The investment in R&B is expected to support BP Alternative Energy’s focus on low carbon power, storage, digital energy value chain and wider Energy as a Service (EaaS) offers

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BP Ventures invests in China’s AI energy management company R&B. (Credit: BP p.l.c)

BP Ventures has announced an investment in China’s artificial intelligence (AI) energy management company, R&B.

Led by BP Ventures and supported by CLP Innovation Ventures, a subsidiary of CLP Holdings, and JAFCO Asia, the $3.6m investment is part of R&B’s latest funding round.

R&B is claimed to be a specialist in energy management systems, which are designed for forecasting, controlling and improving the energy usage of a building. According to BP, buildings account for one-third of the world’s total energy consumption.

The investment in R&B is expected to support BP Alternative Energy’s focus on low carbon power, storage, digital energy value chain and wider Energy as a Service (EaaS) offers.

R&B’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) uses AI techniques to diagnose energy and optimise in the commercial and industrial (C&I) sector. It also processes data to generate valuable insights and recommendations on how to improve energy efficiency and increase the predictive maintenance of buildings.

BP Alternative Energy chief executive and executive vice president Dev Sanyal said: “Digital technology, smarter consumers and bold decarbonisation targets are together rapidly changing the world’s energy systems.

“BP is determined to help meet society’s demands for more energy, delivered in new and cleaner ways.

“Our investment in R&B, a business developing and deploying innovative technology to improve energy efficiency, is fully aligned with this strategy.”

The investment is latest financial injection in China for BP Ventures

The investment in R&B is the latest financial injection in China for BP Ventures, following an investment into PowerShare, a major software solution provider for electric vehicle sharing, last year and a $10m investment in NIO Capital to explore opportunities in advanced mobility in 2018.

In October last year, BP Ventures invested $5m in US-based Finite Resources, the parent company of Finite Carbon, a forest carbon management company. Finite Carbon is involved in the development of forest carbon offsets in North America.