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The BP logo displayed outside a gas station in England on August 15, 2022.

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

The energy major said the investment in 5B — made via its subsidiary BP Ventures — wrapped up a Series B funding round 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 said.

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

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BP said 5B had deployed over 60 megawatts of solar tech worldwide, with projects 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 energy system is a hydrocarbon system’

CEO Bernard Looney recently said the BP strategy focused on simultaneously investing in hydrocarbons and the planned energy 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 said during a panel discussion 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 at the Adipec conference in Abu Dhabi, Looney said his company was “obviously trying to produce those hydrocarbons with the lowest possible emissions” whilst at the same 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 said, namechecking carbon capture, electric vehicle charging, hydrogen and offshore wind.

BP says it targets net-zero emission by 2050.

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

The IEA’s Renewables 2022 report predicted a major shift within the world’s electricity mix at a time of significant volatility and geopolitical tension.

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

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The first giant 15 MW turbine is up at Germany’s largest offshore wind farm

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The first giant 15 MW turbine is up at Germany’s largest offshore wind farm

Germany’s largest offshore wind farm under construction, EnBW’s He Dreiht, just hit a big milestone: The first enormous turbine is now up in the North Sea.

He Dreiht – which means “it spins” in Low German – is using Vestas’s massive 15 megawatt (MW) turbines, the first project in the world to install them. Just one spin of one of the rotors can generate enough electricity to power four households for an entire day.

When it’s finished, He Dreiht will have 64 mega turbines cranking out 960 megawatts (MW) of clean power – enough to supply around 1.1 million homes. And it’s being built without any government subsidies.

EnBW, one of Germany’s major energy companies, has been working in offshore wind for more than 15 years, but He Dreiht is their biggest project yet. “It will play a key role in helping us to significantly grow our renewable energy output from 6.6 GW to over 10 GW by 2030,” said Michael Class, who heads up EnBW’s generation portfolio development.

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The project is a win for Vestas, too. “With the installation of the first V236-15.0 MW, we have reached an important milestone for both the He Dreiht project and our offshore ramp-up, which helps Germany build a more secure, affordable, and sustainable energy system,” said Nils de Baar, president of Vestas Northern & Central Europe.

He Dreiht is located about 85 kilometers (53 miles) northwest of Borkum and 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Helgoland. At peak times, more than 500 workers will be out at sea building the farm, using a fleet of more than 60 ships. EnBW’s offshore team in Hamburg is running the show.

The installation process is a major operation. The 64 foundations were already set in the seabed last year. Parts for the turbines are loaded onto the installation vessel Wind Orca in Esbjerg, Denmark, and shipped out in a 12-hour journey to the construction site. From there, the turbines are lifted into place. Meanwhile, crews are also working on internal wind farm cabling.

A partner consortium made up of Allianz Capital Partners, AIP, and Norges Bank Investment Management owns 49.9% of the shares in He Dreiht.

Read more: Trump admin halts $5 billion NY offshore wind project mid-build


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Tesla gives update on Tesla Semi factory, says on track for volume production in 2026

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Tesla gives update on Tesla Semi factory, says on track for volume production in 2026

Tesla has released a quick update about its Tesla Semi factory in Nevada. It says that it is on track for volume production of the electric semi truck in 2026.

The Tesla Semi was first scheduled to go into production in 2019, but it has faced numerous delays.

Now, it appears that there is finally some momentum to bring it to volume production.

For the last two years, Tesla has been working to build a new factory next to Gigafactory Nevada, where it builds the battery packs and drive units for most of its electric vehicles built in North America.

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Today, Tesla released a “progress update on the factory, confirming that it finished building and it’s now working on deploying the production lines:

Tesla had previously mentioned aiming for volume production by 2025, but it is now only talking about starting production toward the end of the year and ramping up next year.

The automaker reiterated its planned production capacity of 50,000 units.

We recently reported that an early Tesla Semi customer, Ryder, stated that the electric truck program is experiencing more delays and a price increase described as “dramatic.”

They now expect to take deliveries of their first trucks later in 2026 and said that the price has increased “dramatically,” leading them to scale back their pilot program from 42 to 18 Tesla Semi trucks.

When originally unveiling the Tesla Semi in 2017, the automaker mentioned prices of $150,000 for a 300-mile range truck and $180,000 for the 500-mile version. Tesla also took orders for a “Founder’s Series Semi” at $200,000.

However, Tesla didn’t update the prices when launching the “production version” of the truck in late 2022. Price increases have been speculated, but the company has never confirmed them.

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Vietnamese solar giant Boviet opens first US factory in North Carolina

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Vietnamese solar giant Boviet opens first US factory in North Carolina

Vietnamese solar panel maker Boviet Solar just opened the doors to its first US factory — a huge new PV module plant in Greenville, North Carolina.

The company dropped $294 million into the state-of-the-art facility, which will pump out Boviet’s Gamma Series monofacial and Vega Series bifacial solar panels. They’re using advanced PERC and N-Type solar cell tech, which basically means these panels are built to deliver higher efficiency and better performance across residential, commercial, industrial, and utility-scale projects.

The Greenville factory’s first phase is now online with an annual PV module output capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW). For Phase 2, which is scheduled to come online in the second half of 2026, Boviet will invest another $100 million to add 600,000 square feet and ramp up to another 2 GW. It will make high-efficiency solar cells.

Once both phases are complete, Boviet’s campus will cover more than 1 million square feet of manufacturing and R&D space. It’s one of the biggest clean energy manufacturing projects North Carolina has ever seen.

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The jobs impact is significant, too. The first phase will create 460 skilled local jobs. Phase 2 is expected to add another 908, bringing the total to over 1,300 direct jobs, plus nearly 2,000 more indirect jobs across the region. That’s good news for Pitt County’s economy, real estate market, and workforce training programs.

“This facility is not just creating jobs, but creating opportunity, innovation, and a stronger foundation for eastern North Carolina,” said Senator Kandie Smith. Governor Josh Stein added that Boviet Solar’s move shows how North Carolina is leading the way in clean energy growth.

Read more: Thomas Built Buses debuts its next-gen electric school bus


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Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –ad*

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