India X Cleantech — September 2021

Published

4 years ago

September 17, 2021

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Originally published on Future Trends.

Welcome to another issue of our new India x Cleantech series! On a monthly basis, we are pulling news from across clean technology sectors in India into a single, concise summary article about the country.

Cleantech Investments

Reliance Invests In US Energy Storage Company

A newly-formed subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, one of India’s leading industrial conglomerates, has invested in a US-based energy storage company. Reliance New Energy Solar, along with Paulson & Co., Bill Gates, and other investors, invested $144 million in Massachusetts-based Ambri Inc. Reliance New Energy Solar invested $50 million in the transaction.

ReNew Power To Invest $384 Million To Acquire Solar, Hydro Power Assets

One of India’s leading renewable energy companies, ReNew Power, has announced plans to acquire solar and hydro power projects in the country. The company will spend Rs 28.5 billion ($384 million) to acquire 260 megawatts of solar power capacity and 99 megawatts of hydro power projects.

Canadian Pension Fund Invests $219 Million In Azure Power

International Finance Corporation and its infrastructure fund sold a 19.4% stake in NYSE-listed Azure Power. The stake has been acquired by Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS). CDPQ remains the majority shareholder in Azure Power. The company has 2 gigawatts of operational solar power capacity and another 5 gigawatts capacity under construction.

Electric Mobility

Tata Motors Launches Tigor EV

Tata Motors unveiled its second electric passenger vehicle, the Tigor. The new car has a 26 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack which can be charged in less than an hour. The car is expected to have a range of around 300 kilometers (186 miles) per charge.

Tata Motors Looking To Raise $1 Billion For Its Electric Mobility Business

Tata Motors is reported to be in talks with leading global PE investors to raise $1 billion for its electric mobility business. According to media reports, the company has approached Blackstone Group, TPG Capital and KKR & Co. for investment in the EV business. The company plans to launch 10 electric vehicle models by 2025. It currently offers two.

Odisha Announces Incentives For Electric Vehicles

The government of Odisha recently announced its electric vehicles policy to attract manufacturers as well as buyers. The state has exempted electric vehicles from road tax and registration fees. Buyers will also be eligible for subsidies of up to $1,360 for buying electric cars. Battery manufacturing units can get up to $136,000 in capital investment support from the government.

More Than Half A Million EVs Registered In India In Last Three Years

The Ministry of Heavy Industries reported that more than 500,000 electric vehicles have been registered in the country since 2018. These vehicles have benefited from government’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME India). The second phase of the FAME scheme, launched in April 2019, will offer Rs 100 billion ($1.4 billion) in subsidies to EV buyers. The government expects to facilitate the purchase of more than 1.5 million electric vehicles under this scheme.

Renewable Energy & Batteries

India Achieves 100 Gigawatts Of Renewable Energy Capacity

On the 12th of August, India’s minister for power and renewable energy, RK Singh, announced on Twitter that the country had achieved the milestone of 100 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity. Solar energy is the largest technology by installed capacity, accounting for 44%, followed by wind energy at 39.5%. Bioenergy accounts for 10% of the installed capacity, while small hydro power projects (less than 25 MW capacity) account for 5%. The rest of the capacity is contributed by waste-to-power capacity. If large hydro power projects are also accounted for, the renewable energy capacity increases to 146 gigawatts.

ReNew Power Signs 400 Megawatt Deal To Supply Round-The-Clock Renewable Energy

The Solar Energy Corporation of India signed a power purchase agreement with ReNew Power for 400 megawatts of solar-wind hybrid power. The company will set up 900 megawatts of wind and 400 megawatts of solar power to meet its obligation to provide round-the-clock power. An undisclosed capacity of battery storage would also be installed.

NTPC Commissions 25 Megawatt Floating Solar Power Project

India’s largest power generation company, NTPC Limited, announced that it commissioned a 25 megawatt floating solar power project in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The project is located at the reservoir of NTPC’s Simhadri thermal power plant. This is the largest floating solar power project in India. NTPC is also working on another floating solar power project with 100 megawatts of capacity.

