BP, Once a Renewables Leader, Bets $200 Million on Solar<br />BP said its $200 million investment would eventually give it a 43 percent stake in Lightsource, which will be renamed Lightsource BP,<br />and the energy giant will take two seats on the board.<br />BP, like other major European oil companies, is responding to pressure from investors<br />and governments, especially in the region, to shift away from the traditional fossil fuels blamed for climate change, like oil and gas, and into cleaner sources of energy.<br />Before the Gulf of Mexico oil spill hobbled the company, BP had been seen as a leader on environmental issues among traditional oil and gas companies.<br />In an interview, Dev Sanyal, chief executive of BP’s alternative energy business, said the company had chosen an ill-fated part of the solar<br />business: manufacturing equipment like solar panels, an area now dominated by Asian companies that are better able to compete on price.<br />He added that the attraction of Lightsource, which is privately owned, was<br />that it could be a vehicle for BP to take advantage of what he forecast as 10 percent to 15 percent annual growth in solar power in the coming years.<br />Under pressure to pay damages and fines from the Gulf of Mexico spill — which have cost it $64<br />billion so far — BP has been focusing until recently on improving its oil and gas operations.<br />On Friday, in what may be a move to repolish tarnished green credentials, the energy giant said<br />that it would spend $200 million to acquire a large stake in a Lightsource, a solar power developer based in Britain.
