ATACAMA DESERT: Grenergy building a seven-phase solar power plant in Chile
Credit: CC/Alessandro Caproni
Outlook sunny SPANISH company Grenergy has secured $324 million (€314.5 million) funding for the fourth of the seven phases in its Oasis de Atacama project.
This latest installation of solar panels and battery storage in Chile’s Atacama Desert will generate 269 megawatts of solar power and 1.1 gigawatts per hour of storage.
Once completed, the entire complex will eventually produce 2 gigawatts of solar power with 11 gigawatts per hour of storage, Grenergy said.
The project originally envisaged a 1-gigawatt solar power installation and a storage capacity of 4.1 gigawatt per hour but Grenergy recently decided on a dramatic increase, even though the existing phases already make Oasis de Atacama project one of the world’s biggest.
New York choice ANOTHER UK company will list in New York and not on London’s stock exchange, which had hoped to land the £3 billion (€3.6 billion) listing.
Lloyd’s of London underwriter Aspen Insurance submitted the required documents to the US Securities and Exchange Commission before Christmas and engaged Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Citi to work on the float.
Sources quoted by the Telegraph maintained that Aspen’s American asset-manager owner Apollo “had concerns” regarding different accounting standards in the US and the UK.
Diesel dilemma COURIER and light transport companies are alarmed at the prospect of a €0.11 per litre increase in the tax on diesel making it as expensive as petrol.
The association which represents the sector, UNO Logistica, has called on the Transport Ministry to allow these firms and self-employed van-drivers to use the rebated fuel already used by vehicles that transport merchandise or passengers.
“It’s hard to see why the tax-free professional gasoil that can be used by heavy transport isn’t contemplated for the light vehicles which are used by 30 per cent of courier firms,” UNO Logistica’s president Francisco Aranda said.
Holiday boost LAST Christmas was the best yet for Aldi, the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket chain.
The German-owned retailer reported sales of £1.6 billion (€1.9 billion) in the four weeks leading up to the holidays thanks to more new stores and the popularity of its Premium range of products.
Sales rose 3.4 per cent year-on-year, while December 23 was the busiest day it had ever known, with three million shoppers visiting its stores.
Hero to zero FOOD delivery firm Delivery Hero has lost 70 per cent of its value after taking over Spain’s Glovo three years ago.
Delivery Hero owns 99 per cent of Glovo following December 2021 and July 2022 acquisitions, but since then the Berlin-based company’s market value has plummeted by €16.6 million and it has lost €6 million.
Glovo is not entirely to blame for Delivery Hero’s woes, which include the mediocre float of its subsidiary, Talabat, on the Dubai stock exchange, which was also the Middle East’s biggest 2024 debut.
Nonetheless, Glovo has undoubtedly contributed to the Delivery Hero’s problems, losing €412 million in 2022 and an estimated €210 million in 2023.
Vertiports sale SPANISH multinational Ferrovial has sold its Vertiports subsidiary, which builds infrastructure for vertical take-off electric aircraft, to Atlantic Aviation.
The Texas-based company operates a New York heliport and the acquisition coincides with the decision by Ferrrovial’s Vertiports partner, Lilium, to launch bankruptcy proceedings in Germany after failing to obtain additional funds for future operations.
The transaction’s financial details were not disclosed, but as a wholly-owned Atlantic Aviation subsidiary, Ferrovial Vertiports will now operate under the name VertiPorts by Atlantic, although with the same leadership team.
Back to the office ANOTHER multinational has ordered staff to work from the office, not home.
Advertising giant WPP, which owns the Ogilvy and Wunderman Thompson agencies, announced that from April onwards employees would be expected to come into the office at least four times a week.
The new regime will also require them to work a minimum of two Fridays each month, employees were told in an email from WPP’s chief executive, Mark Read.
“I believe we do our best work when we’re together in person,” Read said.
