TotalEnergies has stayed optimistic that it can progress its US renewables projects under the new Trump administration but has called for greater "pragmatism" over net zero targets, its CEO Patrick Pouyanné said at London's International Energy Week.
Speaking at the event on Feb. 25, Pouyanné said new US policies could threaten TotalEnergies' solar and onshore wind projects but expressed hope that concern for growing power demand would win out over anti-renewables sentiment.
New executive orders signed by President Donald Trump Jan. 20-22 halted some federal funding via the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a fiscal incentive for clean energy investments, and onshore wind permitting.
The measures put the French international energy company—which holds a quarter of its renewable power generation capacity in the US—in a precarious position and complicated the outlook for some 25 GW of US solar, wind, and battery projects in its American portfolio.
However, as the country's largest LNG exporter, Pouyanné hopes the company's fossil fuel footprint will give it some clout to influence policy from US diplomats.
"The White House has people who are ready to listen," he said, sharing that he had met with US Energy Secretary and renewables skeptic Chris Wright last week to warn of the impact of IRA rollbacks. Wright is known for his renewables-skeptic posture.
"For the last three to four years, we have managed to establish a US solar panel manufacturing industry because of the IRA," he said, adding, "If the fiscal incentive disappears, (it) will be much too expensive to buy.
The company's offshore wind projects have already become an early casualty of the shifting policy environment, with development plans now on hold for four years.
However, onshore developments could mostly sidestep tougher permitting rules, which only apply to projects on federal lands, Pouyanné said.
The CEO said that just 1 GW of TotalEnergies' 25 GW in renewables projects would be impacted by the onshore wind rules, but nonetheless expects the rule to be contested in Congress.
"Their priority is to give more electricity to data centers, they are obsessed with them," he said, expecting a pushback from Republican states promoting a maximalist approach to power generation.
"Near zero" pragmatism
Keeping renewables projects afloat remains a strategic goal for TotalEnergies to hedge against stalling oil demand growth, but the company has joined its competitors in dialing back its messaging on decarbonization.
"We observe that in China, with more and more EVs, peak oil should come in 2027, so there is an impact on oil, and on gas there is some room for transition," Pouyanné said, stressing the need for a diverse energy portfolio.
However, he said that it would be "naïve" to think that shifting US policy would not have ripple effects on other countries and demanded better pragmatism over lasting oil and gas use.
"I'm not sure we can be net zero, but I think we can be near zero," said Pouyanné, calling net zero emissions "a dream."
"Today, what society wants is cheap energy – let's continue," he said.
Speaking at the IE Week event, he stressed the company's focus on reducing its methane emissions to shape its carbon strategy without sharing further insight on its hydrogen or biofuels projects after a challenging year for both segments.
The company remains committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. It has targeted reaching 25% energy production from low-carbon methods by 2050, according to its latest guidance.
