Malaysia, Singapore Explore Importing Wind Energy from Vietnam
The 'industry alliance' will look to export green electricity, especially offshore wind power, from Vietnam to the other two countries, according to a statement from Singapore's Sembcorp Industries Ltd. on Monday.
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Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
How to create a talent pipeline
Childress is a city of about 7,000 people in Northwest Texas, near the state border with Oklahoma. It's a rural community with ample open space and abundant energy resources — the ideal environment for the data centers driving today's digital economy. The talent to fill them was always there — someone just needed to recognize, invest in, and help it grow. That's where IREN came in. It's a next-generation data center company that uses renewable energy to power AI and other emerging technologies. In 2022, the company broke ground on a 420-acre data center in Childress when it encountered an obstacle: The local workforce it needed for the new facility couldn't be found using a traditional talent strategy, which screens out applicants without a college degree or highly specialized prior experience. How did IREN build a thriving data center without having the data center technicians, electricians, network engineers, and other skilled professionals to staff it? The company pivoted. Rather than looking solely at people's past jobs or where they attended college, IREN prioritized skills and aptitudes. While IREN's traditional hiring strategy suggested the workforce it needed for its new data center was in short supply, the company expanded its talent pipeline by giving people the chance to learn new skills and harnessing their motivation to contribute. IREN accomplished this through four talent development programs, which offered people options such as apprenticeships in skilled trades and financial assistance to pursue relevant careers. The company filled all its open roles in Childress, developed a more loyal, high-performing team, saved money, and improved the city's economic opportunity and mobility. Today, IREN continues to build a world-class workforce by cultivating local talent through an emphasis on their potential, their unique skills, and their interests. David Shaw, IREN's chief operating officer, says this mindset can benefit any employer, regardless of location. 'Any company, in any industry, can close workforce gaps by looking beyond traditional hiring and investing in people and communities,' he said. 'It leads to stronger local economies and a more inclusive and sustainable workforce across the nation.' Data centers store, process, and distribute the information that powers much of today's world. Shaw calls these facilities 'the backbone of the digital economy' because they anchor technologies such as generative AI, cloud services, fintech, the bitcoin network, and global communications. The rising need for computing power to fuel these technologies means the demand for data centers is rapidly increasing. But, as IREN discovered in Childress, staffing them with the data center technicians, network engineers, facility managers, and other skilled professionals these facilities need can be challenging. Fortunately, IREN found success by pairing top-tier external talent with untapped potential in the community. This blended model strengthens IREN's teams and deepens its local roots — a framework other employers can follow. 'We hire based on capability, drive, and potential,' Shaw said. 'We seek cross-functional skill sets and consider the whole person, not just a resume.' The results were impressive. Today, IREN employs over 100 full-time members in Childress. While long-term staffing may shift as operations evolve, IREN's investment has already created significant employment opportunities and made an economic impact in the area. IREN is now seeing better operational performance, less turnover, and deeper connections to its local workforce. Plus, the company saves money by reducing its use of resource-intensive external training and recruitment initiatives. IREN's talent practices also provide meaningful work, growth opportunities, and a better quality of life for people closer to their homes. IREN's People, Culture, and Community team is building the company's data center workforce by tapping into under-leveraged talent in rural Texas and helping it thrive. This bottom-up model requires believing in everyone's potential and cultivating close ties to the region's business, education, and nonprofit communities. IREN's strategy includes: For an example of how these programs work in practice, consider IREN's apprenticeship program. It recently helped an employee from a small rural community near Childress become a journeyman electrician. The program enabled the employee to attend trade school at night while working full time at IREN and receiving hands-on experience and mentorship. It also gave him a clear path to advancement: He's now in a leadership role and growing his skills — all because IREN recognized his strong work ethic and desire to stay near home. 