3. Volkswagen Shakeup: Volkswagen Group has named Giovanni Palazzo as its new head of charging and energy. He also leads the Elli brand as CEO and head of sales. Palazzo will focus on "expanding the fast-charging network and further advancing the development of Volkswagen’s own smart energy platform." Among the other areas to note: Keep an eye on VW's Elli and Electrify America efforts. Electrify America is Volkswagen's charging network. Volkswagen’s goal is to work with partners to build more than 43,000 fast-charging points in Europe, China and North America by 2025. Eli is a mobility service provider.
Egil Fagerland, CEO, Aker Carbon Capture
4. Leadership - Carbon Capture Technology: Aker Carbon Capture of Oslo, Norway, has promoted CFO Egil Fagerland to succeed Valborg Lundegaard as CEO. Lundegaard is stepping down to focus on her health and family. Petter Natås will serve as interim CFO until a successor is found. Key Aker Carbon Capture partners include Microsoft.
5. Battery Energy Storage - Integrator :Ameresco, a cleantech integrator, has won a contract to deploy battery energy storage solutions for United Power. The deal involves four 11.75 MW and four 7.84 MW battery arrays across eight different substation sites owned by United Power, encompassing Adams, Broomfield, and Weld counties in Colorado. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
6. Electric Vehicles - Business Challenges: Nio of Shanghai, China, once more finds itself trapped in a cycle of dismal sales, low profitability and aggressive competition, Bloomberg reports.
TurnOnGreen offers EV charging solutions to homes, businesses, and fleets across North America. The solution spans electric vehicle charging hardware, management software, and network services. The platform allows municipalities, businesses, and homeowners to monetize, track and report EV charger usage.
NAVS loans EVs to members of the press, journalists, influencers and media organization.
Page One provides fleet management, event services, and logistics solutions for the automotive industry.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments and Funding
1. M&A - Energy as a Service: Global smart energy company GridBeyond has acquired Veritone Inc Energy Business, a provider of AI software and services in North America. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
3. ESG Investment Pushback: The backlash against investing strategies that factor in environmental, social and governance issues is rising in the US and is impacting the way managers are thinking about integrating such considerations into their funds, Bloomberg reported, based on a survey by HSBC Holdings Plc. Â
C. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies and News
1. Global Climate Financing:Â Finance leaders, companies and philanthropists have committed more than $2 billion to help finance efforts to reduce carbon emissions and boost climate resilience across Africa, Asia and Latin America, a joint UK-U.S. statement said, according to Reuters.
2. US Policy Concerns:Stellantis and Toyota Motor blasted a Biden administration plan to squelch auto pollution, saying it would compel aggressive and unrealistic sales of electric vehicles that strain critical mineral supplies, Bloomberg reported.
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