The Ministry of Energy initiates two Government Decisions by which 50 million lei are allocated from the Budgetary Reserve Fund at the disposal of the Prime Minister for the financing of the new company Complexul Energetic Valea Jiului and by which a Service of General Economic Interest is established for activities of safety in mines and coal mining in Valea Jiului. Valea Jiului SA Energy Complex will in the next period take over the functional assets of Hunedoara Energy Complex SA and the 2,000 miners and staff from Hunedoara Energy Complex will be employed in the new complex.
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ABB announced an investment of $280 million to expand its manufacturing footprint in Europe and build a new state-of-the-art ABB Robotics European Campus in Västerås, Sweden. The Campus will serve as the hub for ABB Robotics’ offering in Europe, providing customers with AI-enabled collaborative and industrial robots, as well as digital solutions to support flexible automation as part of the company’s “local for local” production strategy. Replacing the existing robotics facilities at the site, the new Campus is planned to open in late 2026.
Toyota has reached another milestone in its progress towards a zero carbon future with the unveiling of a prototype hydrogen fuel cell electric Hilux. Its debut is a further demonstration of the broad scope of Toyota’s multi-path strategy for achieving carbon-free mobility, applying different powertrain solutions – hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric, battery electric and fuel cell electric – to suit different user needs and operating environments worldwide.
Continental announced a partnership with Google Cloud for equipping cars with generative Artificial Intelligence (AI). With this, drivers can interact with their car in a natural dialogue. No matter if drivers for example need help finding the right tire pressure when the car is fully loaded or want to know more about local places of interest on their destination or along their route when they are on vacation, the generative AI can compile the required information and answer the drivers’ questions. The two companies each bring their respective expertise to the partnership, namely in automotive, software, artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
Repsol has revealed its range of ISCC PLUS certified circular EVA copolymers – reportedly the first of their kind on the market – and aims to help establish a circular economy for polyolefins, alongside lowering its own virgin raw material consumption.
Marketed under the Repsol Reciclex brand, the range claims to feature the first EVA copolymers to incorporate 100% circular AV from chemical recycling. It is certified under the ISCC Plus mass balance approach and is set to complement Repsol’s conventional EVA range, Repsol Primeva.
Diehl Controls is expanding in Europe: In November 2022, the company signed the contracts for a new plant in Braşov, Romania. The construction works have started and the plant will be inaugurated in 2024. With an additional production facility in central Romania, Diehl Controls is continuing to expand its position in the European market. After many months of research and intensive analysis of potential locations in Eastern Europe, Braşov got the nod. This city, with 250,000 inhabitants, is already home to several international companies, including a number of Diehl Controls’ customers.
In the first half of 2023, new EU van sales increased by 11.2% to 730,969 units as supply chain issues eased.
Spain and Germany substantially contributed to this increase as van sales rose by 26.6% and 15.5%, respectively. Sales in France also modestly increased by 3.6%, totalling 189,948 units.