Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has opened a formal investigation into the exact failure mode behind the destruction at the Yamakura Dam floating PV installation. In the end, the ministry seeks to draw up a plan to revamp not just the dam, but also the arrays that are still intact. This is a learning exercise that should be closely followed, as floating PV is enjoying growing popularity.

The Swiss-headquartered technology corporation is restructuring, stirring up the figures. That effect was amplified by acquisitions and sell-offs last year with ABB announcing in July it would hand over its inverter business to Italian company Fimer.

The luxury car maker is betting on the timely development of market-ready solid-state batteries. Mercedes will work with the Canadian research institute to quickly integrate new technology into field applications to cut development cycle times.

The project will operate at a profit in part thanks to an emissions scheme introduced by the province of Alberta on January 1. The plant will be able to sell its carbon certificates.

Electronics corporations Panasonic, Kyocera and LG have filed results for the nine months to December 31. All three reported uplifts because of their solar activity and LG has said it will dive deeper into energy storage. Panasonic is deepening its commitment to automotive batteries through a new joint venture with Toyota.

Germany’s Fraunhofer IEE uses weather data relevant for transmission line limits. Two new algorithms have been developed to identify local hotspots and better benefit from over-network use.

Several large utility-scale storage projects have already been developed under Ireland’s DS3 program. Innogy says that it now plans to look for more storage project possibilities in the country.

A Dutch company has modified an electric delivery van to feature a solar roof for the supply of cooling and freezing equipment in its load area.

Under the umbrella of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 initiative, the research platform ERA has initiated a new batch of future energy projects. Looking at the list of winning projects, it is easy to tell that hydrogen, virtual power plant, and blockchain projects are really at the center of what Europe thinks will be important for its net-zero carbon plans by 2050.

A report from Dutch grid operator TenneT and gas business Gasunie suggests the companies should jointly develop infrastructure after 2030. With hydrogen and synthetic methane in demand, electricity and gas will become increasingly inter-linked. Only seamless integration of the two networks would enable the EU to achieve its net-zero-carbon 2050 plan.