Going Green Suits Nissan
In November 2023, Nissan announced that its port city facility in Sunderland, England, would be going 100% electric. The company is investing $3.7 billion to expand its EV36Zero hub, making room for production of three new EVs and an additional gigafactory. “The EV36Zero project puts our Sunderland plant, Britain’s biggest ever car factory, at the heart of our future vision. It means our UK team will be designing, engineering and manufacturing the vehicles of the future, driving us towards an all-electric future for Nissan in Europe,” said Nissan President and CEO Makoto Uchida. With a total of three gigafactories on site, the company will manufacture the Qashqai, JUKE and LEAF EV models and three new EVs — the Hyper Urban Concept, Hyper Punk Concept and Chill-Out Concept — supporting Nissan’s goal of producing solely EVs in Europe by 2030.
Nissan’s EV36Zero hub will run on 100% renewable energy through Sunderland’s microgrid project and the company’s wind and solar farms.
Photo courtesy of Nissan
Energy For Essar Group
India-based multinational conglomerate Essar Group announced in December 2023 that a combined $661 million would be invested in India’s state of Gujarat for a new energy project and an expansion in the state’s city of Salaya. The company aims to the advance energy transition in India with the construction of a $360 million, 1-gigawatt green hydrogen plant. In addition, the company will invest $192 million to move forward with the phase two expansion of its Salaya Power Plant and $120 million in Essar Group’s Salaya Port capabilities. Essar anticipates these three projects will create more than 10,000 jobs.
- Responsible Business Operations: Anova Technical Services, LLC. and GAP, INC., India.
- Climate Resilience: Drinkwell, Bangladesh.
- Inclusive Economic Growth: Intel, Costa Rica.
Essar Group operates several locations throughout Gujarat.
Photo courtesy of Essar Group
Connections Set In Darwin
Connections Set In Darwin Two years after NextDC announced plans to build an 8-megawatt data center in Darwin, Australia, work is finally underway. The $52 million, 32,290-sq.-ft. tier three facility will support the company’s growth efforts for Australia’s northern digital gateway, housing 1,000 racks with capability to service more than 500 million residents. This location will be connected to a Vocus subsea cable, which connects Darwin to Jakarta, Indonesia, and Singapore, in additional to domestic cables. The first phase of the facility will be completed in 2024, creating 200 new jobs in the region.
The Darwin data center will join the company’s growing Australia portfolio.
Rendering courtesy of NextDC
INVesting in Separation
INV New Material Technology, a subsidiary of Shenzhen Senior Technology Material Company, has began construction of its Kepala Batas, Malaysia, battery separator factory. Located in the Penang Technology Park, the 66-acre site will produce over 43 billion sq. ft. of wet-process and coated separators per year. The company will invest more than $1.4 billion during both phases of construction, the first phase anticipated to be complete mid-2025. As the project becomes fully operational, INV New Material Technology will have the largest low-carbon separation facility in the region.
INV New Material Technology’s site will be located 14 miles from the North Seberang Perai port.
Rendering courtesy of Penang Technology Park
Made in Egypt
China-based household appliance giant Midea Group announced it would bring its third Egyptian manufacturing facility to Sadat City, located an hour and a half northwest of capital Cairo. The $105 million project investment is being used to construct a 2.3 million-sq.-ft.-plus facility to produce smart household appliances like air conditioners, refrigerators, laundry machines and more. While the company broke ground in late November 2023, full construction will commence in 2024 with plans to be fully operational in 2025. Over 50% of the products produced at this facility will be exported to serve the global market.
Midea Group will have invested $247 million in Egypt since 2010.
Photo courtesy of Midea Group
Got Renewable Fuel? Sweden Does
Got Renewable Fuel? Sweden Does Sweden’s largest fuel company Preem has announced its $528 million investment in the redevelopment of its Lysekil refinery to focus on renewable aviation fuel production. Construction on the project will begin in 2024, adding 317 million gallons of renewable production capacity when complete in 2027. This investment will help the company move from solely diesel production to renewable jet fuel and renewable diesel. The Lysekil facility redevelopment follows the company’s Synsat project investment which will be complete in 2024, bringing Preem’s total spend to $960 million between the two sites and bringing an overall production capacity of 660 million gallons per year. The company says that these facilities will increase its competitiveness and help meet future market demands.
The Lysekil facility will enable the company to be the largest renewable aviation fuel producer in Northern Europe.
Photo courtesy of Preem
