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

Tata Steel has joined hands with an Indian start-up to deploy electric vehicles (EVs) for its steel transport. The initiative reportedly marks the first-ever deployment of EVs by any steel producer in the country to transport finished steel. The first set of EVs will operate between Tata Steel’s Sahibabad Plant and Pilkhuwa Stockyard in Uttar Pradesh. The firm has contracted for 27 EVs, each with a carrying capacity 35 tons of steel. The company plans to deploy 15 EVs at its Jamshedpur plant and 12 EVs at its Sahibabad plant.

ANDRITZ, a global supplier of plants, equipment, and services for hydropower stations, and German firm MAN Energy Solutions have decided to develop international projects to produce green hydrogen from hydropower. The companies aim to launch an initial joint pilot project before the end of this year to provide about 650 tons of green hydrogen by using an electrolysis output of up to 4 MW, initially for local use. In follow-up projects designed to export green hydrogen, the installed electrolysis output is expected to increase to 100 MW in the coming years. The companies aim to explore further projects and implement them in the context of the German government’s H2 Global initiative, a market-based funding platform aimed at efficiently promoting the market launch of green hydrogen and Power-to-X products.

Southern California Gas Company has partnered with Sierra Northern Railway, Gas Technology Institute (GTI), and other technical experts to develop and test a zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell engine for a switcher locomotive. Sierra Northern Railway intends to retire high-emission Tier 0 diesel locomotive engines and replace them with new zero-emission shunters that will integrate a hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen storage tank with advanced battery and systems control technologies. California Energy Commission had awarded $4 million to Sierra Northern Railway and GTI to design and develop the train as a clean alternative to diesel locomotives. SoCalGas has pledged another $500,000 to fund the research. When completed, the new zero-emissions switcher locomotive will displace up to 10,000 gallons of diesel fuel per year with hydrogen fuel, reducing more than 100 metric tons of carbon dioxide emission.

A Finland-based waste management company Riverrecycle has tied up with London-based Clean Planet Energy to remove non-recyclable plastics from rivers and the environment in Southeast Asia and re-purposing them into clean fuels. The companies are aiming to launch an initial joint pilot project in Indonesia and the Philippines. Riverrecycle has been awarded funding from the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. Foundation to remove plastics from river Pasig in Manila, Philippines. Already underway, the task aims to convert plastic waste into clean fuels in partnership with Clean Planet Energy, reducing CO₂ emissions by 75% compared to fossil fuels.