According to Bloomberg, the London-based petroleum company has a partial ownership in LightSource BP, a clean energy company. In 2017, the oil giant said it would invest $200 million in Lightsource BP over three years for a 43 percent stake.
Headquartered in London, England, Lightsource BP, rebranded from Lightsource Renewable Energy in 2018, is the largest solar developer in Europe, and third largest in the world outside of China. The company targets the growing demand for large-scale solar projects worldwide with a focus on grid-connected plants and corporate power purchase agreements signed with private companies.
In an interview, Tuesday at Infocast’s Solar Power Finance & Investment Summit in San Diego, Lightsource BP Chief Commercial Officer Katherine Ryzhaya said, “It’s a no brainer for them to play in solar. They’re doing it for financial reasons.”
This latest initiative by BP is in line with its plans to continue growing without increasing its carbon footprint. In February, BP bowed to pressure from investors, including the Church of England, by backing a plan to explain how its strategy and investments are consistent with the Paris climate agreement.
Other oil majors are also turning to clean energy to run their operations, especially now that renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels. Exxon Mobil Corp. last year agreed to contracts to buy 500 megawatts of solar and wind power in the Permian Basin. More recently, Petroleum Development Oman said it signed a deal to buy solar on the Arabian peninsula.
“It was only a matter of time before the oil companies started signing deals,” BloombergNEF analyst Kyle Harrison said in an email.
However, NASDAQ points out that investors should remember that even though oil companies are transitioning and working to lower their carbon footprint, “the global market will continue to demand oil for decades,” said BP early last year. In fact, hydrocarbon will continue to be the key source of revenues, added BP.