Here are some noteworthy cleantech announcements of the day from around the world:

The Asian Development Bank has approved $160.5 million in financing for the 240 MW Dau Tieng 2 Tay Ninh solar project in Vietnam. Developed by Thailand’s B Grimm, the financing includes a $24.5 million ordinary loan and a $128 million syndicated loan from ADB, and $8 million from Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund (LEAP). The Dau Tieng 2 is part of the 420 MW Dau Tieng solar project with a total cost of $393 million developed by Thailand’s B. Grimm and Vietnam’s construction company Xuan Cau. Dau Tieng 1 and Dau Tieng 2 started commercial operation in 2019.

Vodafone has announced a major sustainability milestone, noting that its entire European operations will run entirely on renewable energy from July 1, 2021. The operator said that its entire European operations, including mobile and fixed networks, data centers, retail sectors, and offices, will be completely powered by renewable energy, creating a green gigabit net for customers across 11 markets that will grow sustainably using only power from wind, solar, or hydro sources. Vodafone currently hopes to reduce its carbon emissions to net-zero by 2030 and do so across its entire value chain by 2040.

Tasmania-based TasPorts has announced the signing of an option agreement for land and operating access with Australian Fortescue Future Industries for its proposed 250 MW green hydrogen plant. The project is in line with the government’s ‘Tasmanian Renewable Hydrogen Action Plan.’

The Town of Lancaster, New York, has partnered with Buffalo-based Viridi Parente to install a backup power system for providing continuous power to the town’s traffic system. The program will ensure the town’s busiest intersections maintain an uninterrupted supply of power. This would be Lancaster’s first of several instantaneous backup systems for the town’s traffic intersections. The initiative is expected to reduce carbon emissions by keeping traffic within the town moving efficiently and keep citizens safe by ensuring that traffic lights continue working irrespective of weather conditions.

Hitachi ABB Power Grids has signed a memorandum of understanding with BW Ideol, a floating offshore wind solution provider. The agreement relates to the global acceleration of delivering a market-ready floating substation offering and solution. The installed capacity of floating offshore wind installations is forecast to grow from a modest 66 MW in 2019 to at least 6.2 GW in 2030 as more and more countries in Europe, Asia, and North America seek to harness the rich potential of deep-water wind resources. Hitachi ABB Power Grids will provide modular, scalable, and compact substation packages for installation on BW Ideol’s shallow-draft floating platforms.

Srinwanti is a copy editor at Mercom India, where she writes and edits news stories across the clean energy spectrum. Prior to Mercom, she has worked in book publishing at Macmillan Publishing House and Integra and honed her editorial and writing skills in both online and print media such as Reuters, Times Group Books, The Times of India, and Pune Mirror, covering local to international stories. More articles from Srinwanti Das.