BP invests millions in company that supplies ‘rapidly deployable’ solar tech

BP mentioned it’s investing 20 million Australian {dollars} ($13.53 million) in Australian renewable firm 5B, which focuses on photo voltaic expertise.

The vitality main mentioned the funding in 5B — made through its subsidiary BP Ventures — wrapped up a Series B funding spherical of 55 million Australian {dollars} that had been co-led by Artesian and the AES Corporation.

“5B’s rapidly deployable solar technology enables fast, easy, low-cost solar installation,” BP’s announcement mentioned.

Australian agency 5B says its 5B Maverick system is “a fully prefabricated, plug-&-play solar farm in a box.” It provides that “each 5B Maverick array consists of up to 90 solar modules, mounted on [nine] domed racks between 10 composite steel-concrete beams.”

BP mentioned 5B had deployed over 60 megawatts of photo voltaic tech worldwide, with initiatives primarily based in Europe, Asia, South America and the United States.

“The investment will allow 5B to expand further globally and invest in R&D,” it added.

‘Today’s vitality system is a hydrocarbon system’

CEO Bernard Looney not too long ago mentioned the BP technique targeted on concurrently investing in hydrocarbons and the deliberate vitality transition.

“What the world needs, more than ever right now, is a conversation and a series of actions that are involved in the practicalities and realities of today and tomorrow,” Looney mentioned throughout a panel dialogue moderated by CNBC’s Hadley Gamble in early November.

“Our strategy as BP — which we’re executing in the U.K., we’re working on here in the Middle East and we’re doing it in the United States and across the world — is to invest in hydrocarbons today, because today’s energy system is a hydrocarbon system,” he added.  

Speaking on the Adipec convention in Abu Dhabi, Looney mentioned his firm was “obviously trying to produce those hydrocarbons with the lowest possible emissions” while on the identical time investing in “accelerating the energy transition.”

“We’re doing that in Britain, we’re doing that in the United States, we’re doing it here,” he mentioned, namechecking carbon seize, electrical automobile charging, hydrogen and offshore wind.

BP says it targets net-zero emission by 2050.

Achieving decarbonization poses vital monetary and logistical hurdles. Earlier this month, the International Energy Agency mentioned renewables have been on track to overhaul coal and grow to be the planet’s largest supply of electrical energy technology by the center of this decade.

The IEA’s Renewables 2022 report predicted a serious shift inside the world’s electrical energy combine at a time of great volatility and geopolitical rigidity.

“The first truly global energy crisis, triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has sparked unprecedented momentum for renewables,” it mentioned, including, “Renewables [will] become the largest source of global electricity generation by early 2025, surpassing coal.”