The latest renewable energy news includes announcements on Distributed Sun, CATL, China Automotive Systems, rooftop solar, green manufacturing, and others.
Distributed Sun Backs trutility With $1 Billion-Plus Energy Infrastructure Platform
Distributed Sun has become anchor investor in trutility, an AI-native energy infrastructure developer and operator spanning battery storage, community solar, distributed generation and microgrids. The platform is built on more than $1 billion of capital investment, with Distributed Sun contributing a GW-scale front-of-meter development portfolio and technology from subsidiary trucurrent. trutility currently controls 24 front-of-meter BESS sites, a number expected to double during 2026, plus distributed assets across 14 utility territories. Distributed Sun says its development assets have generated an average 9.2-times MOIC since 2019, while leveraged operating assets have returned an average 14.3 percent. Its AI agents automate site selection, policy analysis, underwriting, scheduling and cost calculations, reducing some 30-day processes to hours.
CATL Makes All 20 Battery Plants Carbon Neutral, Targets Entire Value Chain by 2035
CATL says all 20 of its battery manufacturing plants have been certified carbon neutral, completing the company’s 2025 operational carbon-neutrality target. The battery manufacturer is now targeting carbon neutrality across its entire value chain by 2035, extending decarbonisation requirements to suppliers and battery materials. From 2027, suppliers will be required to provide product carbon-footprint information, with preferential commercial terms planned for suppliers demonstrating stronger emissions performance. CATL began developing its zero-carbon manufacturing approach after commissioning its first battery factory in 2012. Chairman and CEO Robin Zeng said zero-carbon batteries are becoming necessary as global EV and energy-storage markets expand. The initiative is important because battery manufacturing’s emissions increasingly affect the lifecycle carbon profile of electric vehicles and stationary energy-storage projects.
China Automotive Systems Adds 8 MW Rooftop Solar to Green Manufacturing Push
China Automotive Systems has expanded its clean-manufacturing program after subsidiary Jingzhou Henglong Automotive Parts Manufacturing received China’s national-level Green Factory designation for 2025. The recognition gives the group two national-level Green Factories, following certification of its Dongfang Avenue facility in December 2023. Among the major energy projects supporting the transformation is an 8 MW rooftop photovoltaic system at the Jingzhou Dongfang Avenue plant. The company has also introduced digital workshop retrofits, waste-heat recovery from air compressors and treated-water reuse to lower electricity and resource consumption. China Automotive Systems supplies power-steering components and systems, meaning the initiative demonstrates how industrial manufacturing facilities can combine onsite renewable generation with energy-efficiency technologies rather than relying solely on external renewable-energy procurement.
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