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

Australia-based energy company AGL Energy has announced an investment of $180 million to construct a 250 MWh Torrens Island grid-scale battery in South Australia. Finland-based manufacturing company Wärtsilä will supply the battery energy storage system for the project. The initial storage duration of the battery will be 250 MWh, with space for expansion of up to 1000 MWh. The Torrens Island system will be set up by Wärtsilä on full engineering, procurement, and construction basis. Construction is planned to commence in late 2021 and is expected to become operational in early 2023. Last year, AGL had unveiled its plans to build several battery storage systems in Australia, including a 200 MW battery storage system at Loy Yang power station in Victoria, a 150 MW at Liddel power station, and 50 MW at Broken Hill in New South Wales.

Indian electric two-wheeler manufacturer, Ather Energy announced that it would offer its proprietary charging connector to other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). According to the company, an interoperable charging connector will help maximize the usage and efficiency of the charging infrastructure and reduce range anxiety. The company claims to have 200 plus fast-chargers of 3 kW installed across 22 cities in India. Ather says its connector has a combo AC and DC charging with the same connector and has been designed for two-wheelers and three-wheelers.

Austria-based energy solution provider Fronius has announced the start of a two-week trial of a hydrogen-powered bus in Wels, Austria. Dubbed “Solaris Urbino 12 Hydrogen,” the trial will see hydrogen-powered buses used as public transport for two weeks in the Austrian city. The bus will be fueled daily with approximately 13 kg of hydrogen at Fronius’s research and development site in Talheim. The company claims that green hydrogen used to fuel the bus is claimed to be 100% locally produced from solar energy, and the bus can travel 160 km in one filling. Fueling takes around 15 minutes.

Greenlane Biogas North America, a 100% subsidiary of Canadian biogas provider Greenlane Renewables, has signed renewable natural gas project contracts of $10.2 million in the US. The company has secured a repeat order for a project owned by an international energy company involving the supply by Greenlane of its membrane separation biogas upgrading system. Two more projects that have signed up will utilize Greenlane’s pressure swing adsorption (PSA) biogas upgrading system, one each for separate unnamed RNG dairy farm projects in Wisconsin and New York.