Oil major BP is the latest to bail out on ambitious renewable energy plans after announcing on Monday plans to divest its entire North American wind portfolio.In a statement, the Anglo-American supermajority said the assets — which cover 10 onshore wind farms across seven US states — are ‘not aligned’ with its growth plans, namely increasing oil and gas production.“We believe the business is likely to be of greater value for another owner,” William Lin, BP’s executive vice president for gas and low carbon energy said in a statement.Collectively, the farms generate about 1.3 gigawatts of power and are worth about USD$2 billion, according to analyst estimates..Also on Monday, BP said it was folding its remaining onshore renewable power assets into Lightsource BP, Europe’s largest solar power developer that it took over last year.It comes amid a shakeup in the upper ranks of the London-based supermajority. New CEO Murray Auchincloss — who formerly headed the company’s Canadian division in Calgary — has imposed a hiring freeze and paused new offshore wind projects amid a renewed emphasis on oil and gas. In February of 2023, the company reduced its emissions reduction target of 35-40% by 2030 to 20-30%. At the same time it said it is rolling back plans to spend up to 40% of its entire capital budget on renewable energy projects..It comes amid investor discontent over its energy transition strategy, sources at the company told Reuters in June. The company’s stock has been battered by a series of high-profile sex scandals in its senior ranks as well as massive write downs of oil producing assets in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.BP becomes the latest foreign energy giant to reconsider its renewables strategy. Last month, Danish wind energy giant Orstead reported impairment losses exceeding $581.6 million due to delays in a series of US offshore wind projects.
