Equinor gains on wind, loses on oil and gas

Profits in Equinor’s clean energy division doubled in the third quarter of the year, while the wider company reported big losses.

The Norweigan energy giant reported that net income in its New Energy Solutions unit doubled to $60 million in Q3 and rose 73% to $82 million in the first nine months of the year.

Equinor explained that the Q3 increase was largely due to the reversal of losses from its Dogger Bank projects. However, this was partially offset by “lower income from other equity accounted investments including the effect of reduced ownership share in the Arkona wind farm compared to 2019”.

But this increase does not include the capital gains from the divestment of 50% stakes in two of Equinor’s US offshore wind farms, however.

Equinor expects to book a $1 billion capital gain from the transaction with BP – agreed in Q3 2020 – in Q1 2021.

The Norwegian energy giant’s renewable energy portfolio also generated more electricity in Q3 2020 than one year ago, with generation in its New Energy Solutions division up 7% to 319GWh.

Its CEO Eldar Sætre said: “We continue to capture value from our renewable energy portfolio.”

Meanwhile, Equinor reported a $2.1 billion overall loss in Q3 2020 and a $3 billion loss in the first nine months of the year, following a $2.9 billion write-down of oil and gas assets in the third quarter. These write-downs were “mainly due to reduced future price assumptions” for its oil and gas businesses in the US and Norway.