Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal has launched the ‘Switch Delhi’ campaign, a mass awareness program to sensitize Delhi citizens about the environmental benefits of switching to electric vehicles (EV). The campaign also aims to make citizens aware of the incentives and infrastructure being developed under Delhi’s EV policy.

GCL New Energy Holdings, a subsidiary of GCL-Poly Energy Holdings, has defaulted on a $500 million bond following the termination of an exchange offer with shareholders. The last trading date of the existing notes was January 27, 2021. The notes had matured on January 30. The company could not repay the existing notes on the maturity date, which constituted an event of default under the existing notes indenture. This will trigger a cross-default under the company’s other financial indebtedness. The company said the cross-default would have a material negative impact on the company’s business, results of operation, and financial position.

Sunnova Energy International has launched a 0% annual percentage rate (APR) financing program for home solar and battery storage services with 25-year system protection. Consumers will be eligible to go solar for as low as 0% APR and zero down payment to purchase a solar plus battery storage system and 0.99% APR and zero-down payment to purchase solar only service for homes.

bp and Uber have joined hands to explore the planning, development, and deployment of bp’s rapid electric vehicle charging hubs in Houston, United States. The partners will work to identify potential areas within the city that could support the deployment of charging hubs and create a convenient and equitable network of charging available to the public.

Mosaic, a U.S.-based residential solar and energy-efficient home improvement projects financing platform, has surpassed $4 billion in loans funded by its platform. The company also added new features to its financing offering – no payment for 18 months on a 25-year loan term. The product also has choices of a 12-month zero-payment promotional period with installment terms for ten years, 15 years, and 20 years with no prepayment penalty.

China is expected to utilize 6-7% more electricity in 2021 compared to the last year, according to the China Electricity Council (CEC) forecast. The country used 7.51 trillion kWh of power in 2020, an increase of 3.1% from 2019. The CEC anticipates that China will add around 180 GW of new power generation capacity in 2021. China’s total installed non-fossil fuel capacity is expected to reach 1,120 GW by the end of 2021. In 2020, China doubled its new solar and wind power projects from a year earlier.

The board of directors of REC has approved the sale and transfer of REC Transmission Project Company (RECTPCL) and REC’s subsidiaries – Fatehgarh Bhadla Transco, Sikar New Transmission, Ramgarh New Transmission – to Power Grid Corporation of India. RECTPCL incorporates a project-specific Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) as its wholly-owned subsidiary, which is also a wholly-owned subsidiary of REC. Further, such SPVs are subsequently transferred along with all assets and liabilities to the successful bidders selected through the tariff-based competitive bidding process.

Here is our previous daily news wrap-up.

Harsh Shukla is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Previously with Indian Express, he has covered general interest stories. He holds a Masters Degree in Journalism from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune.

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