Energy group BP aims to build Britain’s largest hydrogen plant by 2030 as part of its push to boost the use of fuel and cut greenhouse gas emissions. The Teesside plant in northern England will have a capacity of up to 1 GW of blue hydrogen, about a fifth of Britain’s target of 5 GW of hydrogen capacity by the end of the decade. Blue hydrogen is produced by converting natural gas into hydrogen and storing the CO2 emissions from its production.

Leading Saudi developer, investor, and operator of power generation and water desalination plants, ACWA Power, announced the inauguration of the 300 MW Sakaka PV IPP, Saudi Arabia’s first utility-scale renewable energy project, at an investment value of 1.2 billion Saudi Riyals (~$319 million). The project was awarded to an ACWA Power-led consortium at a world record tariff, which paved the way for subsequent projects of the National Renewable Energy Program to lower the cost of clean solar electricity.

SwitchON Foundation has partnered with Punjab National Bank for the promotion of solar pumps. A First Loss Default Guarantee Fund will be set up by SwitchON Foundation, through which Punjab National Bank will be financing solar pumps. Guarantee funds are set up to improve project bankability and reduce lender’s risk perception. The Ministry of MSME has set up such arrangements to increase lending to small businesses.

Praj Industries has bagged an order to set up India’s largest syrup-based ethanol plant from Godavari Biorefineries Ltd in Karnataka. Praj will expand the existing ethanol manufacturing capacity to 600 KLPD, using sugarcane syrup as a part of this project. When commissioned, this will become India’s largest capacity syrup-based ethanol plant.

Canadian Solar announced that it had started mass production of high-power, high-efficiency modules with a power output of up to 665 W. The new generation of monofacial HiKu7 and bifacial BiHiKu7 modules are based on 210 mm cells and set to deliver one of the most competitive levelized cost of electricity in the industry by reducing balance of system and other costs for solar power plants. These modules have been optimized with a leading tracker and inverter designs to ensure seamless installation of solar systems.

The Public Investment Fund announced a major milestone in its renewable energy program with the launch of the Sudair Solar PV plant in Sudair Industrial City, with a PIF-backed consortium signing a power purchase agreement with the Saudi Power Procurement Company for 25 years, which represents an important step within the renewable energy program that is being implemented under the umbrella of the National Renewable Energy Program.