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

Sterlite Power Transmission has acquired Nangalbibra —Bongaigaon Transmission, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) from PFC Consulting. The company will execute the inter-state transmission system (ISTS) project through this SPV, which it won through tariff-based competitive bidding in October 2021. The project includes 250 ckt km of 400 kV Dc transmission line connecting Bongaigaon in Assam to a greenfield substation at Nangalbibra in Meghalaya, 220/132 kV substation at Nangalbibra in Meghalaya, and 50 ckt km of 132 kV Dc line connecting Hatsinghmari in Assam to Ampati in Meghalaya. The project will transmit over 1 GW of power from Assam to the western parts of Meghalaya.

Amp Energy India has recently commissioned a 13.5 MW solar power project for Orient Cement. The project will supply solar power to Orient Cement’s manufacturing facility in Maharashtra from Amp’s open access facility in Osmanabad. Orient Cement has signed a power purchase agreement with Amp Energy India to procure solar power for 25 years. Orient Cement will reduce overall energy costs and mitigate its carbon footprint with this project. The company will meet 50% of its annual energy needs through this partnership and significantly reduce its energy bills. The project will also help Orient Cement reduce about 15,595 tons of CO2 per annum.

Siemens Gamesa has secured an order from Ayana Renewable to supply 84 SG 3.6-145 wind turbines for a 302 MW project in Karnataka. In the SECI ISTS Tranche X tender, Ayana won this project and will develop the required infrastructure for this wind farm planned in  Karnataka. Turbines for this project will be supplied from manufacturing plants in India. The project is expected to be commissioned in 2023. The company’s total order intake for the Siemens Gamesa 3. X platform in India currently stands at 925 MW.

Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) has distributed 500,000 LED bulbs under Project Crore of their Gram Ujala program. Gram Ujala is implemented in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana. CESL provides 7W and 12W LED bulbs with three years guarantee at ₹10 (~$0.13) per bulb in exchange for working incandescent bulbs. Each household can exchange a maximum of 5 bulbs. CESL claims the distribution has resulted in energy savings of ~720 million units with cost savings of ₹25 billion (~$334.7 million) per year. The program is active till March 31, 2022. On December 14, 2021, i.e., National Energy Conservation Day, CESL distributed  100,000 bulbs.

Bloom Energy will deliver electrolyzer and hydrogen-powered fuel cell technologies for NTPC’s green hydrogen-based energy storage project. NTPC selected the company to participate in a project to explore large-scale, off-grid hydrogen energy storage and microgrid installations at strategic locations. Bloom Energy will provide its solid-oxide electrolyzer to produce green hydrogen from renewable electricity sourced from a nearby floating solar farm. The fuel cells will convert the hydrogen into carbon-neutral electricity to power NTPC’s Guest House facility in Simhadri, Visakhapatnam. The project is expected to be launched in 2022.