Engie Commissions 200 Megawatt Solar Power Project

A subsidiary of French utility Engie has commissioned a 200-megawatt solar power project in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The project is part of the Raghanesda solar power park and the company’s second-largest solar project in the country. The company expects annual generation from the plant to be around 550 million kilowatt-hours, resulting in the reduction of around 400,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. Engie’s India solar capacity now stands at 1.1 gigawatts. The company also has 280 megawatts of wind power capacity operational.

Acme Solar Plans 3.5 Gigawatt Green Hydrogen Project In Oman

Solar IPP Acme Solar Holdings has announced intentions to set up a solar-wind hybrid project in Oman to produce green hydrogen. The company plans to set up 3 gigawatts of solar power and 500 megawatts of wind energy to produce 900,000 tonnes of green ammonia every year. Construction of the project will entail an investment of $3.5 billion and would be ready over the next three years.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners Invests $100 Million In Amp Energy

Amp Energy will receive equity investment of more than $200 million with at least half of it coming from Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. The investment would be used for the company to develop 1.7 gigawatts of solar and solar-wind hybrid capacity.

Tata Power Commissions 324 Megawatt Tracker-Based Project In Gujarat

Tata Power has commissioned a 324 megawatt solar power project in the western state of Gujarat. The project uses single-axis trackers supplied by New York-based GameChange Solar. The project is the largest to use single-axis trackers in India.

Tata Power Wins $52 Million Solar Battery Storage Project

Tata Power Solar Power Systems announced that it secured rights to develop a 50 megawatt solar power project with a 50 megawatt-hour battery storage system. The project will be located in Ladakh and is expected to be commissioned by March 2023. This would be India’s first co-located large-scale battery storage project.

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Environment

The UK wants to unlock a ‘golden age of nuclear’ but faces key challenges in reviving historic lead

Published

12 hours ago

December 6, 2025

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The UK wants to unlock a 'golden age of nuclear' but faces key challenges in reviving historic lead

The Sizewell A and B nuclear power stations, operated by Electricite de France SA (EDF), in Sizewell, UK, on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The U.K. was the birthplace of commercial nuclear energy, but now generates just a fraction of its power from it — big investments are underway to change that.

The country once had more nuclear power stations than the U.S., USSR and France — combined. It was a global producer until 1970 but hasn’t completed a new reactor since Sizewell B in 1995.

Today, the country takes the crown not for being a leader in atomic energy, but for being the most expensive place in the world to build nuclear projects.

Nuclear energy accounted for just 14% of the U.K.’s power supply in 2023, according to the most recent data from the International Energy Agency, trailing its European peers and well behind frontrunner France at 65%.

There is ambition to change that and have a quarter of the U.K.’s power come from nuclear by 2050. Nuclear is considered an attractive bet gas it’s a low-carbon, constant energy source that can act as a baseload to complement intermittent sources like renewables.

“There’s a very clear momentum that has been observed,” Doreen Abeysundra, founder of consultancy Fresco Cleantech, told CNBC. It’s in part due to geopolitical tensions, which pushed energy security and independence onto public agendas.

However, the U.K.’s Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce called for urgent reforms after identifying “systemic failures” in the country’s nuclear framework. It found that fragmented regulation, flawed legislation and weak incentives led the U.K. to fall behind as a nuclear powerhouse. The government committed to implementing the taskforce’s guidance and is expected to present a plan to do so within three months.

Going big – or small

The U.K. is spreading its bets across tried-and-tested large nuclear projects and smaller, next-generation reactors known as small module reactors (SMRs).

British company Rolls-Royce has been selected as the country’s preferred partner for SMRs, which are effectively containerized nuclear reactors designed to be manufactured in a factory. Many include passive cooling techniques, which supporters argue makes them safer and cheaper.

Nuclear has long come under fire by environmentalists due to radioactive waste and disasters like Chernobyl. Indeed, the U.K.’s first commercial plant Windscale became its worst nuclear accident in history when it melted down in 1957.

On October 10, 1957, Windscale became the site of the worst nuclear accident in British history, and the worst in the world until Three Mile Island 22 years later. A facility had been built there to produce plutonium, but when the US successfully designed a nuclear bomb that used tritium, the facility was used to produce it for the UK. However, this required running the reactor at a higher temperature than its design could sustain, and it eventually caught fire. Operators at first worried that e

Photo: George Freston | Hulton Archive | Getty Images

Most SMRs use light water reactor technology – think of the planned large-scale nuclear plant Sizewell C, just “shrunk down,” said Abeysundra – which is tried and tested.

