European oil and gas giants are increasingly expanding their climate goals as they strive to achieve ambitious commitments to clean energy. [emphasis, links added]
In 2022, Norway’s national control energy giant Equinor Asa laid its roadmap for net zero emissions.
However, in February By 2030, Equinor canceled its commitment to spend more than 50% of its total capital expenditure on renewable energy and low-carbon solutions.
Equinor also abandoned plans to invest in Vietnam's offshore wind sector, which dealt a major blow to the country's green energy ambitions.
This marks the first time Equinor has abandoned offshore wind development;In contrast, the company has previously withdrawn from more than a dozen fossil fuel projects to focus on renewable energy and low-carbon systems.
“The energy transition has begun, but the opportunity for high value growth is limited than we expected,” Equinor CEO Anders Opedal said on Thursday.
Similarly, Equinor announced plans to work with partner RWE to build pipelines that transport hydrogen from Norway to Germanyciting a lack of customers and insufficient regulatory framework.
Equinor will build hydrogen plants, allowing Norway to send up to 10 GW of blue hydrogen to Germany each year.
Similarly, Shell announced plans to stop new offshore venture capital and separate its power division as CEO Wael Sawan seeks to increase the company's profitability.
“While we will not lead new offshore wind developments, we are still interested in the commercial terms that are acceptable and cautiously open outdoor activities if there are compelling investment cases,” a company spokesperson said in a statement brought by Reuters.
Like Equinor, Shell appears to be systematically expanding its investment in clean energy.
Earlier this year, the company abandoned plans to build a low-carbon hydro plant on Norway's west coast due to lack of demand.
“We haven’t seen the market for blue hydrogenation and decided not to go through the project.” A Shell spokesman told Reuters.
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