(AOF) – TotalEnergies and InVivo, one of the leading European agricultural groups, today inaugurated the first agrivoltaic demonstrator in the Ile-de-France region, with a surface area of 5,000 m2 and a power of 111 kWp. This follows the partnership agreement signed by the two groups in March 2020 to promote the country’s energy and agricultural transitions. The objective is to develop agrivoltaic projects that benefit both the agricultural world, with new crops protected by agrivoltaic installations, and territories in search of carbon-free energy.
The development and construction of this project were done in consultation and in connection with all the territorial stakeholders.
With this demonstrator, the aim is to study the impact of the presence of solar panels on agricultural production but also on biodiversity, carbon storage and water quality. It also involves studying energy production to validate a new economic model.
The technology used combines vertical structures, bifacial photovoltaic panels and optimization of the footprint to maximize the production of green electricity during peak electricity consumption. This innovative technology also protects crops from wind or excessive sun exposure.
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Key points
– Integrated group around energy, 3
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world oil company, 2nd gas company;
– Activity of $141 billion organized into 4 branches: 45% for marketing & services (distribution networks, etc.), 40% in refining & chemicals, 11% in renewables, gas and electricity, then exploration- production ;
– Economic model of transformation in ten years into a multi-energy group, producer of oil & LNG (liquefied natural gas), renewable energies & electricity and hydrogen & biomass;
– Open capital (6.4% held by employees), the 12-member Board of Directors being chaired by Patrick Pouyanné, also Chief Executive Officer;
– Solid balance sheet with $104 billion in equity and $17 billion in free cash flow and a debt ratio of 9.8%, well below the 20% target.
Challenges
– 2020-2030 strategy to respond to the challenge of energy transition, more energy, – emissions: 30% growth in energy production, 50% powered by renewable electricity, 50% by LNG , the share of oil dropping from 55 to 30%, change in the breakdown of sales – 30% oil products, 50% gas, 15% electricity and 5% biomass and hydrogen / discipline in investments – $13 to $15 billion per year over 2022-2025, of which 50% allocated to new energies – renewables and electricity – and 50% to natural gas;
– Innovation strategy led by One Tech, endowed with 850 M$ for 18 R&D centers: 3 hubs: industrial, development and support / 5 programs: production, CO2 and sustainability, operational efficiency of upstream, downstream & polymers, fuel and lubricants / recycling and biofuels / a digital factory to generate $1.5 billion in savings by 2025;
– Environmental strategy: by 2050, carbon neutrality for group operations, neutrality of products used by customers in Europe, reduction of 60% or more in the carbon intensity of products used by customers outside Europe;
– 4 axes: growth in the gas value chains (natural, biogas and hydrogen), in low-carbon electricity (annual envelope of $1.5 to 2 billion), in low breakeven oil and in biofuels and, finally, in activities contributing to carbon neutrality (natural wells, forests, etc.) / solar and renewables: production capacity of 25 Gw by 2025 / carbon fund endowed with $400 million to be invested by 2025;
– In renewables & electricity, capacity portfolio of 35 GW by 2025, including +20 GW secured by long-term purchase contracts;
– Acceleration of the energy transition with equity investments in 2 Qatari and Indian projects (LNG and hydrogen) and in Clearway, 5
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American Renewable Energy;
– Industrial excellence in oil production with a breakeven at -$20/bbl.
Challenges
– Sensitivity to the price of a barrel of oil and to the dollar, an increase of $10 per barrel having an impact on operating profit of $2.7 billion; a decline of $10 affecting it by $100 million;
– Exposure to geopolitical risks in Africa (30% of the group’s production);
– Impact of the Russia-Ukraine war: stoppage of capital contributions to new projects and the Arctic project, stoppage of oil and diesel purchases, maintenance of stakes in Novatek (19.4%), Yamal (20%), Arctic LNG (10%) and Terneftegaz (49%) and maintenance of LNG supply from Yamal;
– After a virtual tripling of the net result in 1
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semester, 2022 outlook for higher hydrocarbon production with high selling prices, renewable and electricity capacities above 16 GW thanks to dedicated investments of $3.5 billion (a quarter of total investments) , a downstream contribution (petrochemicals, biofuels and electric mobility) of €6 billion to free cash flow;
– Payment of 2 interim dividends for 2022 of €0.69 and maintenance of share buybacks, of $2 billion on 3
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quarter, triggered according to the formula 40% of the cash flow generated by hydrocarbon prices above $60 per barrel.
Growing global demand
The IEA (International Energy Agency) estimates that global demand should stand at 99.4 Mb/d (million barrels per day) for 2022, a level slightly revised upwards due to stronger growth. stronger than expected in March and April. However, this remains 1 Mb/d below 2019 levels. From 2023 the IEA forecasts that global oil demand should exceed pre-Covid pandemic levels, driven by Chinese demand. The latter has been strongly affected by the serious disruptions linked to Covid-19 this year. Next year, the rebound in Chinese demand will more than offset a slowdown in OECD countries. In the medium term, the strong recovery in air traffic is supporting oil demand, with an increasingly evident dynamic in air travel in Europe and North America, underlines the IEA.