Daily News Wrap-Up: Procter & Gamble’s Hyderabad Unit Goes Solar

Borosil Renewables to raise production of solar glass by 1,000 tonnes a day

April 21, 2021

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

Procter & Gamble has commissioned its first in-house solar power unit at the company’s Hyderabad manufacturing facility. This is the fast-moving consumer goods giant’s first manufacturing site in India and only the fifth site globally to house a solar unit. Spread over 16,000 square meters and comprising nearly 3,000 panels, the solar unit has a 1 MW capacity and is expected to reduce the firm’s carbon footprint by an estimated 1,030 metric tonnes annually.

Borosil Renewables has approved the company’s expansion plan to raise the production capacity of solar glass by an additional 1,000 tonnes per day. The scale-up will include all processing capabilities in one or two phases. The estimated outlay will be ₹10 billion (~$133.43 million), the company said in a BSE filing.

Amazon has become the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy globally, with 206 projects worldwide, including 71 utility-scale wind and solar projects and 135 solar rooftops on facilities and stores. The e-commerce giant has invested in nine new renewable energy projects in Canada, the U.S., Spain, Sweden, and the U.K. With more than 2.5 GW capacity in Europe and 8.5 GW of renewable energy capacity globally, Amazon is set to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2025 – five years ahead of the original target of 2030.

Dutch energy and commodity trading company Vitol has acquired a 240 MW wind farm from a fund managed by BlackRock for an undisclosed sum. The deal for Big Sky Wind marks the company’s first large U.S. wind asset purchase. Vitol plans to pump in an additional $250 million to ensure Big Sky Wind benefits from leading technology. The upgrade of Big Sky Wind will increase the site’s annual energy output by 60% by the end of 2022 and include the installation of new wind turbines. The acquisition takes Vitol’s renewable generation capacity in the U.S. to more than 700 MW of wind and solar projects in operation or development.

Green electricity retailer iSwitch Energy is set to acquire 12 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in Singapore from Finnish technology company PlugIT. Under the terms of the deal, iSwitch will offer EV charger installation services to its existing portfolio of over 50 management corporation strata titles, 10 shopping centers, 600 car parks, and 8,000 landed residential properties. The EV charging initiative will broaden iSwitch’s existing suite of sustainable solutions such as carbon-neutral green electricity, home batteries, and solar panel installation. As part of the company’s green ambition, iSwitch aims to offset 100% of all electricity used for charging by purchasing United Nations verified carbon units.

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