FBI Director Reveals Agency's Interception of Chinese State-Backed Initiative to House Lawmakers

1.) FBI Director Chris Wray told House lawmakers that his agency had identified and disrupted a Chinese state-backed initiative to plant malware in civilian infrastructure including water treatment plants, the power grid, and transportation systems. The FBI operation disrupted a botnet consisting of hundreds of small office and home routers that had been hijacked by the Chinese hackers to cover their tracks as they planted the malware in targets.

2.) Chinese manufacturers reportedly have 10 GWh of annual solid state battery production capacity, with over 128 GWh of additional capacity planned through 2025.

3.) Battery recycling company Redwood has started building its $3.5 bn South Carolina 'Battery Materials Campus' that will eventually yield up to 100 GWh worth of reclaimed battery materials, with the potential for more expansion if markets warrant. 

4.) Daimler Truck North America, Navistar, and Volvo Group North America, together accounting for an estimated 70 percent of all new medium-duty and heavy-duty truck sales in the U.S. have formed PACT, a coalition to advocate for accelerating the build-out of nationwide infrastructure to support medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles.

5.) In reporting to Texas regulators recently on lessons from Winter Storm Uri, an official from NERC advised increased collaboration between electric and gas sectors, as well as investigating new ways of providing black-start capability, including batteries.

6.) Germany’s market for on-site storage increased 150% last year with over 1 million cumulative country-wide installations, storing an estimated 12,000 megawatthours.