New developments see BP focus on accelerating the energy transition in the UK and Europe.
BP has announced it will invest up to £50 million in a new electric vehicle (EV) battery testing centre and analytical laboratory in the UK. The facility will be located at BP’s Castrol business in Pangbourne, Berkshire, and is due to open by the end of 2024. The location is already home to research and development of fuels, lubricants and EV fluids. BP said that the aim is to make the site a leading hub for fluid technologies and engineering in the UK, advancing the development of hybrid and fully electric vehicles.
Michelle Jou, CEO of Castrol said: ‘This significant new investment will now allow us to build additional strategic technologies and capabilities to further advance EV fluids for the future. The facilities will also be an amazing showcase to demonstrate our integrated technology expertise to customers as we help drive the transition to EVs.’
This move in battery research and development is underpinned by BP’s recently announced partnership with Spain’s Iberdrola to deploy 11,000 fast charge points across Spain and Portugal. The partners said that they intend to invest up to €1 billion to roll out the network of rapid and ultrafast EV public charge points across Spain and Portugal. The companies are also jointly looking at options to jointly serve EV customers in the UK.
The partners are also planning to develop large-scale production of green hydrogen in Spain, Portugal and the UK, as well as production of derivatives such as green ammonia and methanol that can potentially be exported into Northern Europe.
BP’s hydrogen production hubs in the three countries will have a total capacity of up to 600ktpa, integrated with new renewable power. A green hydrogen project being developed by BP at its refinery in Castellón, Spain, is part of the agreement. BP and Iberdrola aim to finalise both agreements by the end of 2022.
At the end of 2021, BP announced that it was planning a large-scale green hydrogen production facility, which will be located in Teesside, UK. The project is set to be developed in phases with initial start-up slated for 2025.
Visit Blog