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

Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal has said that the entire Indian rail network would be fully electrified by 2023 and run on renewable energy by 2030. Addressing the Maritime India Summit 2021, he said that Indian Railways had moved 1.1 billion metric tons of freight traffic as of February 28, 2021.

The Union Cabinet has approved the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between India and France in the field of renewable energy cooperation. The MoU covers technologies related to solar, wind, hydrogen, and biomass energy. The two countries would exchange scientific and technological information and data, transfer equipment and technology, and develop joint research and technological projects.

Tata Power said its wholly-owned subsidiary TP Saurya had signed a power purchase agreement with Tata Steel to develop a 15 MW solar project at Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. The generated power would be supplied to Tata Steel under a 25-year power purchase agreement from the commercial operation date. The project is expected to generate around 32 mega units of clean energy annually while offsetting around 25.8 million kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions.

Union Minister of  Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Nitin Gadkari said the ministry is working with the World Bank on a credit guarantee program to make financing accessible to unrated MSMEs. The minister invited MSMEs to avail concessional debt finance to install rooftop solar for business efficiency. He said rooftop solar systems provide a value proposition to MSMEs by reducing power consumption costs, which is around 20% of their operating cost.

The board of directors of Jaiprakash Power Ventures has approved the disinvestment of a 74% stake in its joint venture with Power Grid Corporation of India, Jaypee Powergrid. The company would sell the stake to Power Grid Corporation of India. The sale is expected to be completed by March 31, 2021.

RE2 Robotics, a U.S.-based mobile robotic manipulation systems developer, has been selected for an award of $1.9 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office. The funding was provided to develop a robotic system for the outdoor autonomous manipulation of solar panels. The company would partner with several companies, including The AES Corporation, Array Technologies, JLG Industries, Mortenson, and Pratt Miller, to provide the solar industry with robotic construction capabilities.

Brazil-based renewable energy companies Andrade Gutierrez and Elera Renovaveis have been selected to supply its solar tracker technology for phase I of the 830 MW Janauba Solar complex. The project, located near Janauba City, Minas Gerais, Brazil., is scheduled to become operational by early 2022.

U.S.-based six major utility companies – including American Electric Power, Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Entergy Corporation, Southern Company, and Tennessee Valley Authority – have unveiled plans to develop an electric vehicle fast-charging network across major regions of the country. This would provide electric vehicle drivers convenient and effective charging options that enable long-distance travel. The charging network would provide direct current fast chargers that are capable of charging vehicles in around 20-30 minutes.

Ocean Winds, a joint venture between EDP Renewables and ENGIE, has signed a collaboration agreement with Terna Energy to co-develop floating offshore wind projects in Greece. The two companies would identify suitable areas and develop a pipeline of projects with around 1.5 GW of total capacity with a development roadmap rolled out throughout the current decade.

Here is our previous daily news wrap-up.