Norway’s Statoil changes name to Equinor to reflect new clean energy strategy

The Norwegian oil company announced its intention to enter the solar energy business in October, when it launched a US$197 million fund dedicated to renewable energies.
Statoil’s President and CEO, Eldar Sætre. | Image: Statoil

Norway-based oil group, Statoil has announced it intends to rebrand as Equinor. The company said the new name is intended to reflect its transition to global energy, as it is developing as a broad energy company.

“The name Equinor captures our heritage and values, and what we aim to be in the future,” said Statoil’s president and CEO, Eldar Sætre. The new name is the combination of the word “equi”, the starting point for words like equal, equality and equilibrium, and the word “nor”, which is expected to reflect the company’s Norwegian origin.

The new name will now have to be approved at the Annual General Meeting on May 15.

In its new strategy presented in 2017, Statoil announced a plan to invest 15-20% of total capex in new energy solutions by 2030. In October, the company also revealed a plan to enter the solar energy business in May, when it launched a $197 million fund dedicated to renewable energies.

Later in October, it acquired acquire a 40% stake in a 162 MW project in Brazil from Norwegian solar developer, Scatec Solar. Furthermore, Scatec said it created a 50/50 joint venture with Statoil in Brazil, which is expected to build and operate large-scale PV projects in the country over the next year.

Statoil is also active in both on-shore and off-shore wind energy, and is developing solutions in carbon capture and storage.

Another energy giant, French group Engie (formerly known as GDF Suez) changed its name to reflect its transition to decarbonization and the development of renewable energy sources in April of 2015.

Since then, it has entered the solar business through several M&A operations, and the construction of several large-scale and DG solar and renewable energy projects in many countries in which it is operating.

This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected].

More about
Written by

Comments

Norway's $1tn wealth fund to invest in unlisted renewables – pv magazine International – Darwin Wealth Creation
Apr 08, 2019

[…] The government said, however, the fund will not sell its stake in state-owned oil company Equinor to reduce oil price risk. Equinor has recently diversified further into renewables, including acquiring a 9.7% stake in Norwegian solar developer Scatec. The oil company – formerly Statoil – entered solar in February 2017 when it launched a $197 million renewables fund. It rebranded as Equinor in March to reflect its transition to clean energy development. […]

La solución de carga super rápida EV asegura la inversión de BP Venture – MC. EFEN S.L
Dec 05, 2018

[…] que buscan nuevas empresas para soluciones de energía sostenible y renovable. French Total , Norwegian Statoil (ahora Equinor)y Dutch-British Shell son pares de BP que han estado ampliando sus carteras de energía renovable […]

Ukraine’s Naftogaz begins investing in solar power – The Conservative Investor Daily
Oct 17, 2018

[…] Eni and BP – which re-entered the solar business in late 2017; Norway’s Statoil, now known as Equinor; Hungary’s Mol; Oman’s PDO; Brazil’s Petrobras; […]

Petrobras do Brasil entra em negócios de energia solar – Encom Solar
Aug 28, 2018

[…] energia solar agora compreende, entre outras, Repsol , Shell , Total , Eni , a norueguesa Statoil , a Hungria, Mol , Oman’s PDO e […]