Green Markets is a daily series dedicated to highlighting events of interest that could impact investments within environmental markets.
General Environmental/Regulatory
Brookfield Asset Management is looking to capitalize on decreased valuations in the renewable power sector by pursuing $1 billion deals— after raising $10 billion for energy transition investments and $2.4 billion for emerging markets. Brookfield noted that the company is interested in acquiring renewable developers or utilities. They highlighted India as a key market, with plans to increase their renewables assets there from $3 billion to $10 billion due to the government’s efforts to attract international investment in green power.
Battery Metals
Rio Tinto has agreed to acquire Arcadium Lithium for approximately $6.7 billion. Arcadium currently produces 75,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent annually and plans to more than double its capacity by 2028. The deal is expected to close in mid-2025, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals.
Related Stock List(s): Commodity Trust Stocks, Commodity Royalty Stocks
Biofuels/Chemicals
Inpasa has committed to a R$3.4 billion ($608 million) investment to expand its Sidrolândia (MS) plant and complete the Balsas (MA) facility, which is expected to start operations in March 2025. Additionally, Inpasa will build a new biorefinery in Luís Eduardo Magalhães (BA), scheduled to begin operations in March 2026.
Brazil's Grupo Potencial has announced a R$600 million ($109 million) investment to expand its biodiesel plant in Paraná, making it the world's largest soy oil-based biofuel facility. The expansion will increase the plant's annual production capacity from 900 million liters (238 million gallons) to 1.62 billion liters (428 million gallons), with work expected to start in 2025 and finish in 2026.
Related Stock List(s): Biofuels & Chemicals Stocks
Carbon Capture
Climeworks (CW) has partnered with British Airways to enhance its carbon removal efforts. CW operates two large direct air capture (DAC) plants in Iceland, capable of removing 4,000 and 36,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, respectively.
Related Stock List(s): Carbon Capture Stocks
Energy Efficiency
The UK’s largest battery energy storage system, Lakeside Energy Park, has officially launched in North Yorkshire. With a capacity of 100 MW, the facility can supply power to approximately 30,000 homes daily across England and Wales. It stores energy generated from renewable sources like solar and wind, releasing it during peak demand.
Related Stock List(s): Energy Efficiency Stocks
Hydrogen
Egypt and Germany have signed a €270 million grant agreement to establish a green hydrogen project. The deal, involving Scatec and the Green Hydrogen Business Alliance, was finalized during the Hamburg Sustainability Conference.
Related Stock List(s): Hydrogen Stocks
Liquified Natural Gas (LNG)
ADNOC Gas has suspended its LNG 2.0 expansion project at the Das Island LNG export facility. The project was in the FEED stage and was expected to add 1.2 MMtpa of ethane, 0.9 MMtpa of LNG, and 1.1 MMtpa of C3+ by 2028. The company is shifting focus to the Ruwais LNG project, which will feature a two-train, 9.6 MMtpa liquefaction capacity and is expected to commence production in late 2028.
Related Stock List(s): LNG Stocks
Nuclear Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded contracts to six companies, including Centrus Energy and Framatome, to provide deconversion services for high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel. The contracts, lasting up to 10 years, will support the establishment of a domestic nuclear fuel supply chain. The funding for these contracts can reach up to $800 million.
Related Stock List(s): Nuclear Energy & Uranium Stocks
Investment Funds
Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund (CPF) has announced new investments in three innovative startups: Molg, Paebbl, and 14Trees, focusing on sustainability and climate solutions.
Molg addresses the growing issue of e-waste through robotic micro-factories that autonomously assemble and disassemble electronic products.
Paebbl transforms CO2 into carbon-storing building materials, aiming to make concrete a permanent carbon sink; Amazon Web Services plans to test Paebbl's material in a European data center construction.
14Trees utilizes 3D printing technology to produce lower-carbon buildings.