BP Returns to Solar in $200m Investment

BP is getting back into solar power six years after its first, failed foray, with a $200 million investment in solar generator Lightsource that the oil and gas firm expects will deliver profits and deepen its foothold in renewable energy. BP, which adopted a sunburst logo two decades ago to convey its ambition in solar energy, agreed to acquire a 43% stake in Europe’s largest solar developer, Reuters reported. It will be renamed Lightsource BP. The London-based solar firm plans to quadruple its solar capacity to 8 gigawatts through large-scale projects in the US, India, Europe and the Middle East. The investment, a fraction of the approximately $17 billion BP has spent in 2017, comes six years after BP wrote down billions on its first investment in solar, when its panel manufacturing business struggled with competition from China. BP was the first of the world’s top oil companies to put a focus on energy sources other than fossil fuels two decades ago with an $8-billion investment in renewable energy, using the marketing slogan "Beyond Petroleum".