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PetroChina sets renewables strategy with focus on geothermal and solar

PetroChina sets renewables strategy with focus on geothermal and solar PetroChina website banner (source: PetroChina website)
Carlo Cariaga 4 Sep 2021

China's largest oil company is pivoting towards renewable energies, primarily geothermal and solar, with the goal of being net zero by 2050

In a bid to reduce their carbon footprint, China’s largest oil company PetroChina is planning to fast track their shift to renewable development. By 2035, the goal of PetroChina is to allocate a third of their production to renewable energy. Their renewables strategy will be focusing on solar and geothermal.

The vast onshore acreages of PetroChina will be a huge advantage for their renewables strategy. The company estimates that they can develop geothermal resources of up to 1.6 billion tonnes of coal equivalent within their 15 oilfields. Most of this potential development is in the oilfields of Huabei, Dagang, and Jidong. PetroChina has already increased the coverage of geothermal heating space by 10 million square meters in the first half of 2021.

According to PetroChina President Huang Yozhang, their geothermal, wind, and solar projects that are already under construction have a total capacity of 350,000 tonnes of coal equivalent. By the end of 2021, the company plans to have a total renewable energy production of 3.45 million tonnes of equivalent coal.

Other efforts by PetroChina include the construction of hydrogen refilling stations and research and development of carbon capture and storage. The ultimate goal of the company is to achieve net zero by 2050.

Source: Upstream