US oil companies may not lead the move towards renewable energy, but they like the price in places like the Permian Basin.
U.S. (Natural Energy News): Chevron announced that 500 megawatts of renewable power plants would be built to power some of its global facilities, which to date have led to a massive expansion of clean energy for an oil giant with some large investments in renewables But increase the magnitude.
Chevron will work with Algonquin Power & Utilities of Canada, a global renewables developer to plant plants in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico as well as "preference regulating fields" in Kazakhstan, Argentina and Western Australia over the next four years. Initial projects will be sited on land owned by Chevron, with construction to begin in 2021.
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The renewable projects will be jointly co-developed and owned by Chevron and Algonquin, with Chevron purchasing the power through power-purchase agreements.
Oil producers of United States delay behind their European opponents in creating strategic investments in clean energy corporations and technologies, but as customers of electricity - and often in remote areas - they are coming to be more curious in the low-cost wind and solar power. Deals like Chevron are common in high-renewable states such as Texas.
In 2018 ExxonMobil agreed to buy 500 MW of wind and solar power from Inrsted in Texas, the largest renewable deal at the time, signed by an oil company. Chevron already buys 65 MW of wind power in West Texas, and last year it signed a 35-megawatt power purchase agreement with SunPower to power its Lost Hills oil field in Kern County, California.
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Chagnon spokesman Veronica Flores-Paniagua said the 500-MW deal with Algonquin represents a new level of engagement with renewables.
"What has changed is the cost of wind and solar power, which is becoming more competitive, and technology, which has also made considerable progress," Flores-Paniagua said.
Another factor may drive oil companies towards renewable goods: reliability.
"The power grid in West Texas is so heavily stressed by oil operations that it has become necessary to move off-grid sources of electricity," said Wood McKenzie principal analyst Alex Beaker. Is] lots of sun and wind.
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While some Permian oil companies have adopted a more environmentally friendly approach than the previous year - such as switching from diesel to cleaner gas to power their fracking equipment, or to recycle their water - economic considerations Becker remains the main motivator behind such steps, Beaker wrote in an email.
The independent oil producer EOG, for example, is saving $ 200,000 per well by switching to natural gas for its power because it is so cheap right now in the Permian Basin, he said.
US oil companies lag behind in clean electricity investment
Facing greater pressure to decarbonate than their American counterparts, Europe's oil giants have carried out a series of low-carbon investments in recent years that have made them a leader in some clean-energy sectors - Even the total amount invested remains small compared to their overall expenditure.
This week Shell emerged as the joint winner of the 759-MW offshore wind project at the latest Dutch tender, and with a new twist: the offshore wind farm will feature several technology demonstrations including temporary solar, short-term storage and green hydrogen. Shell has already established an important position in the emerging US offshore wind market.
BP has a 50 percent stake in global solar developer Lightsros BP and announced earlier this month that it would enter China's commercial and industrial solar market in partnership with GinkgoSolar, the world's largest PV module manufacturer.
The calculus is shifting as some of the oil-producing industries acquire greater carbon rates in their predictions, though Oil and Gas operations are more efficient than wind and solar plants.
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Last month BP embraced a carbon price forecast of $ 100 per ton for 2030, now with a factor of $ 40. The billions of dollars worth of France's total value have been dropped this week over its oil sands holdings in Canada.
Chevron has dipped its toe into clean energy sectors with a clear overlap with its existing businesses, including 2018 investments through its Vehicle Fund, the largest U.S. public network of electric vehicle chargers Is the owner of.
On Thursday, Ellen Satterwhite president of Chevron's Pipeline and Power Unit said that "Chevron plans to invest in renewable energy solutions that are" reliable, scalable, cost-efficient, and directly benefit our core business."
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