The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued an agency-wise bidding calendar for 50 GW of renewable energy projects for the current financial year (FY 2023-24). The calendar entails a schedule of 30 GW of renewable capacity for the first two quarters and 20 GW in the last two quarters.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority has invited bids to install rooftop solar power projects of 7.1 MW at the stations and sites of the Mumbai metro rail project. The scope of work includes site survey, investigation, design, engineering, supply, installation, testing, and commissioning of rooftop solar systems. The successful bidder must provide comprehensive operations and maintenance services for 25 years. The last date to submit the bids is May 24, 2023. Bids will be opened the next day.

Hyundai Motor Group said it will form a 50:50 joint venture with EV battery maker SK On to invest $5 billion in an electric vehicle (EV) battery cell production facility in the United States. The manufacturing facility is expected to produce 35 GWh of EV battery cells annually by 2025, sufficient to support the production of 300,000 all-electric vehicles. The two companies will also avail of the EV tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act, which requires the final assembly of EVs within North America.

The net-zero industry will need exponential growth from carbon capture, hydrogen, and clean power technologies, a recent report by BloombergNEF said. The report singled out carbon capture technologies to play a crucial role in the decarbonizing industry. However, it noted that transitioning to the net-zero industry would require significant investments in new technologies and infrastructure. The report added that carbon capture would play a major role in decarbonizing the cement industry, which is responsible for significant emissions due to the chemical process of converting limestone to lime.

Researchers at the Tarbiat Modares University in Iran have found that concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) helps in shading management while equally distributing the solar spectrum to balance energy and water levels in crops. CPV is a clean technology that offers enhanced spectral processing capabilities and comes with highly concentrated power-generating efficiency, making the technology a suitable solution for integrating photosynthesis. The work published in the journal Applied Energy highlights that the balanced distribution of sunlight using CPV allows photovoltaic systems to generate sufficient amounts of electricity without affecting agricultural production.

The International Energy Agency said in a report that limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels requires a rapid and profound transformation of the global energy system and significant mitigation actions in other sectors, such as land use and industry. The report identifies four key pillars that are vital to delivering a credible pathway to 1.5 °C. The first pillar highlighted the need for the energy sector, which accounts for about three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions, to reduce its emissions by 40% by 2030 compared to 2020, requiring a significant shift from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources and electrification.