Equinor

Three import deals signed by the EU at Sharm El Sheikh during this month’s COP27 summit show the European Union is serious about harnessing green hydrogen for its heavy industry, and about distributing the fruits of the energy transition on an equitable basis.

Equinor is set to fully acquire developer BeGreen, which has a project pipeline of more than 6 GW in Denmark, Sweden and Poland.

Plus, as the European Commission prepares to present its ‘Fit for 55’ climate change package tomorrow, European companies are continuing to develop hydrogen plans, including Shell in Norway and Siemens in Germany.

Buyer Equinor could be in for a pleasant surprise – its assessment Wento boasts a 1 GW solar project pipeline in the nation significantly under-reports the 1.6 GW claimed by private equity fund seller Enterprise Investors.

Telecomms, retail and garment manufacturing businesses have signed up to consume the electricity to be generated by eight solar projects in Jordan which will harness grid infrastructure to transfer an estimated 81 GWh of clean power annually.

Falling module prices will help PV post another record year after an estimated 132 GW was installed worldwide in 2020, according to an energy transition investment trends report published by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The International Energy Agency has acknowledged dramatic falls in energy investment caused by the Covid-19 crisis but said renewables, including PV, offered an attractive proposition to investors as the dust settled, given their enticing economics and short turnaround times.

Norwegian energy producer Equinor and Italian oil contractor Saipem have joined forces to build floating PV projects for near-coastal applications. The two companies plan to use a technology developed by Moss Maritime, a unit of Saipem.

The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund will invest in non-listed infrastructure, with the government stressing such commitments will not be a climate policy measure but an investment strategy. The fund had already announced an intent to gradually divest holdings in oil and gas companies and related projects.

Open-source blockchain platform Energy Web Foundation has revealed the number of its affiliates has risen from 37 to 100 in recent months. New members include EnBW, Total and a unit of the State Grid Corporation of China. The platform was conceived to create an energy-blockchain ecosystem and to accelerate the energy transition.