Equinor’s renewables division made an operating loss of $31m (€26m) in the second quarter of 2021, compared with $0 in the same period last year.
The loss was mainly due to increased activity level and higher costs due to the progressing of projects, mainly related to the Empire Wind and Beacon Wind offshore wind farms on the US east coast.
Increased business development costs driven by higher activity level in the US, UK and in Asia also added to the decrease in net operating income.
The loss was partially offset by higher net income from assets in operation compared with the second quarter of 2020.
Lower power generation this quarter compared to same quarter last year was offset by increased power prices and higher availability.
Power generation was 282 gigawatt-hours in the second quarter of 2021, compared with 304GWh in the second quarter of 2020.
The decrease was due to wind being below seasonal average in the second quarter of 2021.
Net income from assets in operation was positive both in the second quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2020.
Equinor president and chief executive Anders Opedal (pictured) said: “We continue to accelerate within renewables through strategic positions and partnerships.
“In Poland we made significant progress with the award of the support regime for Baltyk 2 and 3 with a potential total capacity at 1440MW. We continue our efforts to reduce emissions.
“In this quarter we submitted the plan for development and operation of the Troll West electrification, and we have made good progress on Hywind Tampen, the world’s first floating windfarm to power offshore oil and gas platforms.”
Equinor expects gross investments in renewables of around $23bn from 2021 to 2026, and to increase the share of gross investments for renewables and low carbon solutions from around 4% in 2020 to more than 50% by 2030.
Based on early low-cost access at scale, Equinor expects to reach an installed capacity of 12–16GW (Equinor share) by 2030.
Early access followed by targeted farm down is an integrated part of Equinor’s value creation proposition.
Equinor has divested assets for $2.3bn and booked a capital gain of $1.7bn.