Total and Statoil polish their green credentials

摘要

Total and Norway’s state-controlled Statoil are attempting to differentiate themselves from their peers as credible renewable energy investors. Political pressure on the oil industry to re-engage with the sector is mounting, following the UN’s Paris climate change agreement in December. Total is giving renewables a more prominent role in its organisational structure, pairing its solar and wind investments with its gas marketing and trading operations in a new business segment. This will allow the firm to take a “value chain approach to electricity” and help make it the “responsible energy major”, chief executive Patrick Pouyanne says. The restructuring does not come with any firm investment commitments. But Total has set itself an ambitious goal “to be in the top three in solar power” within 20 years, building on its majority stake in California-based SunPower. The major this year became a founding member of the Terawatt Initiative, a global group of private-sector investors committed to promoting affordable solar energy.