French oil giant TotalEnergies sees bright future in battery business, says CEO

TotalEnergies, which launched the largest battery energy storage to place in France in December, aims to create a profitable business stream from its battery business, the company’s chief executive said on Monday.

Batteries are a “new fuel” for electric vehicles, said Patrick Pouyanne, also chairman of the company’s board, at an energy transition conference at CeraWeek in Houston.

“You can create a lot of value if you can store the electricity you produce,” Pouyanne said.

“For us, the battery is an important part of the value chain to establish a profitable electricity player.

“We created a JV [joint venture] with Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis to produce batteries…we are convinced that this will be a new way of producing value, an important technology for electric mobility and an important part of the energy transition.”

French integrated oil and gas company TotalEnergies has reached an agreement with Dutch innovative mobility solutions provider Stellantis and German carmaker Mercedes-Benz to create Automotive Cells Company (ACC).

They aim to increase ACC’s industrial capacity to at least 120 gigawatt hours by the end of this decade.

The initiative is supported by the French, German and European authorities, to create a European champion of batteries for electric vehicles.

The global battery market size is expected to reach $310.8 billion by 2027, growing at a compound annual rate of 14.1%, according to US market research and consulting firm Grand View Research.

Technological advancements in terms of increased efficiency and reduced costs are likely to open up new avenues for the global battery market in the coming years, according to industry experts.

TotalEnergies adopted a new identity last year, marking another step in its transition to net zero.

“People at the company are very happy with this decision as it is a way to stay aligned with societal expectations,” Pouyanne said.

“Basically, we continue to produce oil and gas, but we have decided that we must be a leader in the energy transition…our strategic decision is to become a producer and supplier of electricity and renewable energies.”

As part of its ambition to reach net zero by 2050, TotalEnergies is building a portfolio of activities in renewable energies and electricity.

At the end of 2021, the company’s gross renewable electricity generation capacity was over 10 GW.

It aims to develop this activity to reach 35 GW of gross generation capacity from renewable sources and storage by 2025, then 100 GW by 2030, with the objective of being among the world’s top five producers of electricity. electricity from wind and solar, the company said. .

He is serious about expanding into Africa and ensuring “sustainable growth” on the continent.

“Africa is endowed with natural resources,” Mr. Pouyanne said. “Our energy expansion and development on the continent is part of sustainable development… lifting people out of poverty in a sustainable way.

“We are here to bring energy and develop shared values ​​and shared prosperity which is our mission as a company.”

Present in more than 130 countries, TotalEnergies employs nearly 105,000 people.

Updated: March 07, 2022, 11:37 p.m.