Oil and gas Majors in renewable energy: the hunt for the best returns

Driven by favourable politics and economics, the global renewable energy market is growing at an exponential rate. In 2016, net capacity installations of wind and solar PV overtook conventional power generation capacity for the first time, and in 2017, almost 100 GWdc of solar PV was installed worldwide. The rapid growth is due in part to a more favourable political environment, but primarily to lower technology costs – the average price of a PV module has fallen by over 90% since 2005. Despite some high-profile acquisitions, the Majors currently own less than 2% of operational global wind and solar PV projects. This report assesses the opportunities and the challenges for the Majors as they look to increase their exposure to the renewable energy market.