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

Turnkey hydrogen solutions provider Plug Power completed the acquisition of Frames Group, a  turnkey systems integration provider for the energy sector. The acquisition of Frames Group adds engineering, process, and systems integration expertise to Plug Power, enabling the company to scale the delivery of green hydrogen solutions. According to Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh, 300 new employees of frames group located in the Netherlands, India, the United Emirates, Malaysia, and Brazil have been absorbed into Plug Power. Frames Group’s process and control systems integration expertise, combined with Plug Power’s world-class electrolyzer stack technology, will help Plug Power attain its goal of producing over 1,000 tons per day of green hydrogen by 2028.

Mitsubishi Corp announced an off-site power purchase agreement (PPA) with Japanese convenience store operator Lawson to power Lawson sites with 45 MW of new solar facilities. Mitsubishi said it would contract West Holdings Corp to build the solar facilities and supply their generation to Lawson. The solar arrays will power about 3,600 Lawson stores located in the Kanto-Koshin district and the prefectures of Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, and Mie, starting in April 2022. The companies are looking to expand the renewable energy supply to cover some 8,200 stores throughout Japan.

CSI Solar, a majority-owned subsidiary of Canadian Solar, has obtained clearance for a proposed initial public offering on the Science and Technology Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The stock listing committee of the so-called STAR Market determined that CSI Solar had met the offering, listing, and disclosure requirements related to its proposed listing. The company has completed the sale and transfer of the China Energy business from CSI Solar to the Global Energy business to avoid potential competition between its CSI Solar subsidiary.  The China Energy business will not be part of the planned STAR Market listing. The scope of the sale and transfer includes all of the solar energy project development and ownership business in China.

The United Nations has granted observer status to the International Solar Alliance (ISA). The alliance’s primary objective is to work for efficient solar energy consumption to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. In a congratulatory tweet, Union Minister for Power R K Singh said that the historic decision of granting Observer Status to ISA would be a stepping stone in furtherance of One Sun One World One Grid mission. Singh also said that this recognition would boost the initiative to bring about just and equitable energy solutions through the deployment of solar energy.