While global energy generation has risen by around 30% in the past ten years, renewable energy output has nearly doubled over this time frame, standing at around 14,500 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2000.
Global power generation is estimated to rise further to 37,000TWh by 2030, according to GlobalData, Power Technology’s parent company. With the shift toward renewable sources, this is gradually reducing the reliance on fossil fuels.
The share of renewables in the global energy mix is forecast to reach more than 40% by 2030 – and they are expected to play a key role in the product portfolios of oil and gas (O&G) companies, which are relatively new entrants in the space, according to GlobalData,
Ravindra Puranik, oil and gas analyst, GlobalData, said: “This growth is primarily driven by the rising electrification in emerging markets and the increasing energy demand from data centres, cryptocurrency miners and other expanding digital technologies.”
He added that the “growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), particularly in Europe, the US and China, where their market penetration is higher, is contributing to the rising demand for power.”
GlobalData’s Strategic Intelligence report, Renewable Energy in Oil & Gas, evaluates the role of O&G players in the renewable energy space. It further benchmarks the efforts of oil majors such as BP, Eni, Equinor, Petrobras, Repsol, Shell and TotalEnergies in the renewable energy value chain.
Puranik added that the “oil and gas industry – including producers, service providers and contractors – are relatively new entrants in renewable energy. Despite this, they are making notable movements in the competitive landscape for renewable energy, particularly in offshore wind”.
TotalEnergies is “anticipated to be the fourth-largest producer of wind energy globally towards the end of this decade, if all its proposed projects go online. Even BP, Shell and several other European players are building considerable renewable power capacity,” he said.
Over the past few years, O&G companies have begun to slow the pace of investments flowing into renewable energy. BP recently withdrew the permit application for its Beacon Wind project offshore New York, while Equinor has lowered its renewable energy targets, citing cost pressures.
Puranik continued: “Nevertheless, they still fare a lot better than the notable US-based oil majors, ExxonMobil and Chevron, that are clear laggards in the renewable energy segment. These two companies have negligible capacity footprint in this theme and have no plans to alter this scenario in the near future.”
