(AOF) – TotalEnergies has received from the Spanish authorities the environmental authorizations necessary to carry out solar projects for a total capacity estimated at 3 GW. These authorizations concern the 48 power plants that TotalEnergies will develop in the community of Madrid (installed capacity of 1.9 GW), in the region of Murcia (more than 350 MW), in Castile-La Mancha (more than 300 MW), in Andalusia (263 MW) and in Aragon (around 150 MW). The first projects will start in early 2024.
These solar farms will generate approximately 6,000 GWh of clean energy per year, enough to cover the electricity demand of nearly 4 million people. They will also prevent the emission into the atmosphere of nearly 50 million tonnes of CO2 throughout their lifetime.
TotalEnergies specifies that it will deploy a series of compensation measures, including the marking of birds to observe their behavior, the rental of 400 additional hectares for conservation actions, and the allocation of 1.5% of the production of the power stations for discounts on the electricity bills of local inhabitants, while offering training in construction and operation & maintenance to the inhabitants of neighboring municipalities.
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Key points
– Integrated energy group, 3rd world oil company, 2nd gas company and world number in solar energy with Sun Power;
– 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: debt ratio of 7% and return on equity of 32%.
Challenges
– 2020-2030 strategy + energy, – emissions:
– change in the distribution of sales -30% petroleum 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 renewables and electricity and 50% to natural gas;
– Innovation strategy led by One Tech, endowed with $850 million 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,
– a digital factory to generate $1.5 billion in savings by 2025;
– Environmental Strategy 2050:
– carbon neutrality for the group’s operations and products sold in Europe, reduction of 60% or more in the carbon intensity of products used outside Europe;
– 4 axes: growth in the gas value chains (natural, biogas and hydrogen), in low-carbon electricity (annual budget of $1.5 to 2 billion), in low breakeven oil, in biofuels , 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 (solar, LNG and hydrogen) and in Clearway, 5th American in renewables, 29% of industrial investments going to low-carbon energies;
– Industrial excellence in oil production with a breakeven point of -20 $/b, with numerous projects in progress (Nigeria) and 4 discoveries (Brazil, Cyprus, Namidia and Surinam).
Challenges
– Sensitivity to the price of a barrel of oil and to the dollar, a variation of $0.1 having an impact of $100 million on operating profit, a variation of $10 per barrel having an impact of $2.7 billion;
– Russia-Ukraine war: impairment of €4.1 billion on the stake in the Russian company Novatek;
– Prospects for 2023 of a 2% increase in hydrocarbon production, driven by the start-up of the Omani, Brazilian and Azerbaijani fields, by advances in LNG (2 new terminals in Europe) and by a 30% increase in the production of renewable electricity, all supported by $16 to $18 billion in investments;
– Total dividend for 2022 of €2.81, i.e. a payment of €0.74 for the last installment, forecast of 3 installments in 2023 for an amount of €0.74 and confirmation of share buybacks for $2 billion at 1st quarter, triggered according to the formula 40% of the cash flow generated by hydrocarbon prices above $60 per barrel.
Find out more about the “oil and para-petroleum” sector
Biogas to green activities
Obtained through the decomposition of waste, it falls into the category of green energy. It is part of the strategy of many countries, particularly in Europe, to reduce their dependence on hydrocarbon imports. The oil groups have strong ambitions in the field, as revealed by two recent operations. The British BP took over the American Archaea Energy for 4.1 billion dollars. Then, the Anglo-Dutch, Shell, announced the acquisition of the Danish Nature Energy for 2 billion dollars. These transactions show high valuation levels, underlining the strong potential of the sector. TotalEnergies had already taken a stake in the American Clean Energy Fuels Corp in 2018, of which it now holds 19%. It recently joined forces with Veolia to recover biomethane from waste treatment facilities.