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

Vestas announced that it had dispatched one of India’s largest 3.6 MW Nacelle from its factory in Chennai for Vibrant Energy’s 54 MW wind project in Maharashtra. Vibrant Energy signed the contract for this project with Vestas in the first quarter of 2022. With this dispatch, Vestas would move closer to completing the installation of its first 3.6 MW turbine in India by the end of November 2022. The project comprises 15 V155-3.6MW turbines and is expected to be commissioned in the first quarter of 2023. The project totaling 54 MW, is expected to produce 178 GWh of power annually for the next 20 years.

Epsilon Advanced Materials signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Karnataka to invest around ₹90 billion (~$1.1 billion) to establish battery manufacturing plants in the state over ten years. The project will focus on manufacturing graphite anode material for the Li-ion batteries in line with the ‘Make in Karnataka’ vision, enabling the company to cater to 10 million EVs. The facility would employ 75% of local people to support economic development in the region.

LONGi introduced the Hi-MO 6, its first module designed exclusively for the global distributed consumer market. Using LONGi’s high-efficiency Hybrid Passivated Back Contact (HPBC) cell technology, Hi-MO 6 achieved a maximum efficiency of 22.8% in mass production.  HPBC is a new high-efficiency solar cell technology unique in its front-side busbar-free design. It can considerably improve the cell’s light absorption and photoelectric conversion capabilities by adjusting its internal structure, thus effectively increasing the module’s output power.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation awarded Electric Vehicle (EV) charging solutions manufacturer Servotech Power Systems an order to supply and install 800 DC fast EV chargers at different locations across the country in the next four months. The project execution, which involves supplying a series of EV chargers, has already been initiated from Delhi and is worth ₹462 million (~$5.61 million). It is expected to be completed by the end of March next year. The project will span across the country, equipping petrol pumps in major Indian cities with EV charging capabilities on its course.

The Ministry of Power has proposed a draft amendment in Electricity Rules 2022 related to captive generation projects, stating that consumption by a subsidiary of a captive power user company can also be termed as captive consumption. The rules offer to add a proviso to explain the term captive user under Explanation (1) (b) of Rule 3. The detailed provision states, “Provided that the consumption by a subsidiary company as defined in clause 87 of Section 2 of the Companies Act, 2013, of a company which is an existing captive user shall also be admissible as captive consumption by the captive user.” The ministry has invited comments from stakeholders on the amendment, which will be open till December 1, 2022.

Institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Global Transportation Group have invested in 50five Group, a full-service charging infrastructure provider for EVs in Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, and the United Kingdom. 50five sought a partner to continue its growth in 50five’s home markets and to accelerate geographical expansion; its current growth rate is 160% year-on-year. 50five Group was founded in 2016 with its sole shareholder ENGIE SA to manage the e-mobility for their customers from A to Z, including charging infrastructure installation, maintenance & repair, charge point operator solutions, e-mobility services, financing, and energy management.