TotalEnergies sticks to its renewable energy plan even as support wanes

TotalEnergies SE will stick to its plan to grow in renewable energy even after European election results suggest voters’ support for the bloc’s green policies is waning due to concerns about energy costs.

“We have a strategy and we are sticking to it – energy is a long-term issue,” said Patrick Pouyanne, CEO of TotalEnergies, on Monday at the Automobile Club de France in Paris.

“We will need more electricity, an energy that is growing. However, I am not sure that this will be the case for oil and gas in the medium to long term.”

In this month’s EU parliamentary elections, mainstream political parties supporting the European Union’s sweeping “Green Deal” to decarbonise the bloc’s economy retained their majority, but far-right nationalist groups dented support for Green parties.

The result could be that governments’ resolve to implement their climate-friendly policies could be weakened by measures that affect household purchasing power or lifestyles.

This is particularly the case in countries like France, where the Rassemblement National – which is leading in opinion polls ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for June 30 and July 7 – has promised to partially scale back its support for new renewable energy projects, renovation requirements for landlords and a planned ban on combustion engine cars from 2035.

While TotalEnergies invests about $5 billion annually in electricity generation, it remains cautious about making large investments in clean gases such as green hydrogen, which require large government subsidies, as public policies can change, Pouyanne said.

The CEO also called on European politicians to better protect the continent’s manufacturers from Chinese and US competitors, who benefit from greater flexibility in the labor market, cheaper energy and more capital.

Pouyanne also expressed concerns about the fact that these international competitors, unlike their European counterparts, do not have to purchase emission rights.

However, he warned that the EU’s so-called carbon border adjustment mechanism was not an effective means of protecting the region’s companies.