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

Independent power producer ReNew Power commissioned a 17.6 MW first phase wind-solar hybrid project at the Chlor-Alkali unit of Grasim Industries in Bharuch, Gujarat. ReNew Power and Grasim Industries have entered into a 25-year purchase power agreement, which will see the project supply power for the Bharuch factory via open access mechanism. The partnership will expand further with an additional 16.68 MW, which will be commissioned in the next financial year as part of the second phase. The project is being developed by ReNew Green Solutions, the business-to-business arm of ReNew Power. Together, both phases have a total investment of ₹3.82 billion (~$51 million) through an equity partnership. Once both phases are commissioned, the project is expected to generate a total of approximately 160 million units of renewable electricity annually, offsetting 150,000 tons of CO₂ emissions annually.

Renewable energy company GE Renewable Energy opened a new renewable hybrids factory in Vallam, Chennai. The site will manufacture the FLEXINVERTER and FLEXRESERVOIR products and help integrate them with the FLEXIQ offering from GE’s newly launched FLEX portfolio. The FLEXIQ is a digital platform to enable grid compliance, while FLEXRESERVOIR is a system-integrated battery energy storage and power electronics solution. The FLEXINVERTER is a containerized solution that delivers a factory-integrated power conversion platform for utility-scale solar and storage applications. According to the company, the site is centrally located and connected to national highways, airports, and seaports. The factory will be able to fully produce and integrate systems at the site.

German renewables developer BayWa r.e. will build a 3-MWp floating solar farm for family-owned mining company Quarzwerke GmbH in Haltern am See, Germany. BayWa r.e. will install around 5,800 PV modules for this project, which it says will result in one of the largest floating PV plants in Germany and the first in the country to be launched without subsidies. According to the developer, the new lake-based solar farm will generate some 3 GWh of power per annum once in operation. Quarzwerke will export the surplus to the public grid with around 75% of the plant’s output for its own needs. The floating installation will be located on the Silbersee III lake near Quarzwerke’s plant site.

Renewable energy platform Matrix Renewables entered into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with renewable energy producer Statkraft for a 50-MW solar park in Jaen province, Spain. The solar park will be fully operational in the second half of 2022, and its entire output will be sold to Statkraft. For Statkraft, the PPA with Matrix is part of a more extensive procurement process initiated in 2021 to buy electricity from independent power producers in Iberia. The ten-year contract is Matrix’s first PPA with an energy company in Spain after previously signing four corporate off-take arrangements.

The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) provided a $35 million loan to the 40 MW Kesses solar project in Kenya. The project will cost a total of $87 million. The first part of the loan was disbursed to Alten Kenya Solarfarms BV in late December 2021. Alten will sell all its output to Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC), the national energy utility, on a 20-year take-or-pay power purchase agreement. Construction of the plant has already commenced and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2022. Standard Bank was the mandated lead arranger of the project finance to Alten. Standard Bank is supplying $41 million in debt comprising a term loan, value-added tax, and debt service reserve facility.