Strategic Alliances

A printed circuit board-based hydrogen fuel cell for use in autonomous boats and ships has been engineered by a British consortium, and Italian energy companies Snam and Edison want to set up a 220 MW green hydrogen production plant powered by 380 MW of solar in Apulia.

Slovakian business InoBat will use the patented silicon battery material manufactured by U.S. company Group14 Tech to offer bespoke products for the world’s biggest carmakers.

South Korea-based solar module manufacturer Hanwha Q Cells has agreed to acquire French renewable energy developer RES Méditerranée (RES France) from U.K.-based company RES for €730 million.

Plus there is news this week of a green hydrogen tie-up in India, plans for another German production facility, and of new hydrogen transport networks for Switzerland and the U.S.

The PAYG solar start-up, which is a darling of impact investors, has formed a joint venture with French cotton farming giant Geocoton to establish a foothold in Burkina Faso and says it is aiming to offer its solar home systems to 2 million customers.

An announcement by GCL-Poly to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday about the company’s hydrogen plans made no mention of any intent to deploy carbon capture tech to mitigate the emissions of what would otherwise be considered a ‘grey’, fossil fuel version of the energy storage medium.

With Australia prepping plans for vast green hydrogen and ammonia production facilities, two of the country’s state governments are trying to drum up the end-user market as agreements are signed to drive use of the gas in Ukraine and Poland.

Last week’s announcement Oxford PV wants to wind up its “exclusive cooperation” with Meyer Burger after the fit out of its 100 MW German factory points to a potential divergence in strategies. And with Meyer Burger considering legal action in response, it could result in a messy, disruptive separation.

Meyer Burger claims machines to produce perovskite tandem solar cells are still missing at Oxford PV’s manufacturing plant in Germany’s Brandenburg an der Havel. Despite this, Oxford PV terminated the cooperation with the turnkey machine supplier in a surprise move last week. The Swiss technology group, which now produces its own heterojunction solar cells and modules in Germany, is now considering legal action.

Independent asset manager Azora is selling the renewable energy portfolio, which includes five large solar PV parks totaling 1 GW in advanced stages of development, located in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Galicia, and La Rioja, to Eni.