Neglected PV Maintenance Fuels Fire Risk

Westbridge Renewable Energy Corp. (TSXV: WEB, OTCQX: WEGYF, FRA: PUQ) ("Westbridge", "Westbridge Renewable" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the expansion of its data centre portfolio with the addition of a new strategic project located in Alabama, USA. The project marks another important step in the Company's strategy to diversify its asset base and capture value from soaring demand for AI-ready data centres and lagging supply. Westbridge is providing key solutions to operators that are actively decarbonizing data centres in response to their net-zero commitments and emerging government regulation.

The Alabama Data Centre Project will be situated in proximity to major fibre routes, high-voltage transmission infrastructure, and renewable energy sites, offering direct access to both reliable power and low-latency connectivity. The location also benefits from a favourable business environment, stable regulatory framework, and access to a skilled workforce, making it an attractive hub for data centre development in the Southeastern United States.

This milestone represents a continuation of Westbridge's strategic evolution — leveraging its expertise in large-scale renewable energy development to integrate energy-intensive digital infrastructure. By combining renewable power assets with high-efficiency data processing facilities, the Company aims to position itself at the intersection of two growth sectors: renewable energy and artificial intelligence.

"Our expansion into Alabama reinforces Westbridge's long-term vision to create a diversified platform that supports the renewable energy transition while enabling the next generation of digital technologies," said Stefano Romanin, CEO of Westbridge Renewable Energy. "We believe that data centres powered by renewable energy will play a central role in the AI economy, and this new project strengthens our ability to deliver sustainable, scalable, and high-value infrastructure to our stakeholders."

Westbridge continues to advance a pipeline of solar, battery energy storage, and data centre projects across North America, focusing on locations that offer both grid capacity and fibre connectivity. The Company expects to provide further updates on the Alabama project, including capacity, partners, and expected development timeline, in the coming months.

Westbridge Renewable Energy | www.westbridge.energy 

Vema Hydrogen, developer of a disruptive renewable hydrogen production technology - Engineered Mineral Hydrogen - announced that it has been chosen as a Qualified Supplier by The First Public Hydrogen Authority (FPH2). The collaboration positions Vema to supply clean hydrogen at scale to California’s municipalities, transit agencies, and businesses through FPH2’s network, and advances the state’s leadership in clean energy innovation.

Backed by $12.6 billion in federal and state investment, California is rapidly scaling its clean hydrogen economy. Vema's technology directly supports this vision by delivering affordable, clean hydrogen to FPH2's network of customers, helping to decarbonize industries and meet the state's growing baseload power needs.

“Through centralized procurement and planning, we aim to lower the barriers to entry and scale hydrogen adoption statewide,” said Chairman R. Rex Parris at FPH2. “Our Qualified Supplier process ensures that vetted producers, including Vema Hydrogen, can participate in California’s clean energy transition through a transparent, public utility model.”

Selected from multiple applicants, Vema Hydrogen is introducing a new, cost-competitive method for hydrogen production: Engineered Mineral Hydrogen (EMH). The technology uses geoscience to create high-purity hydrogen from naturally occurring reactions below the earth's surface, positioning the company to meet future gigawatt-scale energy demands. As Vema scales its operations, it plans to drill its first pilot wells on the U.S. West Coast later this year.

“The U.S.'s rapid AI and data center growth is demanding an unprecedented amount of new power generation,” said Pierre Levin, CEO of Vema Hydrogen. “Our hydrogen solution is equipped to meet this demand, and we are committed to delivering low-cost and low-carbon Engineered Mineral Hydrogen to FPH2’s members.”

Vema Hydrogen | https://www.vema.earth/

The First Public Hydrogen Authority | https://www.firstpublich2.com/

Leading international renewable energy consultancy, Natural Power, has delivered technical advisory services for the financing of a diversified portfolio of ready-to-build renewable energy assets owned by global energy producer, Neoen.

The portfolio spans seven European countries - France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Sweden - and includes battery storage facilities, solar PV, and wind projects with a total capacity of almost 400MW.

Natural Power acted as lenders' technical advisor (LTA) to support the financing process, delivering comprehensive technical due diligence (TDD). This included the energy yield assessment, design and technology review, EPC and O&M contract analysis, Equator Principles compliance, and review of inputs to the financial model across the portfolio.

Pierre Warlop, Natural Power’s Managing Director France, said: “This milestone transaction reflects our long-standing relationship with Neoen and reinforces our shared commitment to accelerating the energy transition. Project Panenka is an impressive portfolio that demonstrates the depth of Neoen’s development capabilities and its leadership in integrating diverse technologies across Europe. We’re proud to have provided independent technical insight to help facilitate the critical financing stage.”