Other designs, known as “advanced” reactors, are more experimental. For example, those that change the cooling solution or solvent, which is typically used in the process of separating and purifying nuclear materials.

The U.K.’s first SMR will be at Wylfa, in Wales, though no timeline has been given for its completion. The site will house three SMRs and grow over time.

In September, the country signed a deal with the U.S. to enable stronger commercial ties on nuclear power and streamline licensing for firms that want to build on the opposite side of the Atlantic.

However, “the first thing is, there is not, at the moment, a single SMR actively producing electricity under four revenues. They will all come at best in the 30s,” Ludovico Cappelli, portfolio manager of Listed Infrastructure at Van Lanschot Kempen, told CNBC.

While SMRs are a “game changer” thanks to their ability to power individual factories or small towns, their days of commercial operation are too far away, he said. From an investment standpoint, “that is still a bit scary,” he added.

To secure the large baseloads needed to offset the intermittency of renewables, “we’re still looking at big power stations,” added Paul Jackson, Invesco’s EMEA global market strategist.

Nuclear share of total electricity (2023)

IEA

SMRs “probably” do have a role — “they can clearly be more nimble” — but it will take time to roll them out, Jackson said, casting doubt on the U.K.’s ability to be a leader in nuclear, as France and China are already miles ahead.

The U.K. government body Great British Energy-Nuclear is set to identify sites for an additional large-scale plant, having already acquired one in Gloucestershire, in the west of England, as well as the site in Wales.

“We are reversing a legacy of no new nuclear power being delivered to unlock a golden age of nuclear, securing thousands of good, skilled jobs and billions in investment,” a spokesperson for the U.K. government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero told CNBC.

“Sizewell C will deliver clean electricity for the equivalent of six million of today’s households for at least six decades, and the UK’s first small modular reactors at Wylfa will power the equivalent of three million homes, bringing energy security,” they added.

Innovation in funding

The U.K. has a strong legacy to build on. It pioneered fresh funding mechanisms to make large-scale nuclear projects investible so that they are less reliant on direct government funding, such as a Contract for Differences, which was used for Hinkley Point C.

The mechanism guarantees a fixed price for the electricity generated over a long period of time in order to de-risk investments in an industry that’s known for running over time and budget. Hinkley Point C was initially expected to cost £18 billion (over $24 billion) but the bill has slowly crept up.

“That fixes one part of the equation, the price risk,” Cappelli said of nuclear investments, but the second risk is construction delays.

The Regulated Asset Base (RAB), first used for nuclear at Sizewell C, attempts to reconcile this. Investors get paid from the day they cut a check for a nuclear project, rather than the day it starts operating. Sizewell C is expected to cost £38 billion to build.

Private market investors are increasingly interested in next-generation nuclear as a way to offset soaring energy demands from AI, resulting in a host of young companies trying to build out facilities. Perhaps the most famous is Oklo, a U.S. firm that was taken public by a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman.

Rendering of a proposed Oklo commercial advanced fission power plant in the U.S.

Courtesy: Oklo Inc.

The U.K.’s advanced modular reactor hopeful Newcleo, which uses lead for cooling, moved its headquarters from London to Paris in 2024 — a strategic move to deepen its European footprint. At the time, it told World Nuclear News that it still plans to have a commercial reactor up and running in the U.K. by 2033, but the firm has since scaled back its British efforts.

Meanwhile, Tokamak Energy and First Light Fusion call the U.K. home. They both focus on nuclear fusion, the process of generating power by combining atoms, though this technology is yet to get out of the lab. All of today’s nuclear power comes from fission, where atoms are spit. The U.K. announced £2.5 billion for a world-first fusion prototype in June.

The next generation of engineers

The U.K. faces challenges in access to relevant talent, which is crucial for scaling projects effectively. The country is heralded for its world-class universities and technical know-how, “but that is very much book knowledge,” said Van Lanschot Kempen’s Cappelli.

“What we need is real on-the-ground expertise, and that we are probably lacking for the simple reason that we haven’t been doing it for a very long time,” he said.

For Abeysundra, there’s one area where the U.K. stands out: its mindset. “There is so much knowledge, innovation, and that can-do attitude, which I don’t see as much in other nations,” she said, pointing to the U.K.’s trailblazing role in the Industrial Revolution and establishment of offshore wind energy.

