of global rare earth supply. Managing the dominant US shareholding, he called for rapid support across all Bank arms for projects and associated infrastructure that diversify supply chains and increase domestic value capture. Bessent also welcomed the expiry of the Bank’s climate change action plan, labelling its climate finance targets “myopic” and signalling a broader shift in multilateral funding priorities.

BS 7671 has been updated with a new chapter on stationary secondary batteries, setting design and installation requirements for power conversion equipment, bidirectional and hybrid inverters, and protective devices capable of handling two‑way energy flow for vehicle‑to‑home and vehicle‑to‑grid use. The amendment also tightens rules on battery siting, ventilation and fire‑risk mitigation, and introduces new sections on Power over Ethernet for LED lighting and small appliances, and earthing for ICT equipment, alongside revised guidance for medical locations. The ECA has issued parallel guidance and events to help contractors interpret Amendment 4 and maintain compliant low‑carbon and EV‑ready installations.