British oil group BP has announced the sale of a 10% stake in the Shafag solar project in Azerbaijan to Hungary's MVM Energetika Zrt. The transaction changes the project's ownership split: BP now holds 40.01%, SOCAR Green 39.99%, the Azerbaijan Business Development Fund 10%, and MVM 10%. The project is being developed by Lightsource bp, BP's solar subsidiary, in partnership with the various co-shareholders.

The Shafag photovoltaic plant, whose final investment decision was announced by BP in June 2023, is expected to come online in 2027. It is designed to generate around 500 gigawatt-hours of renewable electricity a year. The sale comes as BP reviews some of its investments in renewables and biogas, after recording around $4bn in charges in Q4 2023 in these segments.

The recent write-downs notably involved Lightsource bp, Archaea, its US biogas subsidiary, as well as offshore wind projects. However, this partial shift has not prevented BP from continuing to develop its solar assets, as shown by bringing new partners into Shafag's shareholding.