British oil producer British Petroleum (BP) will invest $200 million in Europe’s leading solar development company, Lightsource, BP announced on Friday.
According to the statement, with this $200 million investment, BP will obtain a 43 percent stake and two seats on the board of the solar company, which will be renamed Lightsource BP.
The oil producer plans to bring Lightsource’s solar development and management expertise together with its global scale, relationships and trading capabilities.
“BP has been committed to advancing lower-carbon energy for over 20 years and we’re excited to be coming back to solar, but in a new and very different way,” Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive, said.
“While our history in the solar industry was on manufacturing panels, Lightsource BP will instead grow value through developing and managing major solar projects around the world,” he added.
Focusing largely in the U.S., India, Europe and the Middle East, BP will continue to develop and deliver Lightsource’s 6-gigawatt growth pipeline and target the growing demand for large-scale solar projects, BP noted in the statement.
By investing in solar energy, BP will complement its existing Alternative Energy business, which includes wind energy and biofuels.
By Firdevs Yuksel
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr