Latest news with #LightsourceBP
North Wales Live
3 days ago
- Politics
- North Wales Live
Protestors demonstrate against 'shocking' solar farm proposals which could 'rip out' countryside
More than 100 protestors demonstrated against proposed, vast solar energy farms on Anglesey today. They are concerned about two plans - the Alaw Môn projects - which would reportedly produce 160MW of energy - and Maen Hir - which could produce over 350MW. The proposals by Enso Energy and Lightsource BP on Anglesey, could cover up to 3,700 acres of mostly farmland on about two per cent of the island. It is understood that Lightsource BP, who are responsible for the Maen Hir scheme, say they are still consulting with local communities, and that they appreciate the feedback they have received so far. North Wales Live has asked Enso Energy - the developers of the Alaw Môn scheme - for a statement. Today one resident Sarah Pye, a mother-of-two from Rhos-Goch in the north of the island, addressed the demonstrators in Llangefni in Welsh and English. She told them: "We live in the area of the Lightsource BP solar development known as Maen Hir. "Not only will our view be turned from green to black but they want to rip out our land and put a cable through it. My partner and I have spent the last four years rewilding our land and planting over 4,000 trees to create a mini-forest in Rhos-Goch. "Additionally, we have put all of our life savings into creating a tourism business to make our dream of living in a smallholding a reality. (But) out of the blue we received letters from Lightsource BP wanting to survey our land. "They decided that they may want to use our land for a solar development. You can imagine what a shock that was to us. We had no idea that four years ago this was a development plan not just for Rhos-Goch but for Anglesey too." Ms Pye also warned that if proposals are approved tourists could stay away, "Would you go on holiday to an island covered in black solar panels?" she asked. Ms Pye said she learned through Plaid Cymru members and others that in fact two solar farms were proposed which was a "shock". But she met some amazing people and formed the "No More Solar Farms Ynys Mon Group". Also today Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said he is worried about the plans to "exploit" Anglesey. "We are very concerned here on Anglesey about the exploitation that is being planned by companies that are going to make a profit of millions of pounds from stealing our fertile agricultural land," said Mr Iorwerth, who is also MS for Ynys Mon. "There are other more innovative ways of producing solar energy - on our terms here in Anglesey. There is a recent example of using a solar cover in the county council car park, for example." Others to address the protestors today included Plaid Cymru MP for Ynys Mon Llinos Medi and Gareth Winston Roberts, who lives near the proposed site of the Maen Hir scheme. He said he wasn't against solar energy but added: "We are losing our young people from Anglesey, and so we want to secure work in Anglesey - we are talking about Dryweryn here on the Anglesey of Mother Wales." Get the best island stories from our Anglesey newsletter - sent every Friday On the Alaw Mon proposal, Enso Energy claim on their website the park would power 33,935 homes and create 160MW of solar generation, providing renewable electricity for distribution to the National Grid. An underground cable would connect the solar farm and battery energy storage facility to the substation at Wylfa Power Station. Enso Energy has said: "We will use existing farm access points at Nantanog, Chwaen Gach, Chwaen Bach and Tan Rallt to access the site during construction, which we anticipate will take 12 months, and operation." According to Enso Energy, the 160MW plan would produce enough electricity to meet the needs of all the homes on the island. Lightsource BP's intention is to erect the solar panels across three sites, which would produce enough green energy to support over 130,000 homes. The Maen Hir development would reportedly be almost five times larger than the largest active solar farm in the UK.
The Guardian
26-02-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Why has BP pulled the plug on its green ambitions?
BP has angered climate groups by abandoning its green ambitions to instead invest about $10bn a year in a string of new oil and gas projects to help reverse its flagging fortunes. The strategy, put forward by its chief executive, Murray Auchincloss, pulls the plug on BP's 2020 plan to become a net zero energy company, which he claims was 'misplaced' and went 'too far, too fast'. Auchincloss said: 'We made some bold strategic changes, accelerating into the energy transition while progressively reducing our hydrocarbon business. 'We then saw Covid, the war in Ukraine, a recession, and the shift in attitudes of markets and governments had a fundamental impact on the energy system.' It is the first comprehensive reset of the company's plans since 2020. In simple terms, the company plans to focus on the areas of its business that make the most money. This means increasing investment in its oil and gas business to just over $10bn a year, of which 70% will be invested in oil and 30% will go to gas. It hopes this will lead to at least 10 major oil and gas projects by 2027, and another eight by 2030. At the same time it will slash $5bn from the spending plans for its low-carbon energy and retail service stations. It has already spun off of its offshore wind interests to create a 50-50 joint-venture with the Japanese power generator Jera, and it plans to sell off a stake in the solar farm developer Lightsource BP, too. Low-carbon energy will make up less than 5% of its annual investment, versus about 75% from oil and gas extraction. Its previous plan involved putting more than 20%, or $3-$5bn of its $14-$18bn capital spending, into low-carbon. 'I'm truly excited,' said Auchincloss. 'It's very cool.' It is a stark shift from the plan set out in 2020 under the then boss, Bernard Looney, when BP won praise from green groups for committing to the most ambitious energy transition plan of any major oil company. The company vowed to 'reimagine' itself as a net zero energy company by 2050 by cutting oil and gas production by 40% by 2030 and growing its low-carbon energy investments ten-fold to $5bn a year by the end of the decade. Under these plans BP hoped to increase its renewable generating capacity from 2.5GW in 2019 to 50GW by 2030. It also promised to shrink its oil and gas production from 2.6m barrels of oil and gas to 1.5m barrels over the same period. However, by 2023 BP had begun to water down its strategy. It raised its oil and gas production target from 1.5m barrels a day by 2030 to 2m barrels, saying Russia's war on Ukraine meant the world would need more sources of secure energy. BP has come under pressure from investors to turn its back on its remaining green ambitions after the company's share price slumped by a quarter in the past two years, while the market value of rival oil companies has climbed. Auchincloss, BP's former finance chief, told investors that the company's faith in the green energy transition had been 'misplaced' and that the company had gone 'too far, too fast' in recent years. The green strategy faced two major obstacles: first, a post-Covid bottleneck in global supply chains combined with the recent surge in interest rates has made investing in green energy more expensive. Second, the recent surge in global oil and gas prices has made producing fossil fuels more profitable. There is a third problem now, too: the notorious activist hedge fund Elliott Management has amassed a significant stake in BP, which could embolden it to call for sweeping changes to restore its lost value – including a breakup of the company and a boardroom cull. It is not clear whether BP's investors are convinced by this plan. Equity analysts at HSBC described the strategy as 'the fundamental reset we'd been waiting for'. In a note to investors the bank said: 'We've argued in previous research that capital allocation and a change in narrative were key to success of BP's long-awaited [capital markets day]. To be fair, it does feel like BP has heard the market's message on the need for a fundamental reset loud and clear.' However, the company's share price fell 3% after it unveiled the new strategy. This may reflect short-term frustrations over BP's plan to reduce its share buybacks to no more than $1bn a quarter, down from $1.75bn previously, to shore up its balance sheet. But it may also reflect investor fears that the plan offers too little, too late. There has been outrage from climate campaigners, with protest plans targeting the company's London HQ emerging hours after the strategy was announced. Charlie Kronick, a senior climate adviser for Greenpeace UK, said the reset was proof that fossil fuel companies 'can't or won't be part of climate crisis solutions'. He called on the government to 'ensure companies like BP pay their share for the climate damage they're causing'. The plan could be bad news for BP's long-term financial health, too, according to Mark van Baal, the founder of the shareholder action group Follow This. He said BP risked 'a dramatic decline in share value' as the reality of the climate crisis became apparent. 'Sooner or later oil companies will be held liable for the costs for climate damage,' Van Baal said.
Reuters
13-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Lightsource BP enters Japan renewable market with 15 MW solar project
TOKYO, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Lightsource BP, a unit of British oil giant BP (BP.L), opens new tab, announced on Thursday its entry into the Japanese renewable market with the acquisition of a 15 megawatt peak(MWp) solar project in northern island of Hokkaido. The move marks an important expansion of the company's operations in the Asia-Pacific region, leveraging its global expertise to help support Japan's energy transition, Lightsource BP said in a statement. With its entry into Japan, Lightsource BP now operates in 20 global markets, up from 19. The company has a global solar development pipeline exceeding 58 gigawatt(GW), including nearly 8 GW of projects in the Asia-Pacific region, the company added. Last year, BP took full ownership of Lightsource BP. here.
