TotalEnergies, formerly known as Total, is a company at the heart of the energy transition. There’s more to the rebranding than mere cosmetics.
“There are real changes behind the new name and logo. The colours represent the different energies we are moving into, from traditional oil in the reds and gas and LNG in the blues, to renewable energies, electricity, biomass, offshore wind and solar in greens and yellow,” Managing Director and Country Chair for TotalEnergies in Norway, Phil Cunningham, explains, continuing:
“The design is forward-looking and upbeat, recognising that we are building our sustainable future.”
Phil Cunningham
Managing Director og Country Chair for TotalEnergies in Norway
TotalEnergies is a global producer of various forms of energies, with solar and wind projects implemented around the world. Norway is one of the focus areas where the international giant is eager to add value to the transition.
Norwegian offshore wind power by 2030
“We are actively producing offshore wind power, for instance in the UK and we have big ambitions to do so in Norway. One important project is Trollvind, intended to provide sustainable power for oil and gas infrastructure, in the longer term also for onshore purposes,” Cunningham says. “Through Skjoldblad, that we own together with Iberdrola and Norsk Havvind, we will bid for blocks at Utsira Nord and Sørlige Nordsjø II, hopefully producing by the end of the decade.”
“TotalEnergies also has a research centre here in Stavanger, with some 20 specialists working on among other the green transition, such as offshore wind, but also carbon capture, storage and transportation, which is important to reach our climate goals. We are a 1/3 partner in Northern Lights and its CO2 storage facility in Øygarden, the first commercial business in the world to store third-party carbon, safely deposited under the seabed,” he explains.
TotalEnergies’ 2022 sustainable and climate progress report cites solar, wind, hydrogen and biogas as focal points for the company’s operations, already gaining momentum.
“A quarter of our investments are in renewables, electricity or what we call new molecules. There’s green hydrogen, which can use renewable power producing carbon-free hydrogen, or blue hydrogen, stripping out CO2 from the gas used for production, which requires power to do so. The CO2 is then stored in facilities like Northern Lights,” Cunningham says.
Norway very well placed
“We are now looking into how this technology can be put to good use here. Norway could be very well placed in the value chain, with our abundant supply of gas and renewable power.”
Fundamental changes are definitely taking place. We asked Cunningham to describe the company’s sales mix and also what the future energy mix will look like.
“As a company we have put a lot of effort into analysing our options, with models based on the Paris agreement, yielding results that are slightly different from the IEA’s assessment. We believe that the growth in energy demand will continue. As an example, there are millions of people in Africa without electricity, and we should help them to achieve that. The increase in global population figures, driving the energy demand, is yet a challenge, and we want to prepare for that.”
Increasing investments in renewables
“For 2030 we project that 20% of our energy mix will come from renewables as we transition into the big shift. The current mix is half and half oil and gas, with 9% bio electricity on top. In the future the oil component is around 30%, oil remaining a necessary product. 30% will be gas, lower on carbon. At the same time we will have grown our electricity production from renewables like solar and wind to 15%, as well as 5% hydrogen and biomass. We already see airlines operating aircraft running on sustainable fuels, and expect to see significant developments in that sector,” he predicts.
“Our main ambition is to supply more, less carbon-intense and more sustainable energy. ‘Sustainable’ doesn’t mean just less carbon. It includes all of the sustainability goals, such as protection of the environment, workers’ rights and quality of life, naming some. As a responsible company we take this into consideration while progressing the energy shift together with society. We are a member of UN Global Compact and we continue to work within the remit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”
TotalEnergies’ ambition is to become one of the world’s five leading companies within renewables by 2030.
“We intend to achieve that by taking serious steps today and have real plans. I recently enjoyed giving a presentation to our staff in Norway on how we are going to do this, starting with a thorough understanding of the current climate situation, moving on to the two-degree C or better aim, what the energy mix, the offsets and the energy infrastructure need to look like in 2030 and 2050. As 2030 is almost tomorrow, we want to find sustainable projects now. Therefore we have employed renewables business developers across our global business, including in Norway,” he says, adding:
“Only half our capital is allocated to maintain petroleum production. The world still needs it, so we should not stop producing. The remaining 50% will be spent on renewables and the energy transition. These are big numbers, between USD 13 and 16 billion in the next three years, obviously not only in Norway. Half of that will go to renewables and electricity, so we want to capture these wind projects and actually make that electricity. 20% is allocated to gas and LNG. We see a growth in liquified natural gas, due to its portability, especially with the current challenges Europe is facing with Russia. The remaining 5% will be reserved for the so-called new molecules, such as hydrogen, e-fuels and possibly ammonia.”
“As mentioned, TotalEnergies intends to be one of the big names in multi-energy supply, assisting society in achieving a sustainable future for all. Society needs to change and we want to help, as a provider of renewables, electricity and new molecules, hoping that people will look to us and trust us with our history and ability to deliver major infrastructure projects safely and responsibly, also for the next generation,” Cunningham concludes.
By Jarle Petterson