Markets & Policy

Mercedes-Benz has teamed up with ProLogium to integrate solid-state battery technology into a range of passenger vehicles; Panasonic and Toyota have launched an industrial-academic collaborative research program concerned with battery resources and recycling; and LG Energy Solution plans to spend $2.1 billion with General Motors to build another electric vehicle battery plant in the U.S.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T), an Indian multinational EPC contractor, has partnered with Norway’s HydrogenPro to set up a joint venture in India for gigawatt-scale manufacturing of alkaline water electrolyzers. 

India could employ one million new workers through the deployment of 339 GW of wind and grid-connected solar systems (utility-scale solar and rooftop solar) between FY2021-22 and FY2029-30 if the nation were to meet its 500 GW non-fossil capacity target. The bulk of the new jobs would be created by small projects like roof-top solar and mini and microgrids.

Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) predict that growth to 60TW of photovoltaics needed to rapidly reduce emissions to ‘net zero’ and limit global warming to <2 °C could require up to 486 Mt of aluminium by 2050. A key concern for this large aluminium demand is its large global warming potential.

The hype surrounding green hydrogen is real, but does the cost-reduction outlook for its production technologies live up to it? Christian Roselund looks at the technology, transportation, application and enabling policies behind the promising green energy carrier.

Exide Leclanche Energy Private Limited, the joint venture with Swiss energy storage specialist Leclanché, has a lithium battery pack and module assembly factory in Gujarat.

Harwell Campus will provide a testbed for energy storage technologies coming from three U.K.-based innovative businesses, bringing their solutions one step closer to the market.

A vibrant industry across the Middle East – including manufacturers, wholesalers, and a large number of EPCs and installers – supplies decarbonized electricity to meet growing air-conditioning demand, tapping the region’s abundant sunshine. However, progress toward this vision of a distributed-generation solar market segment and industry in the Gulf region has been slow, according to the president of the Middle East Solar Industry Association (MESIA), Ahmed Nada.

With solar water pumps, farmers have access to high-quality power available for irrigation. These systems are portable and can be assembled at any preferred location. With the growing utilization of these systems, the costs have decreased substantially, making them an efficient, convenient, and cost-effective solution for grid-isolated rural areas. 

The captive solar plant, being developed by Cleantech Solar arm CSE Deccan Solar, will supply 40 million units of electricity per annum to the tyre manufacturer’s Chennai facility.