Here are some noteworthy cleantech announcements of the day from around the world:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a 2G ethanol plant at Panipat Refinery in Haryana. The plant was developed at the cost of ₹9 billion (~$113.18 million) and will utilize about 200,000 tons of rice straw to generate 30 million liters of ethanol annually. The project will have zero liquid discharge. By reducing the burning of rice straw, the project will reduce greenhouse gases equivalent to about 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per annum, equivalent to replacing nearly 63,000 cars annually on the roads.

Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) launched automated online data transfer for capturing critical data related to domestic value addition (DVA) from the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) program applicant’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to the PLI auto portal. All approved applicants for the PLI program have their ERP system. The IT-enabled system has been devised to enable the smooth transfer of data from the applicant’s existing ERP system to the PLI auto portal of MHI. The application programming interface will get embedded with the ERP system of the applicant and enable automatic and paperless processing in this program. This facility will eliminate paperwork by bringing in automation.

CVS Health announced a 15-year agreement with Constellation to purchase clean, renewable energy equivalent to the energy use of 309 CVS Health locations in Illinois and Ohio. Through this agreement, CVS Health will receive renewable energy and renewable energy certificates equal to a 42 MW share of the Mammoth Central solar facility, the third and final phase of Doral Renewables’ 1.3 GW solar project in Indiana. CVS Health will use the Constellation Offsite Renewables retail power product to facilitate its renewable energy transaction. This agreement will help CVS Health reduce its carbon footprint by more than 38,000 metric tons yearly. This is the equivalent of nearly 7,400 homes’ electricity use in one year.

Network Rail signed an agreement with EDF Renewables UK, which will see enough solar energy to power 20,000 homes in offices, depots, and railway stations across the country. The contract will mean 49.9 MW of renewable energy capacity is available and cover around 15% of Network Rail’s annual consumption of non-traction energy provided from EDF Renewables UK’s Bloy’s Grove solar farm between Swainsthorpe and Mulbarton in Norfolk. This builds upon the existing traction supply partnership between Network Rail and the wider EDF Group in the UK. This agreement aligns with Network Rail’s commitment to sourcing 100% of non-traction energy from renewable sources by 2030 as part of its Environmental Sustainability Strategy.

Canadian Solar announced that a wholly-owned subsidiary of its majority-owned subsidiary CSI Solar entered into an investment agreement with the municipal government of Haidong City in Qinghai Province, China. Under the agreement, CSI Solar plans to build a facility with an annual capacity of approximately 50,000 tons of high-purity polysilicon in 2022 as the initial project to build a solar manufacturing industrial park in Haidong. The facility is expected to commence production in mid-2024. Subject to market conditions and approvals from its board of directors, CSI Solar may also build other manufacturing facilities, including ingots, wafers, cells, modules, and other auxiliary materials, in the Haidong solar manufacturing industrial park.