Guillaume Girard, Project Finance Associate at Neoen, added: “Natural Power’s expert team brought deep market understanding and technical rigour to support the successful financing of Project Panenka. The team’s responsiveness, attention to detail, and ability to navigate multi-country complexities were instrumental in securing confidence from our lenders, which is vital in making this ambitious portfolio a reality.”

With more than 169GW of global advisory experience in the past year alone, including 21 GW in battery storage, 44 GW in solar, and 74 GW in wind, Natural Power remains a trusted advisor to developers, investors, and lenders worldwide. The firm has supported Neoen on more than 43 mandates, providing energy yield analysis, due diligence, and owner’s engineering services across a range of technologies and geographies.

For more information on Natural Power’s due diligence and technical advisory capabilities, visit: www.naturalpower.com/uk/expertise/service/advisory/due-diligence 

Natural Power | https://www.naturalpower.com/us

Ingeteam will supply its inverters for the Winton North hybrid project that European Energy Australia (EE Australia) is constructing in the northeast of Victoria, Australia. Once operational, in 2027, this installation will have an estimated annual production capacity of 227 GWh of clean energy generated on an area of 256 hectares. Winton North will feature two phases: a 100 MWac solar farm in a first stage, and a 100 MW / two-hour battery energy storage system (BESS) in a second phase.

Ingeteam will supply its Plug-and-Play medium voltage power stations, integrating inverters, LV / MV transformer, MV switchgear, and auxiliary services panel. Moreover, the scope of supply includes the commissioning of all the equipment and the hybrid plant control system (Multi Plant Controller), designed to help the grid operator manage the performance of the two power plants and ensure the quality and stability of the power supply at the point of interconnection.

Jorge Guillen, Head of Sales for the photovoltaic and storage business at Ingeteam Australia, has declared: “We are delighted to once again be able to provide our expertise and technology in power and control electronics to further contribute to Australia's energy transition”.

Ingeteam is present in North Wollongong since 2010 and has a solar market share of around 25% in the country, where it has positioned itself as a technology partner that accompanies the plant developer, helping it to successfully meet the demanding technical prerequisites for grid connection.

Ingeteam | https://www.ingeteam.com/

VDE Americas, a global leader in technical advisory and catastrophic risk assessment services for the solar industry, announced the internationalization of its innovative hail risk assessment and mitigation services. Since 2021, VDE Americas has offered location- and technology-specific financial hail risk exposure reports to solar project developers, owners, financiers, and insurers operating in the most hail-exposed region in the world—the continental United States. After supporting increased customer demand in Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and South Africa, the company has formalized the global expansion of its hail risk assessment service territory.

Severe convective storms—a meteorological category that produces tornadoes, high winds, and damaging hail—account for tens of billions of U.S. dollars of insured losses worldwide each year. As solar project deployments have increased in size, frequency, and geographic distribution, financial losses specifically due to hailstorm damage have risen in parallel. According to GCube, a specialty insurer with an international book of business, hail accounts for less than 2% of solar project insurance claims by count—but more than 50% of total financial losses. Since 2018, hail-related solar losses in the state of Texas alone have exceeded $600 million.

Originally developed to de-risk capital investments in utility-scale solar, VDE Hail Risk Intelligence provides state-of-the-art hail severity and frequency forecasts to support engineered financial loss assessments and risk mitigation responses. Because severe hail hotspots occur globally, VDE Americas leveraged its longstanding collaboration with Dr. John Allen, a professor of meteorology at Central Michigan University, to develop state-of-the-art data analysis and transposition tools capable of characterizing hailstorm frequency and severity anywhere in the world, the results of which can be applied to any industry susceptible to hail damage.

“Though severe hail is often associated with the Great Plains of the United States, hail occurs regularly on every continent except Antarctica,” explained Dr. Allen, co-leader for Project ICECHIP, the largest-ever hail-focused field campaign and research initiative funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation. “Hail can form in any location that experiences severe thunderstorms. In Australia, as an example, where I am from originally, severe hail events are most frequent on the central east coast and nearby inland, from north of Brisbane to south of Sydney. This is a region where severe hail events are coincident with utility-scale solar development activities.”

The limited availability and quality of radar data is a key challenge in assessing hail risk outside the United States; this is especially true of many locations where solar development occurs. To solve this blind spot, VDE Americas has built upon novel work by the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), ETH Zurich, and others. By using a combination of human expertise and a proprietary meteorological model that pairs rich radar and ground-based hail data from the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) with high-quality atmospheric data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), VDE is now able to offer Hail Risk Intelligence free of population bias to nearly every location in the world.

