Equinor has reported losses of $84m in its renewables business in 2022, compared to over an income of over $1bn in 2021.
The decrease was mainly due to significant gains on divestments in 2021 of around $1.4bn, Equinor stated, in its 2022 integrated financial report.
In 2022, the unit’s other income was impacted by a gain of $87m related to the divestment of a 10% stake in the Dogger Bank C offshore wind farm project in the UK.
In 2021, other income was impacted by gains of $1.4bn related to the sale of a 50% stake in the Empire Wind and Beacon Wind offshore wind projects in the US.
Net income from equity accounted investments was positively impacted by income from producing assets in both periods, partially offset by losses from projects under development due to the expense of project development costs, said Equinor.
The increased net income from equity accounted investments in 2022 was mainly due to a lower portion of project costs being expensed because the Empire Wind project in the US started capitalisation of project costs in the first quarter of 2022.
Operating expenses and selling, general and administration expenses increased in Equinor’s renewables business due to higher business development costs, driven by higher activity levels in the USA, the UK and Asia.
Power generation (Equinor share) by the renewables portfolio was 1641gigawatt hours in the full year of 2022, compared to 1562GWh in the full year of 2021.
The increase was mainly due to the start-up of production from the Guañizuil IIA solar plant in the third quarter of 2021.
In 2022, Equinor’s equity-based installed renewable energy capacity was 600MW.
By 2026 Equinor expects to significantly increase installed capacity from renewable projects under development, mainly based on the current project portfolio.
Towards 2030, Equinor expects to increase installed renewables capacity further to 12-16GW.