'This shared value model strengthens our relationships with the regions we serve and reinforces our commitment to long-term sustainability, economic resilience, and mutual success,' Shaw said. IREN isn't the only organization interested in transforming regional talent ecosystems. The Education Design Lab is joining several other organizations to make Texas a leader in digital workforce development as part of the Texas Flywheel Initiative. Launched in 2024, the initiative aims to drive economic growth and ensure that all Texans can get the skills required to participate in the data center industry. The lab is a national nonprofit that codesigns, prototypes, and tests education-to-workforce models through a human-centered process, connecting learners to economic mobility. 'What I appreciate about IREN is how they leverage local talent and try to collaborate with local stakeholders,' said Dr. Leah Ben-Ami, The lab's senior ecosystem designer. 'The company is providing them with a pathway into an emerging industry in Childress, where those pathways may not be as readily available.' Dr. Ben-Ami says the Texas Flywheel hopes to 'connect the dots' between the players in Texas' digital economy — including IREN — so that the state's training pathways help people acquire the skills employers need. The goal is a collaborative ecosystem to create awareness of — and access to — programs that empower people to contribute to the Lone Star State's emerging data center industry. For instance, Texas Flywheel has conducted several events to facilitate networking and thought leadership within Texas. One such gathering was the Texas Digital Economy Convening in Fort Worth last February, which featured over 60 stakeholders, including IREN. The event focused on building relationships and establishing a shared understanding of the upskilling and mobility opportunities and challenges facing rural prospective hires. The convening also sought to reduce industry silos and identify core education partners to help build credential pathways. Texas Flywheel has engaged with over 140 stakeholders through its convenings, including 60 employers, 40 training providers and educators, and 25 community and workforce groups. The lab's and IREN's talent development efforts come as Texas' number of data centers rapidly grows. Texas currently boasts America's second-largest concentration of data centers, with 363 data centers in 24 markets statewide. This number will only increase as rural Texas gains more energy infrastructure. The separate approaches to talent development from the lab and IREN are reaching the same destination: more economic mobility and opportunity for all. Their success shows that communities, employers, nonprofits, and talent can achieve big outcomes when they collaborate. Shaw says IREN's talent innovations strive to strengthen everyone the company touches. With IREN's Childress facility expected to have a business life lasting several decades, both the company and the community will reap positive returns for years. 'IREN's strategy is designed to create lasting, meaningful impact for everyone involved in the company, the communities we operate in, and the individuals who live there,' Shaw said. For any employer seeking to build a strong workforce pipeline, IREN's experience in Childress proves that the solution often lies within the community itself. By focusing on aptitudes and investing in skills, employers can unlock the talent that's been there all along. Join the Texas Flywheel Initiative. Education Design Lab is supported by the Charles Koch Foundation, which as part of the Stand Together community funds cutting-edge research and helps expand postsecondary educational options. Learn more about Stand Together's efforts to transform the future of work and explore ways you can partner with us.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump administration canceled a $4.9B loan guarantee for a line to deliver green power
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday canceled a $4.9 billion federal loan guarantee for a new high-voltage transmission line for delivering solar and wind-generated electricity from the Midwest to the eastern U.S. The U.S. Department of Energy declared that it is "not critical for the federal government to have a role' in the first phase of Chicago-based Invenergy's planned Grain Belt Express. The department also questioned whether the $11 billion project could meet the financial conditions required for a loan guarantee. President Donald Trump has repeatedly derided wind and solar energy as 'unreliable' and opposed efforts to combat climate change by moving away from fossil fuels. The Department of Energy also said Wednesday that the conditional commitment to Invenergy in November was among billions of dollars' worth of commitments "rushed out the doors" by former President Joe Biden's administration after Biden lost the election. 'To ensure more responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources, DOE has terminated its conditional commitment,' the agency said in a statement. It wasn't immediately clear how much the department's action would delay or stop the start of construction, which was set to begin next year. The company's representatives didn't immediately respond to emails Wednesday seeking comment The company has said its project would create 4,000 jobs and new efficiencies in delivering power, and that it would save consumers $52 billion over 15 years. The line would deliver electricity from Kansas across Missouri and Illinois and into Indiana, connecting there to the power grid for the eastern U.S. It could deliver up to 5,000 megawatts of electricity. "When electricity demand and consumer power bills are soaring, it's hard to imagine a more backward