Green Energy Reporter

In this morning’s media call by BP, Chief Executive Tony Hayward said the company’s cleantech  expenditure for 2009 would hover between $500 million and $1billion, a steep cut compared to the $1.4 billion it invested in the sector  last year.

Despite the scale back, Hayward reaffirmed investments in wind generation projects in the U.S. and Europe and growth of its solar cells manufacturing capacity, including the possible opening of a new plant in southeast Asia. Last year the company shut down a solar panel plant in Australia.

Hayward added that it would also expand biofuel investments at its Tropical BioEnergia ethanol venture in Brazil, which began operating one refinery this year and is considering constructing a second facility for a combined $1 billion investment. While growing investments in Brazil, last month the company said it would tighten investments at D1, its other biofuel venture, which produces oil from jatropha plants. For more on this, see here.

In the Middle East, Hayward reiterated planned investments for its 420 MW Hydrogen-fired power generation plant in Abu Dhabi, which it’s jointly developing with Masdar. Once operational, the facility will capture its CO2 output for injection in operating oil and gas fields to ease the recovery process.