Ceramic and glass business news of the week for July 26, 2021

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

BayWa r.e. commissions two floating-PV parks in Netherlands

BayWa r.e., together with its Dutch subsidiary GroenLeven, commissioned two floating photovoltaic parks in the Netherlands. The 41.1 MWp Sellingen park and 29.8 MWp Uivermeertjes park are now the two largest outside of Asia.

Huge Vietnamese solar park could hit 2.8 GW within a year

A report into the global flow of capital into the energy transition revealed plans for Vietnam’s largest solar park, the Xuan Thien Ea Sup project in Dak Lak, to be expanded to 2.8 GW of generation capacity by early 2022.

SCHOTT breaks ground for flat glass processing plant in Turkey

SCHOTT is investing €9 million in production technology and highly digital infrastructure in its Flat Glass production at SCHOTT Orim in Bolu, Turkey. SCHOTT Orim supplies functional glasses to all the leading home appliance companies in Turkey and abroad. Production at the plant is planned to begin in early 2022.

Australia grants Lynas $11 million for new rare earth refining process

Lynas Rare Earths Ltd said it got a A$14.8 million (US$10.9 million) grant from Australia to commercialize a new mineral refining process that produces high-purity rare-earth carbonate. About half the cost of implementing the new process at Kalgoorlie will be met by the grant.

Alteo increases its grinding capacity for super ground products

Alteo announced the increase in its very fine grinding capacities in Busan (Korea) and Gardanne (France). With grinding capacities multiplied by 3 in Korea by the end of 2021 and increased by 50% in France in the first quarter of 2022, Alteo will therefore have tripled its global very fine grinding capacities since 2016.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Enel acquires 3200MW US solar portfolio

Enel Green Power North America acquired a 3,200 MW portfolio of solar and solar-plus-storage projects from Dakota Renewable Energy, a joint venture between Dakota Power Partners and Eolian.

Vitro Architectural Glass to market tempered vacuum insulating glass in North America

Vitro Architectural Glass reached an agreement with LandGlass and VIG Technologies to sell their tempered vacuum insulating glass products in North America. Vitro will begin offering the units beginning in late fall 2021.

US rejoins World Energy Council ahead of 2022 summit

The World Energy Council announced that the United States has rejoined the organization, which promotes international communication in the energy industry. The move brings the U.S. back into the fold ahead of next year’s World Energy Congress, which is set to be held in Saint Petersburg. 

Nuclear science, engineering spark collaborations across Penn State and beyond

The Pennsylvania State University’s Radiation Science & Engineering Center is expanding to accommodate a $9.8 million equipment donation and to facilitate more advanced neutron beam research as well as the growth of nuclear engineering at Penn State.

Ubiquitous Energy, Antamex Industries partner for transparent solar commercial glazing

Ubiquitous Energy and Antamex Industries agreed to form a partnership to bring transparent solar glazing to the commercial glazing market in North America via Ubiquitous Energy’s UE Power window products.

OTHER STORIES

Webinar: Learn from the early career faculty—Part I: The application process

MRS is hosting a three-part webinar series ​​about the faculty application process from the perspective of faculty members that have been newly appointed within the last two years. The first webinar will offer a discussion with young faculty about their experiences preparing and submitting applications. The webinar takes place July 27 at 11 a.m. Eastern.

Encirc launches insight series on industry’s biggest challenges

Encirc launched a new expert-led insight series called Transparent Thinking, aiming to outline and confront the biggest issues facing the global manufacturing and beverages sectors. The initiative will consist of a series of think-pieces written by some of the industry’s most renowned specialists.

MICG secures £18.27m investment for advanced ceramics manufacturing

The Midlands Industrial Ceramics Group secured £18.27m in government funding provided through UK Research and Innovation’s flagship Strength in Places Fund. The funds will be used to create a world-leading industrial and academic research and development program in advanced ceramics over the next four years.

ASTM awards PBF-LB standards contract to Fraunhofer ILT

After a call for projects addressing additive manufacturing standardization gaps, ASTM International selected Fraunhofer ILT in Aachen, Germany, to develop guidelines on standardizing and simplifying the maintenance and servicing of laser beam powder bed fusion machines with ASTM support.

MARKET TRENDS

Fully renewable energy feasible for Samoa, study suggests

The future of Samoa’s electricity system could go green, a University of Otago study showed. The study shows high proportions (above 90%) of renewable generation coupled with battery or pumped hydro energy storage is technically feasible, and economically viable—it would cost far less than current electricity production.

NEW PRODUCTS

Automated Vickers/Knoop hardness testers: VH3100 & VH3300

The Wilson VH3100 and VH3300 automated Vickers/Knoop hardness testers provide a fully integrated platform for Vickers and Knoop hardness testing. The DiaMet Hardness Automation Software offers an efficient environment to develop and execute tests that maximize the precision of the tester system with the minimum investment of time possible.

Gorilla Glass use expanded for camera lenses

Corning Incorporated announced its scratch resistant and durable glass composite products, Corning Gorilla Glass with DX and Corning Gorilla Glass with DX+, can now be used in mobile device cameras. Corning has previously used DX/DX+ Gorilla Glass for smart watches.