Here is today’s sustainability news, research and analysis for technology partners; renewable energy and green IT service providers; management consultants; CIOs; chief sustainability officers (CSOs) and c-suite members.
A. Sustainable Technology, Talent, Partnerships and Green IT Alliances
1. Accelerator - Call for Applications: Venture For ClimateTech as opened applications for companies or entrepreneurs to be considered for its fourth cohort. ClimateTech startups can apply to join the accelerator here. Venture For ClimateTech provides cohort teams with up to $50,000 in non-dilutive funding, along with one-on-one mentoring, access to investors, and educational programming to prepare early-stage companies for first customers, pilot runs, and investment.
2. Research - Decarbonization Technology: Annul spending on decarbonization technology is expected to reach $4.09 trillion in 2032, up from $1.45 trillion in 2022, according to ABI Research. That's a compound annual growth rate of 10.93%. Spending as of 2022 involves:
- Electrification technologies, including renewable energy and industrial electric machinery (71.5%);
- energy efficiency technologies, such as energy storage and management systems (23.6%);
- low-carbon fuels (4.6%); and
- carbon capture, utilization, and storage (0.3%).
3. Microsoft - Generative AI for Telecom Services?: Microsoft is pitching generative AI business benefits to the telecom industry, but the software provider failed to mention potential sustainability benefits in a lengthy generative AI for telecom article.
4. CES 2024 - Net Zero Technologies: SK Group, an energy-to-telecom conglomerate based in South Korea, will showcase various net-zero technologies CES 2024. An SK Group pavilion will feature electric vehicle batteries, urban air mobility solutions, small modular reactors and more, according to The Korea Times.
5. CES 2024- EV Motorcycle Launch: Horwin America at CES 2024 is preparing the U.S. launch of its SENMENTI series of EV motorcycles.
6. Electric Vehicle (EV) Dealer Network: Fisker is developing a Dealer Partnership model in North America. And in Europe, the EV maker will pursue a hybrid sales model -- blending direct sales with dealer engagements. The strategy calls for roughly 50 dealer partners in the US and Canada, and a similar number of dealer locations in Europe this year, FIsker said. The EV company has been in discussions with numerous potential dealers since late November 2023, the announcement said.
7. Partnership - Solar Power Retail Sales: Zendure and solarlab.es have partnered to sell solar solutions via Leroy Merlin stores in Europe.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Global Financing - Green Debt: For the second year in a row, global banks made more money underwriting bonds and providing loans for green projects than they earned from financing oil, gas and coal activities, Bloomberg reported.
2. Funding - Data Centers: Brazilian data center provider Elea Digital has raised more $115.8 million in sustainability-linked debt, Data Center Dynamics reported.
3. Investment - Renewable Energy: HASI has invested in a 605 MW renewable energy portfolio owned and operated by AES. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.
4. M&A - Renewable Energy: Ormat Technologies has completed the acquisition of geothermal and solar assets from Enel Green Power North America (EGPNA), a subsidiary of Enel SpA. Ormat paid $271 million for the assets -- which are located in Nevada, Utah, Connecticut and California. The original announcement was deal number 145 in our 2023 M&A list.
5. M&A - Energy Management Software: Danfoss has acquired ENFOR’s district energy software. The acquired assets align with the Danfoss Leanheat suite of sustainable heating and cooling solutions -- which allow customers to optimize energy consumption and improve operational efficiency of district energy and buildings. Danfoss had been a minority shareholder in ENFOR since 2020. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
6. M&A List: Here's our database of all M&A deals involving sustainability, green IT and renewable energy buyers, sellers and investors.
C. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies and News
1. United States - Green Financial Scrutiny: Congressional Republicans are putting President Joe Biden’s $400 billion green bank in their crosshairs, seeking a repeat of the political victory they scored in 2011 with the scandal over collapsed solar company Solyndra, Bloomberg reported.
2. United States - Virginia Green Data Center Tax Breaks?: Pending legislation in Virginia calls for data center operators to meet certain energy efficiency standards in order to receive certain tax exemptions.
3. United States - LG Electronics and West Virginia: LG Electronics is partnering with the state of West Virginia to develop technologies in renewable energy, telehealth and other industries in a planned $700 million investment over the next five years, the Associated Press reported.
4. United States - New York Wind Contract Cancelled: Equinor and BP together terminated an offshore wind contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The cancellation "reflects changed economic circumstances on an industry-wide scale," Equinor and BP said. Although wind power adoption continues to grow, rising interest rates in 2023 plus supply chain challenges derailed some capital-intensive projects.
5. United States - New England Wind Power: Wind Power Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) announced that power from the Vineyard Wind project was delivered to the New England grid for the first time.
6. United States - New York Request for Proposals: The New York Power Authority issued a request for information on the development of renewables and battery storage necessary to help meet the state’s climate goals, Utility Dive reported.
7. Australia - Carbon Credits: The price of Australian Carbon Credit Units climbed to a six-month high as corporate emitters planned their 2024 carbon budgets, a trend likely to further lift prices early in 2024, Bloomberg reported.
8. India - IT Consulting: Deloitte is launching its Asia Pacific CoE (Centre of Excellence) for Sustainability & Climate in India, Business Today reported.
9. India - Solar Energy Partnership: First Solar has entered into a 15-year captive Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Cleantech Solar, a provider of renewable energy solutions to corporations in India and Southeast Asia. Under the agreement, Cleantech Solar will construct 150 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic (PV) solar and 16.8 MW of wind-generating assets in Tamil Nadu, India, supplying approximately 7.3 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of clean electricity to First Solar’s new 3.3-gigawatt (GW) vertically integrated solar manufacturing facility, also located in Tamil Nadu, the companies said.
10. India - Renewable Energy Investment: TotalEnergies has invested $300 million in the India renewables market with a new Adani Green Energy joint venture, ESG Today reported. The investment strategy was originally announced in September 2023, the report said.
11. China - Net-Zero Data Center Deadline: Chinese data center provider GDS has promised to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, Data Center Dynamics reported.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Goldman Sachs Energy, CleanTech and Utilities Conference 2024 (January 4-5, Miami Beach, Florida)
- Sustainability Forum Middle East (SFME) 2024 (January 8-9, Bahrain)
- CES 2024 (Las Vegas, Nevada)
- European Chief Sustainability Awards (January 15, Davos)
- Intersolar North America and Energy Storage North America 2024 (January 17-19, San Diego, California)
- Complete Calendar of Sustainability Conferences
E. Previous Updates & Future News
1. Did You Miss Yesterday's Daily Update?: Here is our previous sustainability, green IT and renewable energy news for technology partners.
2. Future Updates: If you have news to share then please email me the details.
