The latest renewable energy news includes announcements from Molten Salt Solutions, Erthos, CATL, Moura, Project Bravo solar development, and others.
Molten Salt Solutions Raises $7 Million to Scale Lithium-6 and Lithium-7 for Nuclear Energy
New Mexico-based Molten Salt Solutions has closed an oversubscribed $7 million seed financing to develop domestic production of enriched lithium isotopes for advanced nuclear energy. Dolby Family Ventures led the round, joined by Vanedge Capital Partners, Alumni Ventures, Gaingels, True Ventures and Future Ventures. Funding will accelerate pilot-scale production of lithium-6 and lithium-7. Lithium-6 is required in significant quantities by fusion-energy systems, while lithium-7 is used in advanced molten-salt fission reactors. The United States currently lacks commercial-scale domestic production of either enriched isotope, creating a strategic supply-chain challenge as advanced nuclear projects move toward demonstration and commercialization. Molten Salt Solutions is developing a production method intended to scale isotope enrichment domestically and reduce dependence on constrained international supply.
Erthos Advances 52 MW Texas Earth-Mounted Solar Project Toward November 2026 Operation
Erthos is preparing its 52 MWac Project Bravo solar development in Matagorda County, Texas, for commercial operation in November 2026. The project uses Erthos’ Earth Mount Solar architecture, installing modules directly on the ground rather than on steel mounting structures or single-axis trackers. Erthos says the approach can cut conventional solar construction schedules by roughly 50 percent. Project Bravo has completed site control, interconnection, permitting, financing, procurement and offtake requirements. Once operating, it is expected to produce approximately 124 GWh of P50 electricity annually under a 20-year Private Use Network power purchase agreement with Equistar Chemicals, a LyondellBasell company. Electricity will serve the neighboring Matagorda polymers complex, linking utility-scale solar directly with industrial power demand on the hurricane-prone Texas Gulf Coast.
CATL and Moura Target Brazil Battery Storage Auction as CATL Claims 45% Local Market Share
CATL has formed a strategic partnership with Brazilian battery manufacturer Moura to jointly participate in Brazil’s 2026 Capacity Reserve Auction for Energy Storage. The partners plan localized storage production designed to meet auction domestic-content requirements, supported by another partner described as Brazil’s leading PCS/inverter supplier. CATL says it currently holds a 45 percent share of Brazil’s energy-storage market. Its TENER S platform offers a 20-year design life, zero capacity and power degradation in year one, 30 percent higher areal energy density, a 20 percent smaller footprint and up to 20 percent lower auxiliary consumption. CATL shipped 125 GWh of ESS batteries in H1 2026, while storage-system revenue reached RMB 53.26 billion ($7.9 billion), up 87.54 percent year on year.
Niutech Wins Waste-Plastic-to-SAF Equipment Contract With Global Energy Major Niutech Technology Group has signed a sales contract with an unidentified global energy company for an industrial continuous waste-plastic pyrolysis production line that will be integrated into a large refinery producing sustainable aviation fuel. Niutech’s individual production lines can process 10,000 to 50,000 tonnes of waste plastic annually and handle more than 30 waste types. The system will convert PP, PE, PS, ABS, nylon and mixed low-value plastics into pyrolysis oil that can subsequently be hydrotreated into SAF. Niutech says its technology has already been commercialized in the UK, South Korea, Denmark, Thailand, Vietnam and China. The project gains significance as EU SAF blending requirements rise from 2 percent in 2025 to 6 percent in 2030 and 70 percent by 2050.