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

Adani Solar has introduced India’s first large monocrystalline silicon ingot at its Mundra facility. These ingots will be used to produce renewable electricity from silicon-based solar modules with efficiencies between 21% and 24%. The company completed the backward integration of the ingot line infrastructure in seven months and will produce silicon ingots exclusively for its solar wafers, cells, and modules. Adani Solar plans to increase its ingot and wafer capacity by 2 GW by the end of 2023 and to further increase production to 10 GW by 2025.

The Odisha government has designated Grid Corporation of Odisha (GRIDCO) as the nodal agency to implement the state’s renewable energy policy and facilitate the development of all renewable energy projects in Odisha. GRIDCO will be responsible for proposing and implementing mechanisms for solar, wind, hydropower, electric vehicles etc. in the state.

The World Bank has approved $311 million in funding for renewable energy projects in West Africa. This included the installation of 106 MW of solar with battery storage systems and the expansion of hydroelectric capacity by 41 MW. The projects aim to improve electricity distribution and transmission in Chad, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo, and include a $20 million grant for regional power trade and capacity building in the West Africa power pool.

India Grid Trust (IndiGrid) and G R Infraprojects (GRIL) signed a memorandum of understanding to bid for transmission projects worth around ₹50 billion ($604 million). The companies also intend to acquire a 100% stake in the Rajgarh Transmission project, which is part of the interstate transmission system in Madhya Pradesh. The project will be developed and executed by GRIL and operated and managed by IndiGrid after acquisition. IndiGrid has also received expansion projects worth approximately ₹2.3 billion ($27.78 million) on its existing assets on a regulated tariff mechanism basis.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has reviewed the regulatory framework for green debt securities and updated the definition to include pollution prevention and eco-efficient products. The new framework also introduced sub-categories of green debt securities, including blue bonds for water management, yellow bonds for solar energy, and transition bonds. SEBI will also establish guidelines to prevent green-washing risks for issuers of green debt securities.

Solar tracking solution provider Arctech inked a deal to supply 2.8 GW of SkyLine II single-axis solar trackers for a 15 GW solar project in Khavda, Gujarat. The project is expected to be connected to the grid in the third quarter of 2023. The SkyLine II tracker helps to equalize wind pressure and post loads between the inside and outside of a solar project, enabling the use of trackers with the same pile configuration in the design and construction of a project. This eliminates uncertainty that was previously present at the beginning of the process. Arctech has already supplied 7 GW of solar tracking and racking solutions in India.

Global investment firm EQT announced that its EQT Infrastructure VI fund is acquiring Madison Energy Investments, a company that develops and operates solar and energy storage projects in the U.S. Madison has developed 386 MW of capacity across the country. The acquisition will allow MEI to expand its distributed solar and storage assets with EQT’s access to growth capital and expertise. The deal is expected to close in Q1 2023.