Top 250 oil and gas firms own just 1.5% of the world’s renewable power

Leading oil and gas companies own less than 1.5 per cent of the world’s renewable power capacity – raising questions about how committed they are to the green energy transition, despite their public claims.

Marcel Llavero Pasquina and Antonio Bontempi at the Autonomous University of Barcelona looked at ownership records of more than 53,000 wind, solar, hydroelectric and geothermal projects worldwide, as tracked by Global Energy Monitor, a non-governmental organisation. They then cross-checked these to see what proportion of them were owned by the world’s 250 biggest oil and gas companies, which are collectively responsible for 88 per cent of global hydrocarbon output.

Many fossil fuel firms have pledged to invest in renewable energy sources as the world attempts to transition away from oil and gas, but the researchers found that the top firms own just 1.42 per cent of the total operating renewable capacity globally. More than half of that – some 54 per cent – was owned via acquisitions, rather than companies developing their own projects. By calculating the total energy output of the 250 firms, the pair found that renewable power accounts for just 0.13 per cent of the energy produced by these companies.

“The results were surprising, even for me,” says Llavero Pasquina. “I knew they were playing a very little role in the energy transition. I knew it was only for show. It was only for dressing their narrative. But I didn’t expect this low number.”

Llavero Pasquina and Bontempi are both part of a group called Environmental Justice, which aims to produce research to “study and contribute to the global environmental justice movement”. Llavero Pasquina says his campaigning position strengthens his research. “You have the biggest interest in being as rigorous as possible, because you have to convince and you have to show what’s true.”

The fact that big energy firms, which have made their name and fortunes through oil and gas exploitation, aren’t massive players in renewables is unsurprising, says Thierry Bros at Sciences Po in Paris. “At the end of the day, [the energy transition] has to be something disruptive, and it’s not going to be in the hands of those companies.”

However, Bros does believe the big energy firms are unduly promoting their work on the energy transition. “They are portraying themselves [as] doing something, but I think if they were to do something, it would be more the carbon capture and sequestration,” he says, which involves capturing carbon as it is emitted, for instance when burning fossil fuels. “They are not doing much because I think it’s completely outside their domain of expertise.”

Offshore Energies UK, an industry body that represents the UK’s offshore energy industry, including oil, gas, wind, carbon capture and hydrogen, declined to comment directly on the study’s findings. However, it pointed to a previous statement from its chief executive, David Whitehouse. “Far from being in conflict, oil and gas, wind, and emerging low-carbon technologies are part of one integrated system. It is the skills of our people, the same people who built the North Sea that will deliver this transition,” he said.