BP invests in company that provides ‘rapidly deployable’ solar technology

BP said it was investing A$20 million ($13.53 million) in Australian renewable energy company 5B, which specializes in solar technology.

The energy major said the investment in 5B – made through its subsidiary BP Ventures – closed an A$55 million Series B funding round which was co-led by Artesian and AES Corporation.

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

Australian company 5B claims its 5B Maverick system is “a completely pre-built plug-and-play solar farm in a box”. He adds that “each 5B Maverick array consists of up to 90 solar modules, mounted on [nine] curved racks between 10 mixed steel-concrete beams.”

BP said 5B has deployed more than 60 megawatts of solar technology globally, with projects based in Europe, Asia, South America and the United States.

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

“Today’s energy system is a hydrocarbon system”

CEO Bernard Looney recently said that BP’s strategy is focused on simultaneous investment in hydrocarbons and the planned energy transition.

“What the world needs, more than ever right now, is a conversation and a series of actions involved in the practicalities and realities of today and tomorrow,” said Looney during a panel discussion hosted by CNBC’s Hadley Gamble in early November.

“Our strategy as BP – which we execute in the UK, which we work on here in the Middle East and we do in the US and around the world – is to invest in hydrocarbons today, because Today’s energy system is a hydrocarbon system,” he added.

Speaking at the Adipec conference in Abu Dhabi, Looney said his company was “obviously trying to produce these hydrocarbons with the lowest possible emissions” while investing in “accelerating the energy transition”.

“We do it in Britain, we do it in the US, we do it here,” he said, checking the name of carbon capture, electric vehicle charging, hydrogen and offshore wind.

BP announces its goal of net zero emissions by 2050.

Decarbonization poses significant financial and logistical hurdles. Earlier this month, the International Energy Agency said renewables were on track to overtake coal and become the biggest source of electricity generation on the planet by the middle of this decade.

The IEA’s Renewables 2022 report predicted a major shift in the global electricity mix at a time of high volatility and geopolitical tension.

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