Equinor cuts renewable energy target due to industry headwinds

Scatec ASA

05/02/2025 07:42

By Nora Buli
       LONDON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Norway's Equinor  EQNR.OL  is
reducing its ambitions for developing renewable energy capacity
by 2030, it said on Wednesday, the latest move by a European
energy company to cut green targets as the market for renewables
sours.
    Equinor follows peers BP  BP.L  and Shell  SHEL.L , which
have trimmed plans to expand in renewable energy, especially
offshore wind, where they previously hoped to benefit from their
experience of operating oil and gas production at sea.
    The offshore wind industry has struggled with interest rate
rises, cost inflation, supply bottlenecks, changing regulatory
regimes and unattractive margins, testing investors' patience.
    "For renewables, the ambition for installed capacity is
reduced to 10-12 gigawatt by 2030," Equinor said in a strategy
update on Wednesday. This is down from a target of 12-16
gigawatts (GW) by 2030 Equinor set in 2021. 
    The company was doing it to adapt to market conditions and
to further strengthen value creation for shareholders, it said.
    The new target included Equinor's 10% stake in Danish
offshore developer Orsted  ORSTED.CO , the world's largest, as
well as its 16.2% ownership in solar company Scatec  SCATC.OL ,
Equinor said.
    In addition, Equinor is scrapping a previous 2030 target to
allocate 50% of gross capital expenditures to renewables and low
carbon solutions, it said.
    Separately, Equinor on Wednesday posted slightly
higher-than-expected profits for the final quarter of 2024,
while raising its oil and gas output forecast.

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Equinor Q4 profit beats forecast, raises 2030 oil output target 
   urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N3OW0D1
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Reporting by Nora Buli in London, editing by Gwladys Fouche
and Christian Schmollinger)
 ((Nora.Buli@thomsonreuters.com; (+47) 21 04 05 56; Reuters
Messaging: nora.buli.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))