X-Energy’s Kam Ghaffarian on Nuclear Power, AI, and the Space Tech Race

The U.K. government positioned nuclear energy as a key element of the future clean energy workforce in its Clean Energy Jobs Plan released in October, while its national roadmap for nuclear skills, set out in 2024, focuses on apprenticeships, PhDs and upskilling mid-career workers. Industry-led initiatives such as the Energy Skills Passport also support the likes of oil and gas workers to gain green skills.

Securing the supply chain

Perhaps the toughest issue, however, is the supply chain.

Uranium, the fuel used to make a nuclear reaction, is dominated by just four countries, including Russia. Global demand for uranium could rise by nearly a third by 2030 and more than double by 2040, according to the World Nuclear Association, adding further reliance on a select few countries and pressure on developers.

The U.K. government has allocated funding to build up the supply chain and has committed to preventing the import of nuclear fuel from Russia by 2028. Fuel for Sizewell C will come from European or “Western suppliers,” Cappelli noted.

However, for him, it poses the question: How secure is nuclear energy really? “We have to build nuclear power plants, but we need to build the value chain,” Cappelli added.

Workers, expertise and funding are required for nuclear energy, but the supply chain is also key, he said. Otherwise, there will be “the same issues that we had with gas,” a nod to the U.K.’s reliance on just one supplier. Instead of gas, it will be with uranium.

Environment

Tesla announces 2025 holiday update with a few cool features

Published

20 hours ago

December 6, 2025

admin

Tesla announces 2025 holiday update with a few cool features

Tesla has officially announced its 2025 Holiday Update, and this year, the automaker is not using the usually bigger update for any groundbreaking stuff, but there are a few interesting new smaller features.

You will find the release notes in this article.

It’s that time of year again. Every December, Tesla bundles a bunch of features it has been working on into a “Holiday Update” to give owners something to play with over the break.

While previous years have focused on adding major apps like Apple Podcasts or Steam integration, the holiday updates have become gradually weaker over the last few years, and they now concentrate mainly on playful features with smaller tweaks and add-ons.

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Tesla announced the rollout in a post on X today:

Environment

Kia is still offering over $10,000 off its entire EV lineup

Published

23 hours ago

December 5, 2025

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Kia is still offering over ,000 off its entire EV lineup

Kia is extending one of its biggest promotions yet, knocking over $10,000 off every EV in its lineup.

Kia knocks $10,000 off EV models

Who said electric vehicles would get more expensive after the $7,500 federal tax credit ended? Kia must not have gotten the memo.

Last month, Kia launched a new promotion, offering a $10,000 customer cash discount for all EVs, including the EV6, EV9, and Niro EV. The discount knocks nearly 25% off MSRP on Kia’s cheapest model, the Niro EV. On the entry-level EV6, it’s 23% off MSRP, while $10,000 off the EV9 is about an 18% discount.

The discounts ended on December 1, but Kia has extended them for at least another month. During its Season of New Tradition sales event, Kia is now offering even more savings.

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The 2025 Kia EV6 and Niro EV are now eligible for up to $11,000 in customer cash, including a $10,000 cash back offer and a $1,000 retail bonus cash discount.

If you’re looking for something a little bigger, the 2026 EV9, Kia’s three-row electric SUV, is available with up to $10,500 in bonus cash.

If you choose to finance, Kia is offering 0% APR for up to 72 months, plus $3,500 APR Bonus Cash on the EV6 and Niro EV. The larger EV9 is available with 0% APR for up to 60 months with a $3,000 APR Bonus Cash offer.

Kia-another-EV-US — The 2026 Kia EV9 (Source: Kia)

The 2025 Kia Niro EV and EV6 are available to lease, starting at $209 and $309 per month for 24 months. The 2026 EV9 is listed with monthly leases starting at $419.

The new sales event comes after Hyundai extended its EV promotions, keeping the IONIQ 5 as one of the most affordable EV leases in the US, starting at just $189 per month.

Kia’s Seasons of New Traditions sales event runs until January 2, 2026. Some deals may vary by region. You can see offers near you by using the links at the bottom.

Interested in test-driving one for yourself? We can help see what’s available in your area. Check out our links below to find Kia and Hyundai EVs near you.