Wind-power producer, Iberdrola SA, has said that Big Oil’s embrace of renewable energy is ‘more noise’ than action. Currently, major oil and gas companies are entering the renewable power sector under pressure from climate-change policy. Nevertheless, Iberdrola Chief Executive, Ignacio Galan has doubts that these actions will turn into reality.
During an interview with Reuters, Ignacio Galan said that it is good that these companies have moved towards the renewable energy direction. However, he said that ‘they make more noise than the reality’.
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He explained that returns on oil investment are far more than those of wind and solar projects. For this reason he doubted that major oil companies would make a meaningful shift until that changed.
He also added that they seem enthusiastic, but he believes that if they had to choose between a wonderful oil well and a good wind farm, they would choose the first one.
Mr. Galan also communicated his worries about Donald Trump’s policy shift in favour of coal. He noted that US states are more influential than Washington in terms of energy investment, and that many of them are looking to develop America’s first offshore wind farms.
Finally, he mentioned that Iberdrola will increase its investment in Europe and other priority emerging markets, such as Mexico and Brazil. It will also explore South Africa, to invest in onshore wind power and solar.
