Lightsource BP, rebranded from Lightsource Renewable Energy in 2018, is the largest solar developer in Europe, and third largest in the world outside of China. Lightsource BP is a British company with headquarters in London, and offices in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Mumbai, New Delhi, Cairo, Melbourne, Amsterdam, Bath, Belfast and Dublin.
History
The company was founded in 2010 as Lightsource Renewable Energy. In 2011, the company's first solar park was established in Truro. It consists of more than 5,000 panels that can generate enough electricity to supply 430 homes in the area. In 2013, Lightsource completed a 5 MW rooftop solar PV installation at Bentley Motors' factory in Crewe. In 2016, the company launched Europe's largest floating solar project at the Queen Elizabeth II Reservoir, in Walton-on-Thames. In 2016, Lightsource completed the Crookedstone Solar Farm, in Antrim, Northern Ireland, which provides a third of the Belfast International Airport's electricity needs. In 2017, the company announced the establishment of teams in North America, the Netherlands and India. In 2018, the company completed its first international installation, a 60MW solar farm in Maharashtra, India. Lightsource BP won the offtake contract through a competitive 450 MW tender process by the Government of India, managed by SECI. The project comprises 200,000 LONGi Solar photovoltaic panels ground-mounted across 240 acres. In that year Lightsource BP also announced they had signed a 25-year power purchase and asset acquisition agreement with Mid-Kansas Electric Company Inc, in Stanton County, Kansas, USA.
BP Partnership
In 2017, it was announced that BP will acquire a 43% stake in the company by investing $200 million. The company was accordingly renamed Lightsource BP. Lightsource BP targets the growing demand for large-scale solar projects worldwide with a focus on grid-connected plants and corporate power purchase agreements signed with private companies. The company is largely focused in the Americas, India, Europe and the Middle East. The company sees opportunities to create additional value through integrating solar with BP’s other businesses and trading capabilities as well as through BP’s international scale and relationships.
Joint Ventures
In 2018, Lightsource BP announced the formation of EverSource Capital, a partnership with Everstone Group to create a major fund management platform for green energy infrastructure in India. EverSource Capital, based in India and staffed by employees from both partners, manages funds targeting contracted power, distribution infrastructure and energy services in India. The launch fund for EverSource Capital is the Green GrowthEquity Fund, which has a fundraising target of £500m and joint anchor investments from the UK Government and the India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, with a commitment of £120m each. Later in 2018, the company announced another joint venture, this time in Egypt, with HA Utilities, the utilities arm of leading regional construction and engineering group Hassan Allam Holding. The venture, Lightsource BP Powered by Hassan Allam Utilities, is dedicated to funding, developing and operating solar projects locally and across the region.
Operations
As of 2018, Lightsource BP has commissioned 1.3 GW of solar capacity and manages about 2 GW of solar capacity. It plans to increase the capacity up to 8 GW through projects in the Americas, India, Europe and the Middle East. Alongside funding, developing, constructing and connecting solar installations across the globe, Lightsource BP provides Operations and Maintenance and Asset Management services to solar asset owners in the UK and beyond.
