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

The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, emphasized the importance of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in his speech at the 15^th G20 Summit convened by Saudi Arabia in a virtual format on November 21-22, 2020. He said global governance is required for an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable recovery in a post-COVID world. The Prime Minister also spoke about the need to fight climate change in an integrated, comprehensive, and holistic way at the side event of the G20 Summit. While addressing the event, he said India is not only meeting its Paris Agreement targets but exceeding them. The Prime Minister said that the country would meet its target of 175 GW of renewable energy well before 2022, and the country would seek to achieve 450 GW by 2030.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Limited has successfully conducted a ‘Proof of Concept’ feasibility study for ‘Zero-Emission Electric Mobility,’ a concept that allows electric vehicles (EV) to charge using solar power. Hygge Energy, a start-up incubated by Tech Mahindra, designed the EV charging system. The system does not require any upgrade in grid infrastructure, and its architecture helps improve grid resilience. Indian Oil said that it would conduct more pilot studies of the solar-powered EV charging systems at its more fuel stations across Bangalore, India.

Akuo Energy, a France-based independent power producer, has commissioned the 50 MW Kita solar project located in the Kayes region of Mali, West Africa. The project is expected to satisfy the electricity needs of 120,000 households while reducing 52,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. The project’s financing was undertaken through the West African Development Bank, Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, FMO, and Mali’s National Bank for Agricultural Development (BNDA).

Hyundai Motor Company and INEOS have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore new opportunities to accelerate the global hydrogen economy. Both companies would jointly investigate opportunities for the production and supply of hydrogen as well as the worldwide deployment of hydrogen technologies and applications. Both companies would initially seek to facilitate public and private sector projects focused on the hydrogen value chain in Europe.

Nuvve Corporation, a U.S.-based green energy technology company, and The Lion Electric, a Canada-based bus manufacturer, announced their collaboration on launching vehicle-to-grid (V2G)  technology as a standard feature of their zero-emission school buses. Both companies already partnered on projects demonstrating the feasibility of V2G for school districts and utilities in California and New York in the  United States. Last week, Nuvve announced a definitive merger agreement with Newborn Acquisition Corporation to become a listed public company.

Scania, a Sweden-based commercial vehicle manufacturer, has unveiled its plans to invest over 1 billion Swedish Krona (~$ 116.27 million) over several years in a battery assembly facility in Södertälje, Sweden. The facility will be utilized to assemble battery modules and packs from cells, which will be delivered from Northvolt’s battery facility in Skelleftea, Sweden.

Trina Solar and Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor Corporation Limited (Zhonghuan) have signed a procurement framework contract. According to the contract, Trina Solar intends to purchase 210-size monocrystalline silicon wafers from Tianjin Huanou International Silicon Materials, a subsidiary of Zhonghuan, from January 2021 to December 2021. The total quantity is expected to be over 1.2 billion pieces, and the total value of the contract is estimated to be around 6.552 billion Chinese Yuan (~$ 997.60 million).

ArcVera Renewables, a global provider of consulting and technical services for renewable energy projects, said that a major Indian independent power producer enlisted it to analyze wind resource variation cause and effect after an unexpected drop in wind farm energy production in the country. The company’s expert applied advanced atmospheric science methods to explain the interannual variability anomalies of the wind energy resources in India. The expert said the low wind speeds were caused by a combination of regional and global meteorological factors that seldom occurs simultaneously, including a persistent high-pressure pattern over northern India and Tibet.

Sonnedix, a global independent solar power producer, has entered into a partnership with a fund managed by Amundi, Amundi Energies Vertas, a renewable infrastructure investment vehicle, to invest in the European solar market. The partnership will rely on an initial investment of €50 million (~$ 59.50 million) in the European solar market and a commitment to invest a similar amount in projects developed or acquired by Sonnedix through a dedicated platform. The initial transaction is expected to close before the end of 2020.

Netbeheer Nederland, the trade association for all electricity and gas network operators in the Netherlands, said network operators and the solar energy sector would work together to ensure that solar power could be transported efficiently, quickly, and affordable on the Dutch grid. Both parties signed the agreement for affordable electricity. The cooperation would ensure, among other things, that solar power puts less strain on the grid. This means that more solar facilities can be connected faster and cheaper and, on balance, more sustainable energy goes into the grid.

Here is our previous daily news wrap-up.

Harsh Shukla is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Previously with Indian Express, he has covered general interest stories. He holds a Masters Degree in Journalism from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune.

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