Goldman Sachs

A unit of Japan’s Itochu will sell power from 700 solar facilities to a subsidiary of telecoms giant NTT under a 30-year power purchase agreement. Goldman Sachs is supporting the deal with a first-of-its-kind green bond.

A couple of weeks ago, Goldman Sachs sent shockwaves through battery metals markets, issuing a prediction that cobalt and lithium in particular were due for a sharp price decline in the next two years. But London-based Benchmark Mineral Intelligence is loudly pushing back, outlining its reasons why it believes the call on lithium was wrong. Meanwhile, US analyst Wood Mackenzie says that the battery raw material chain will remain tight, but notes that recycling could help to ease the supply deficit.

CS Energy and a unit of Goldman Sachs have said that their eight-project portfolio will be one of the first utility-scale solar portfolios in upstate New York, once the projects reach commercial operation in late 2021.

The European battery manufacturer has raised the funds with a private shares placement which included the co-founder and CEO of music streaming service Spotify.

Developers from France and Germany and investors with access to cheap U.S. and U.K. finance were among the winners in a 2 GW procurement round which saw Spanish company Solarpack lodge a record-low price for Indian solar power of $0.031/kWh.

Industry body SolarPower Europe is trying to stay bullish about the lingering effects as the continent starts to come out of lockdown and one analyst has predicted a healthy large scale solar market will carry the US through the crisis.

The Indian developer will hold a 51% stake in the venture, with Seoul-based GS E&C taking the remainder. The capacity was awarded under Solar Energy Corp. of India’s tranche-IV auction earlier this year.

The U.S. project developer and Chinese manufacturing giant have both moved to extend borrowing for Japanese operations as Sumitomo Mitsui has given another lift to its domestic PV market.