Ceramic and glass business news of the week for June 7, 2021

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

Lightsource BP partners on 1.35GW Portuguese PV

Lightsource BP entered into a co-development partnership with Portuguese company Insun for five utility-scale solar farms that will add over 1350MW of new capacity in Portugal. The projects are in the early development stage and will be located in the regions of Moura, Castelo Branco, Mogadouro, Chamusca and Viseu.

Greenland Minerals continues public consultation process for Kvanefjeld Rare Earth Project

The Government of Greenland has provided an update on the statutory public consultation for the Kvanefjeld Rare Earth Project, with the consultation period previously scheduled to conclude on June 1 now extended to Sept. 13, 2021.

Powerhouse Energy plans second hydrogen plant using its DMG technology

Powerhouse Energy Group PLC says a second site using its waste plastic-to-hydrogen technology will be developed by its partner Peel L&P at the Rothesay Dock on the north bank of the River Clyde in West Dunbartonshire.

Saint-Gobain to invest Rs 1,100 crore in India

Saint-Gobain is to invest Rs 1,100 crore (US $151 million) to the state of Rajasthan, India as a part of a phased expansion plan. The proposed investment will see more than 300 jobs created in the region of Bhiwadi and Alwar, making Rajasthan the headquarters for Saint-Gobain’s increasing Asian demand for float glass.

AFRL Materials Characterization Facility pushes state of the art

The Air Force Research Laboratory recently renovated their materials characterization facility. While the newly renovated lab is housed at the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, it also serves other technical directorates at Wright-Patterson, as well as university and industrial members who collaborate with the Air Force.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Verder Scientific Inc USA acquires Mager Scientific

Verder Scientific Inc formally agreed to acquire all shares of the U.S. company Mager Scientific Inc. Mager Scientific is the distributor of metallographic and hardness testing equipment in the U.S. and has represented the QATM product lines for metallographic preparation and hardness testing since 2005.

Generac acquires controller manufacturer Deep Sea Electronics

Generac Holdings Inc., a leading global designer and manufacturer of energy technology solutions and other power products, announced the acquisition of Deep Sea Electronics Limited, an advanced controls designer and manufacturer.

Saint-Gobain sells part of its German glass processing business

Saint-Gobain sold its Glassolutions Objekt-Center in Germany, a specialist center for glass processing operations, to the German privately owned AEQUITA group based in Munich. The sale consists of two sites in Döring Berlin and Radeburg. AEQUITA already purchased the operations of Glassolutions in the Netherlands in 2019.

Tiama acquires pharmaceutical glass inspection company

Tiama Inspection Worldwide acquired Dutch firm Vimec, a company with 30 years of experience in the field of non-molded glass control & inspection for the pharmaceutical industry segment.

Magnora increases solar cell tech firm stake

Renewable energy development company Magnora is increasing its stake in Swedish solar cell technology company Evolar. Magnora has a 28.44% stake in the company but decided to call the first of three options to increase its shareholding in the company to 40.7%.

Tritium combines with DCRN to grow electric vehicle production

Tritium, a Brisbane-based direct current fast charger manufacturer for electric vehicles, announced it will become a publicly listed company through combining with special purpose acquisition company, Decarbonisation Plus Acquisition Corporation I.

Denmark, Norway, and the United States to lead zero-emission shipping mission

The governments of Denmark, Norway, and the United States, along with Global Maritime Forum and Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, announced they will lead a new Zero-Emission Shipping Mission as part of Mission Innovation, which aims to accelerate international public-private collaboration and deploy green maritime solutions.

Japanese companies to develop chipmaking technology with TSMC -Nikkei

About 20 Japanese companies, including electronic component maker Ibiden Co., will work with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to develop chip manufacturing technology in Japan. Japan’s government will pay half of the 37 billion yen (US$337 million) cost of a research facility.

Fortify, Roger Corp. partner to develop 3D-printed dielectric material systems

Fortify, a 3D printing startup, and Rogers Corp., an engineered materials company for advanced connectivity and power electronics, announced a partnership to enable additive manufacturing of low-loss dielectric materials for radio frequency devices and electronics using Fortify’s Flux 3D printer series for fiber- and particle-filled photopolymers.

Auxico becomes a member of the Rare Earth Industry Association

Auxico Resources Canada Inc. announced that it has become a member of the Rare Earths Industry Association (REIA). REIA is a global organization with partners representing the rare earths elements value chain, aiming to develop a transparent, sustainable, and integrated value chain for rare earths elements.

OTHER STORIES

Ceramics Expo returns as planned for 2021

Ceramics Expo announced that America’s largest free-to-attend event for the ceramics industry will return as planned from Aug. 30–Sept. 1, 2021, in Cleveland, Ohio. For the first time since its inception in 2014, the event is being held at a new venue—The Huntington Convention Center—in the heart of downtown Cleveland.

Registration now open for the 82nd Conference on Glass Problems

The 82nd Conference on Glass Problems, organized by the Glass Manufacturing Industry Council and Alfred University, will take place Nov. 1–4, 2021, in Columbus, Ohio. Register before October 1 and save $50!

15th Furnace Solutions taking place this week

The 15th Furnace Solutions conference hosted by the Society of Glass Technology will take place online June 9–10, 2021.

CTP awarded multiyear DOE contract to continue developing SiC ceramic fuel cladding

Ceramic Tubular Products, LLC, announced that it was awarded a $7.5 million, multiyear, cost-shared Cooperative Agreement from the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy to continue the development of ceramic cladding for accident tolerant fuel for use in commercial water cooled nuclear power reactors.

L&L ships second floor-standing box furnace to ceramic optical laboratory

L&L Special Furnace Company shipped a second floor-standing box furnace for heat-treating ceramics and optics used in the medical field to an optical laboratory located in the northeastern U.S. The L&L model XLE 3636 has an effective work zone of 34” wide by 30” high by 32” deep.

MRF and the silicon carbide industry

In this article, MRF discusses the recent trend of producing more environmentally friendly silicon carbide products and their role in helping to support this market.

MARKET TRENDS

As electric vehicles take off, we’ll need to recycle their batteries

A National Geographic article looks at the need to recycle electric vehicle batteries to minimize the need to mine the earth for more critical minerals.

Biden completing opening moves in climate strategy

An FYI article details how the Biden administration has built up climate policymaking capacity across federal agencies to advance agendas centered on climate change mitigation and resilience, environmental justice, and clean energy job creation.

New Microsoft trial sees health data encoded in a piece of glass

CMR Surgical, a UK medtech company behind the Versius surgical robot, teamed up with Microsoft to store clinical health data from Versius procedures on a small glass platter. This proof-of-concept platter—which measures 75 mm by 75 mm—is a new long-term archive storage technology being developed as part of Microsoft’s Project Silica.

NEW PRODUCTS

Floor level lift tables can be loaded by a hand pallet truck

XZ Series Lift Tables from Presto ECOA feature Zero-Height platforms that sit just 3/8” above the floor. This low height allows loads to be rolled on or off of them with a hand pallet jack, making them ideal for facilities without a forklift, or for use in fork-free designated areas.