Weekend Roundup: Itochu launches $2 billion RE fund, Mercedes says China central to coming EV campaign

Japan's Itochu Corp announced the company will invest around $2 billion in renewable power assets in Canada and the US through Overland Capital Partners, a fund set up in partnership with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Fuyo General Lease Co Ltd and Tokyu Land Corporation. The fund will be managed by Tyr Energy, an Itochu subsidiary that has invested in over 30 US power plants and is itself developing 20 solar projects having a combined capacity of 2 GW. 

The G20 meeting in India failed to reach consensus on phasing down fossil fuels such as coal and oil after countries that depend on such fuels objected to targets calling for tripling renewable capacity by 2030. India's Power Minister R K Singh told reporters the group had "complete agreement" on 22 out of 29 paragraphs necessary for a joint communique, which is only issued when there is complete agreement between all members on all issues. G20 members collectively account for over 75 percent of global emissions, which this year hit a new high.

Mercedes-Benz will make China central to the company's electric vehicle campaign starting in 2025, its CEO said. The luxury carmaker had announced in 2021 that all its new vehicle platforms will only be used to make EVs from 2025. China accounts for a third of sales at German carmakers, but local brands dominate the Middle Kingdom when it comes to EVs: Counterpoint Research estimates they hold an 81 percent market share as of 2022. 

Electric truck maker Nikola announced a fire at its headquarters in Phoenix, USA. In a statement, the company said an electric truck that had been damaged in a fire last month reignited on Sunday afternoon, but there were no injuries. It said the damaged truck had been kept at HQ for "safety monitoring" and "ongoing investigations". In June, the company reported a fire at headquarters that damaged several trucks and said it suspected foul play behind the incident. 

India's ACME Group announced it had raised ₹4,000 crore (around $490 million) from state-owned financer REC. The money will be used to fund the first phase of ACME's green hydrogen and ammonia project in Oman. The facility, coming up at the Duqm SEZ, will start producing 100,000 tonnes of green ammonia annually, ultimately growing to 1.2 million tonnes with about 3.5 GW of electrolyser capacity. Read more