move,' said Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, a nonpartisan, Washington-based group supporting renewable energy. Keefe called the Grain Belt Express 'one of the country's most important energy projects' and suggested Trump canceled the loan guarantee 'just because it will bring cleaner energy to more people.' But two prominent Missouri Republicans, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and state Attorney General Andrew Bailey, are vocal critics of the project, describing it as a threat to farmland and land owners' property rights. Bailey called the project a 'scam' and a 'boondoggle.' Hawley said on July 10 that he had secured a pledge from U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright to cancel the loan guarantee in a conversation with him and Trump. Critics like Hawley object to the company's ability to use lawsuits against individual land owners along the line's route to compel them to sell their property, which Hawley called 'an elitist land grab.' Online court records show that the company filed dozens of such lawsuits in Missouri circuit courts in recent years, and the Missouri Farm Bureau's president posted on the social platform X Wednesday that the project threatened to 'sacrifice rural America in the name of progress.' Democrats on the U.S. Senate's energy committee suggested on X that Trump, Wright and Hawley 'just killed" the project, but Invenergy announced in May that it had awarded $1.7 billion in contracts for work on the project. And Bailey suggested in a statement that the project could still go forward with private funding without the loan guarantee, saying, 'If Invenergy still intends to force this project on unwilling landowners, we will continue to fight every step of the way.' John Hanna, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
Trump administration canceled a $4.9B loan guarantee for a line to deliver green power
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday canceled a $4.9 billion federal loan guarantee for a new high-voltage transmission line for delivering solar and wind-generated electricity from the Midwest to the eastern U.S. The U.S. Department of Energy declared that it is 'not critical for the federal government to have a role' in the first phase of Chicago-based Invenergy's planned Grain Belt Express. The department also questioned whether the $11 billion project could meet the financial conditions required for a loan guarantee. President Donald Trump has repeatedly derided wind and solar energy as 'unreliable' and opposed efforts to combat climate change by moving away from fossil fuels. The Department of Energy also said Wednesday that the conditional commitment to Invenergy in November was among billions of dollars' worth of commitments 'rushed out the doors' by former President Joe Biden's administration after Biden lost the election. 'To ensure more responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources, DOE has terminated its conditional commitment,' the agency said in a statement. It wasn't immediately clear how much the department's action would delay or stop the start of construction, which was set to begin next year. The company's representatives didn't immediately respond to emails Wednesday seeking comment The company has said its project would create 4,000 jobs and new efficiencies in delivering power, and that it would save consumers $52 billion over 15 years. The line would deliver electricity from Kansas across Missouri and Illinois and into Indiana, connecting there to the power grid for the eastern U.S. It could deliver up to 5,000 megawatts of electricity. 'When electricity demand and consumer power bills are soaring, it's hard to imagine a more backward move,' said Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, a nonpartisan, Washington-based group supporting renewable energy. Keefe called the Grain Belt Express 'one of the country's most important energy projects' and suggested Trump canceled the loan guarantee 'just because it will bring cleaner energy to more people.' But two prominent Missouri Republicans, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and state Attorney General Andrew Bailey, are vocal critics of the project, describing it as a threat to farmland and land owners' property rights. Bailey called the project a 'scam' and a 'boondoggle.' Hawley said on July 10 that he had secured a pledge from U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright to cancel the loan guarantee in a conversation with him and Trump. Critics like Hawley object to the company's ability to use lawsuits against individual land owners along the line's route to compel them to sell their property, which Hawley called 'an elitist land grab.' Online court records show that the company filed dozens of such lawsuits in Missouri circuit courts in recent years, and the Missouri Farm Bureau's president posted on the social platform X Wednesday that the project threatened to 'sacrifice rural America in the name of progress.' Democrats on the U.S. Senate's energy committee suggested on X that Trump, Wright and Hawley 'just killed' the project, but Invenergy announced in May that it had awarded $1.7 billion in contracts for work on the project. And Bailey suggested in a statement that the project could still go forward with private funding without the loan guarantee, saying, 'If Invenergy still intends to force this project on unwilling landowners, we will continue to fight every step of the way.'
