BP To Divest Wind Unit In Effort To Enhance Competitiveness

British oil giant bp said Monday it plans to divest its suite of US onshore wind operations as part of its ongoing effort to simplify its business operations and become more competitive with peer companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron going forward. The company said in a release that it plans to sell all of its US projects as a single unit, adding it expects its entire wind-related workforce would move to the buyer along with the assets.

The company owns interests in 10 US wind operations, operating 9 of them through its business unit bp Wind Energy. Total capacity of the 10 projects comes to 1.7 gigawatts, all of which is grid-connected and currently providing power to an array of customers.

This announcement does not mean bp is exiting onshore wind energy entirely. It plans to continue development of wind projects through Lightsource bp, a joint venture in which it is currently a 50% owner. The company announced plans last November to obtain 100% ownership in Lightsource bp, whose assets currently consist of various solar energy installations. Upon completion of that acquisition later this year, BP says Lightsource’s future ventures will focus on utility-scale solar and wind on a global scale.