Woodside to spend $5 billion on new energy investments by 2030

Australian energy giant Woodside has set a new target to invest $5 billion in emerging new energy markets and lower carbon services by 2030 as part of its strategy to “thrive through the energy transition.”

Woodside CEO, Meg O’Neill, expects LNG to remain an important part of the energy mix in the region for decades to come, but Woodside’s significant investment target in new energy is aimed at positioning the company as an early mover in this evolving market and supporting the decarbonisation goals of its customers.

Woodside’s emissions reduction targets include 15 per cent reduction by 2025, 30 per cent by 2030, and net-zero by 2050 or sooner.

Under its new energy growth plan, the Australian company expects to have about 3,000 megawatts of capacity from lower-carbon energy solutions by 2030.

“We have a vision to build a low cost, lower carbon, profitable, resilient and diversified portfolio. Woodside aims to do this by leveraging our world-class Tier 1 portfolio and allocating capital to the right opportunities at the right time,” O’Neill said.

In 2021, Woodside achieved final investment decisions on the Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 projects, continued delivery of the Sangomar project and progressed its new energy opportunities – plus the company announced a proposed merger with BHP’s petroleum business.

Once the merger is completed, the merged portfolio will have a pipeline of near-term developments, including Sangomar in Senegal; Mad Dog Phase 2, Shenzi North, and other opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico; and Scarborough offshore Western Australia.

O’Neill added: “These, together with other potential oil, gas and new energy developments, will provide an enviable hopper of opportunities competing for capital.”

When it comes to new energy projects, Woodside in recent months announced progress on H2Perth and H2TAS in Australia and Heliogen and H2OK in the U.S., designed to be phased, starting small with the potential to build scale.

As explained by Woodside CEO, in each case, the project location has been chosen for specific reasons, preferably near available renewables or close to market, ensuring they are customer-led.

“We expect that in the mid-2020s the transition to new energy will be underway, including the start-up of the first of our own projects,” she said.