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Shaping Europeâs industrial renewal
Discover how Equinor is playing a leading role in the energy transition in Europe, with offshore wind, hydrogen, carbon capture and the worldâs first zero carbon cluster.
Equinor in the European Union
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Photo: Thomas Somme / Unsplash
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How can Europe meet tomorrowâs climate goals? By making smart energy choices today.
Europe aims to provide sustainable, affordable and secure energy for its citizens and industries. In Equinor, we agree that energy should be safe, competitive and sustainable. We believe our energy solutions will contribute to the low-carbon Europe of the future.
Renewables and low emissions
Climate-neutral hydrogen
Carbon capture and storage
A broad energy company. With ambitions.
We are an international energy company with a Norwegian heritage and 22,000 colleagues in more than 30 countries. We energise the lives of 170 million people every day and are a major and reliable supplier of energy to Europe.
We have announced our ambition to become a net-zero energy company by 2050. The ambition includes emissions from production and final consumption of energy, setting a clear strategic direction and demonstrating our continued commitment to long-term value creation supporting the Paris Agreement.
In Equinor, we believe our energy sources and solutions can contribute to a low-carbon Europe. Discover our offshore wind, natural gas, hydrogen, and CCS.
Visit our partner site, equinoreu.ft.com
Weâre harnessing the winds of change today. To power the low-carbon world of tomorrow.
Wind power is a key enabler in the worldâs energy transition. Our ambition is to become a global offshore wind major, drawing on our offshore experience to drive the industry forward. We already supply Europe with enough electricity from renewable offshore wind to power the equivalent of oneâŻmillion homes and we are continuing to expand.
Equinor news in Europe
Science says the pace of change is too slow. We agree.
In Equinor, we believe we have an important role to play in the profound transformation that the world is now undergoing: the energy transition.
A sustainable development path to a well below the two-degree target does not allow for further delays in policy, industry and consumer actions to reduce emissions. The worldâs energy systems must be transformed to drive decarbonisation.
Weâre continuing to cut greenhouse gas emissions from our own production of oil and gas, developing and woring towards even faster growth in renewable energy, and developing solutions to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and industrial processes.
Equinor is cutting greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas production
Equinor is increasing its renewables focus
Equinor is developing new technology that accelerates global decarbonisation
In Equinor, we welcome the use of industrial data and AI, but to unlock the full potential of digital technologies, it is crucial to understand the challenges and to build trust in AI and digitalisation
Torbjørn F. FolgerøSVP & Chief Digital Officer at Equinor
Low-carbon solutions
Putting carbon back where it came from.
CCS is one of the measures that the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The International Energy Agency states that we will need to store billions of tonnes of CO2 every year if we are to reduce global warming.
One way to make sure that carbon dioxide doesnât reach the earthâs atmosphere is to capture and store it beneath the ground. This technologyâcalled CCS or CCUSâwill be essential to achieving the worldâs shared climate goalsâand Equinor is already a world leader in this field.
As an operator we have captured and stored more than 23 million tonnes of CO2 to date. Now weâre seeking to develop new business models to make CCS commercially viable and decarbonise our oil and gas production. In this way, we can produce blue hydrogen that eliminates 95% of emissions when used instead of natural gas.
Projects like H2morrow in Germany and Zero Carbon Humber in the UK are already moving forward, showing that companies are ready to invest if governments support them.
This content was paid for and produced by Equinor in partnership with the commercial department of the Financial Times.
How to unlock the energy challenges of the future?
Hydrogen could be the key.
Hydrogen is the key to decarbonising the energy system. It is versatile and can be transported in the existing gas infrastructure. Many people consider it to be the ultimate fuel of the future.
Equinor is involved in numerous ground-breaking hydrogen projects across Europe. We are pursuing the production of hydrogen from decarbonised natural gas (âblue hydrogenâ) through methane reforming with subsequent storage of CO2 under the seabed (CCS, Carbon Capture and Storage) and are part of Europeâs biggest project producing hydrogen from renewables (âgreen hydrogenâ).
Methane reforming is a tried and tested standard process that has been used successfully in industry for many years and using CCS can be considered nearly climate-neutral. With this technology, hydrogen can be reliably produced in large quantities at comparatively low costs by 2030. In this way, customers in the electricity, heating and transport sectors can be given targeted support on their way to reducing emissions. It is the decisive transition step towards a future sustainable global hydrogen economy.
Equinor, Open Grid Europe (OGE) and ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe (tkSE) have been working on a suitable concept for the generation and transport of blue hydrogen to the largest German steelworks in Duisburg since 2019. Blue hydrogen can be produced in large quantities comparatively quickly, which means that the expected hydrogen demand of the industry can be met promptly.
What role for blue hydrogen?
Steinar Eikaas, Head of Low Carbon Solutions in Equinor, talks about the role of blue hydrogen in Germanyâs future energy mix. He believes it will be challenging for green hydrogen to kick-start the hydrogen economy alone.
âH2morrow steelâ currently plans to transport natural gas from Norway via the existing transport network to an autothermal reforming plant (ATR) on the German or Dutch North Sea coast.
In this way, hydrogen can quickly and efficiently make a significant contribution to a sustainable energy future.
Some say that we should avoid blue hydrogen and allow only green hydrogen. But that would make the challenge of decarbonising Europe far harder. It is not just that blue hydrogen provides 95% of the benefit of green at less than half the cost. It is that blue hydrogen allows us to act faster and to prepare the infrastructure which can then be used for green hydrogen. The cost of green hydrogen will fall over time and as it becomes more affordable, the pipelines and consumers will be ready to take it.
What role for natural gas in a low-carbon Europe? Replacing coal and supporting renewables.
When transitioning away from solid fossil fuels, we need to ensure the security and continuity of energy supplies in Europe. Readily available natural gas is the answer: it can reduce emissions significantly without hampering the EUâs competitiveness.
Natural gas can reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 60% compared with coal, while reducing dust and other pollutants such as NOx and SOx by up to 99% compared with coal.
Whatâs more, natural gas can also advance the adoption of renewables, by being a back-up and balancing source for the development of renewable energy and the electricity system. It enables additional wind and solar generation, substitutes existing inefficient generation and can replace coal in the fuel structure of many member states.
In the long term, while unabated natural gas will have to be phased out, modern reforming technologies combined with carbon removal solutions will make it possible for natural gas to be part of a sustainable European hydrogen market.
Europe - an offshore wind champion in the making
Watch the interview with PĂĽl Eitrheim, executive vice president of New Energy Solutions at Equinor in the video above, and read the full article below.
Europeâs energy transition? We see a sea of opportunities.
As we develop into a broad energy company, offshore wind farms are one of our solutions for the European energy transition.
The article in Politico linked below is sponsor-generated content produced in cooperation with Politico Studio.
Our presence in Europe
Equinor is present in the following European countries. Our office in Brussels represents our companyâs interests in the EU.