“Though large-diameter hail is inevitable in some parts of the world, large solar project losses are not,” noted Brian Grenko, president and CEO of VDE Americas. “Our hail products and services have consistently demonstrated that project stakeholders can limit catastrophic damage and financial loss via better technical literacy, due diligence, and risk mitigation practices.”

“Today’s solar farms are tomorrow’s critical power generation assets,” said Ansgar Hinz, CEO of the VDE Group. “For a worthwhile future, solar assets and portfolios must operate safely, sustainably, and reliably under their expected use conditions. Leveraging the VDE Group’s strong international network, we are excited to offer these financial hail risk assessments and consulting services to global markets.”

To kick off product internationalization, Jon Previtali, vice president of VDE Americas, is attending All Energy Australia, which takes place 29–30 October 2025 in Melbourne, to introduce VDE’s Hail Risk Intelligence capabilities to solar and insurance industry stakeholders at the southern hemisphere’s largest clean energy event. "Based on its solar development trends and severe convective storm activity, Australia represents an ideal market for our catastrophic risk assessment and loss prevention services,” said Previtali.

VDE Americas | www.vde.com/en/vde-americas

This signature marks a major milestone in KEOL’s growth and the beginning of a strategic alliance between two innovative and complementary French companies. Together, KEOL and SOCOMORE will combine their expertise to accelerate growth in UV adhesives, structural bonding technologies, and high-precision dispensing systems. KEOL’s expertise and agility with Socomore’s strength will help offer bonding solutions perfectly tailored to customers needs. 

This partnership will strengthen KEOL’s industrial capabilities, boost R&D projects, and expand its international reach through SOCOMORE’s global network. 

Socomore will draw on KEOL's 12 years of experience in the adhesives market to support growth in the global aerospace and defense market, thereby expanding the portfolio of solutions for its customers. This range complements the surface preparation solutions prior to bonding, painting, or sealing already available in the SOCOMORE portfolio. 

“This alliance is built on shared values — a passion for innovation, technical excellence, and the ambition to shape a more efficient and responsible industry.” - Christophe Brunel, President of KEOL 

“I am delighted with this collaboration with KEOL, which gives us expertise in the adhesives market and thus supports our development strategy by bringing new solutions to our customers. This new venture will enable us to combine our resources and ensure the success of this collaboration.” - José Coelho, CEO of SOCOMORE 

KEOL extends its thanks to José Coelho, Frédéric Lescure, and Nathalie Vigouroux for their trust and commitment to this new chapter. 

SOCOMORE | https://www.socomore.com/

Janta Power, a leading developer of innovative three-dimensional solar tower systems, has closed a $5.5 million seed round led by MaC Venture Capital, with participation from Collab Capital, to accelerate the commercialization of its patented, high-density 3D photovoltaic tower technology. This investment will support product scale-up and deployments across data centers, EV charging hubs, telecom towers, universities, and a range of industrial facilities.

Janta’s vertical solar towers are engineered to generate ~50% more energy than traditional flat-panel systems while using one-third of the land area, overcoming energy-density and siting constraints that limit conventional solar.

Pilot programs are underway with major global airports, including Munich International Airport, Aena (operator of over 70 airports worldwide), and Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), as part of the Airports for Innovation (A4I) initiative.

Janta’s patented tower geometry maximizes energy generation density, producing up to three times more power output per land area compared to traditional solar technology. Each tower’s stacked vertical design captures both low-angle morning and evening light, producing a dual-peak power curve that better aligns with real energy demand.

Janta’s technology can reach capacity factors of up to ~32% compared to ~22% for flat panels, thanks to active shading optimization and control software. Each structure is engineered to withstand winds of at least 110 miles per hour and as much as 170 mph, and feature steel construction and modular helical or pier foundations that eliminate the need for extensive grading.

Unlike traditional solar technology that concentrates output near midday, Janta’s 3D configuration smooths energy delivery throughout the day—reducing ramp stress on grids and lowering reliance on peaker plants. This unique generation profile complements conventional solar and enhances overall grid stability.

Currently, Janta Power’s solar solution can achieve a Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) as low as $0.05/kWh, compared to the global average of approximately $0.15/kWh. As the company continues to scale and optimize its manufacturing and deployment processes, the goal is to further reduce the LCOE in the next few years.

Janta Power | jantaus.com