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- Woodside Petroleum (WPL) will invest $5 billion into emerging new energy markets by 2030, as part of a wider transition to renewables
- The energy giant announced the commitment during an investor update on Wednesday, laying out its plans for a lower carbon and more diversified portfolio of assets
- The ASX-20 lister recently committed to multiple blue and green hydrogen projects, including building one of the largest hydrogen facilities in the world in Perth
- Despite the commitment to green energy, CEO Meg O’Neill explained WPL would still use LNG from its various projects to fuel coal-dependent countries as well as renewables
- Company shares opened up 2.1 per cent at $22.40
Woodside Petroleum (WPL) will invest $5 billion into emerging new energy markets by 2030, as part of a wider transition to renewables.
The energy giant announced the commitment during an investor update on Wednesday, laying out its plans for a “low cost, lower carbon, profitable, resilient and diversified portfolio” of assets.
But, despite the commitment to green energy, CEO Meg O’Neill said WPL would still use LNG from its various projects to fuel coal-dependent countries as well as renewables.
“We expect LNG to remain an important part of the energy mix in our region for decades to come, both as a lower-carbon source of fuel for coal-dependent countries and as convenient firming capacity for renewables,” she said.
“But our significant investment target in new energy is aimed at positioning Woodside as an early mover in this evolving market and supporting the decarbonisation goals of our customers.
“We have a vision to build a low cost, lower carbon, profitable, resilient and diversified portfolio. Woodside aims to do this by leveraging our world-class portfolio and allocating capital to the right opportunities at the right time.”
WPL didn’t set out what exactly it would be investing the $5 billion towards, but the company did highlight its recent commitment to a number of hydrogen projects.
The ASX-20 lister has pledged to back a number of blue hydrogen projects, where carbon dioxide is still generated, and green hydrogen projects, which release no carbon dioxide.
This includes a commitment in October to establish one of the world’s largest hydrogen and ammonia production facilities in Perth, WA.
“We expect that in the mid-2020s the transition to new energy will be underway, including the start-up of the first of our own projects,” the Woodside CEO said in today’s update.
WPL was trading up 1.91 per cent at $22.40 at 10:44 am AEDT.
