Daily Update — April 7, 2026
Clean Energy Procurement; GenAI in Communications; and Private Equity Harvest Report
Today is Tuesday, April 7, 2026, and here’s your curated selection of Essential Intelligence on global markets from S&P Global. Subscribe to be notified of each new Daily Update.
Energy Transition & Sustainability
Listen: Contracted offtake: US clean energy procurement set for evolution as market matures
Power purchase agreements contractually guarantee revenue to power-generation projects for a fixed number of years and have underwritten the boom in renewable electricity development. The US tech sector dominated PPA activity in 2025 as it seeks to increase installed generation capacity in North America and maintain prior commitments to net-zero pledges.
S&P Global Energy experts Bruno Brunetti and Francis Browne joined the “EnergyCents” podcast to discuss recent trends in clean energy procurement and why market participants should expect evolution as the initial wave of PPA contracts subsides and corporate buyers consider future commitments.
Artificial Intelligence
Mobile World Congress 2026: Agentic AI as the next operating model for networks
The message delivered at Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona in early March marked a clear pivot: Communications service providers and their ecosystems are no longer treating generative AI as a conversational layer bolted onto existing operations. Instead, the event's most consequential announcements pointed to agentic AI as the next operating model for networks and network operations — and telco infrastructure as a service substrate for enterprise AI.
Communications service providers are pursuing a two-front transformation — agentic operations to run networks better and AI-era infrastructure offerings to remain relevant beyond connectivity. The shift from co-pilots to bounded autonomy is directionally correct, but value will accrue only where agents are tied to measurable outcomes, strict guardrails and credible shared-state models.
Private Markets
Private Equity Harvest Report 2026
The Private Equity Harvest Report 2026 highlights a market moving from stalled exits toward a gradual recovery while managing a significant backlog of aging assets. Holding periods now exceed five years on average, creating pressure on sponsors to generate liquidity after several years of constrained distributions.
As exit markets reopen, activity remains selective and highly dependent on asset quality. Valuation gaps persist, especially for assets acquired at peak pricing. These gaps are pushing companies to focus on operational improvements such as margin expansion, revenue growth and digital transformation to drive returns.
In case you missed it
- Water scarcity has evolved from a concern to a production-limiting factor for Chile's mining sector. Lower ore grades mean miners must process significantly more material, escalating both water use and energy consumption.
- US equity real estate investment trust stocks outperformed the broader stock market during the first quarter. The Dow Jones Equity All REIT Index recorded a 3.8% total return for the recent quarter, compared with a negative 4.3% return for the S&P 500, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
- Western Australia's government has allocated A$15 million for interest-free loans to help nickel miners in operation and support the potential restart of idled mines and ramp-up of new projects, it said in an April 1 statement.
Upcoming events
- Mercury Rising: European Corporates Have Stepped Up Climate Adaptation Planning | April 9 (Webinar)
- From Data to Drivers: Linking SNL + Visible Alpha Financials to Research Insights in S&P Capital IQ Pro | April 14 (Webinar)
- Powering AI Infrastructure in a Volatile World: Fact Checking Supplier Escalations for Transformers & the Role of Copper | April 15 (Webinar)
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