Gas, Renewables: and Power

China is taking active steps in reducing its reliance on coal and vigorously promoting the role of natural gas and renewables. By 2030, the goal is to increase the gas share to 15% of total energy from 8% in 2018. In renewables, China has already become the world’s largest producer and consumer market with leading positions in solar, wind, hydropower, electric cars, and batteries.  

As a responsible energy major, TotalEnergies is at the forefront in tackling climate issues as a business strategy. We are also pushing vigorously for the development of natural gas and renewables, a move that tracks perfectly with China’s endeavor to transform its national energy mix.

Natural Gas

Natural gas forms a key business of TotalEnergies. This is illustrated by our strong commitment to raise the gas share in our portfolio as an important means of reducing the carbon intensity of our energy products. In 2018, natural gas accounted for 50% of our total production and we aim to further elevate this percentage to 60% by the end of 2035.  In addition, TotalEnergies continues to expand our LNG investments to accelerate toward the formation of a full natural gas value chain. 2019 saw China’s demand for LNG continue to climb at a rate close to 13%, with total demand for LNG expected to grow for the next decade. China is anticipated to become the world’s top LNG importer within the next 3 to 5 years. As the world’s second-largest LNG player, TotalEnergies has contracted more than 5 MTPA of LNG supply to China and sells LNG to all major Chinese importers.

Yamal LNG, a collaborative project between TotalEnergies, CNPC and Russia’s Novatek, is one of the biggest liquefied natural gas projects in the world. At full capacity, this facility will supply 16.5 million tons of LNG per year, a large share of which is supplied to China. In July 2018, the first LNG carrier dispatched by Yamal LNG to China made a successful delivery to CNPC at Rudong Port, Jiangsu Province, opening a new chapter of natural gas supply to the Chinese market from the Yamal plant. Since 2019, thanks to shipping optimization, TotalEnergies already started to supply China market with Yamal cargoes transported through Northern Sea Route in summer time.

Building on the success of Yamal LNG, TotalEnergies continued and deepened our partnership with CNPC and CNOOC by joining forces on the Arctic LNG 2 development. On September 5, 2019, Arctic LNG 2 kicked off an official launch on the approval of the investment. The facility will be located on the Gydan Peninsula of Russia with a projected annual production of 19.8 million tons. The first production line is forecast to flow before the end of 2023, followed by the second and third lines by the end of 2024 and 2026 respectively.

Renewables

TotalEnergies is a firm believer in renewable energies with a solid record of steady and significant deployments in the solar sector. With low-carbon electricity at the center of our strategy, TotalEnergies is resolutely committed to enabling power generation from renewable sources including solar. We continue to expand our presence in the Chinese solar market, the world’s largest photovoltaic market, drawing a substantial share of our solar deployments.

TotalEnergies has established several joint ventures with Chinese partners on different segments of the photovoltaic value chain, playing a significant role in the construction of multiple photovoltaic power plants around China. In addition to our involvement in the solar plant projects in Inner Mongolia, Sichuan and Hebei, we have also formed a joint venture with Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor to partner on the manufacturing of high-efficiency photovoltaic products.

TotalEnergies is ramping up distributed PV investments in China. In 2019, TotalEnergies and Chinese company Envision launched TEESS, a joint venture, to enable the Group’s access to the Chinese distributed PV market. TEESS will be able to harness the strengths of both players to bolster the scale of distributed PV generation to over 1GW within 3 years. When that goal becomes reality, TEESS will become China’s largest service provider in the distributed PV sector to help Chinese industrial and commercial customers in their move toward renewables.

Energy Storage

In China, Saft serves market sectors ranging from civil electronics to rail transportation markets - evidenced by the rapid growth in these areas. In 2006, Saft opened its Asia manufacturing base in Zhuhai. The facility, which expanded to a total footprint of 12,000 square meters after moving to the current site in 2016, has seen a steady increase in production and sales over the years. Today, the plant possesses a production capacity of 65 million primary lithium batteries per year. In 2019, Saft formed a joint-venture with Tianneng Energy Technology (TET), to forge an alliance for development, manufacturing, and sales of lithium-ion batteries and cell modules for the burgeoning market in electric vehicles.