By Deep Earth
TotalEnergies has come full circle. In acquiring Norway’s SN Power, which owns a stake in the Bujagali Hydropower Project, TotalEnergies has moved one step closer to completing its transition from being just an oil and gas major to reinventing itself into a top renewable energy company with the aim of fully going green by 2050.
The deal will see TotalEnergies own a 28.3 per cent shareholding in the 250MW Bujagali hydropower project, the largest active project under its global portfolio of hydropower plants. The Bujagali hydropower project, according to TotalEnergies, covers more than 25% of Uganda’s peak electricity demand.
It is not hard to see why TotalEnergies targeted Norway’s SN Power, which is also developing two other hydropower projects in Rwanda and Malawi. TotalEnergies has come under heavy attack from different global environmental groups over its oil and gas activities in Uganda.
The French major is developing the Tilenga oil project, which, by 2026, is expected to pump more than 200,000 barrels of oil per day through a heated 1,445km oil export pipeline to southern Tanzania.
Environmentalists claim there have been gross human rights abuses such as unfair displacement of people to make way for the development of the Tilenga oil project. They further add that the construction of the oil export pipeline, where TotalEnergies is the majority shareholder, will emit carbon emissions and aggravate the already devastating effects created by climate change.
TotalEnergies says all these allegations from the activists are false. The criticism from environmentalists has scared international financial markets from committing capital to Uganda’s oil project.
Now, the addition of the 250MW Bujagali hydropower plant to its portfolio of assets offers TotalEnergies another layer of cover, however thin, against the continued barrage of attacks from the activists.
“This acquisition of renewable hydroelectric assets and projects in Africa reflects our desire to contribute to the continent’s energy transition by bringing electricity to the people of African countries. In particular, we are delighted to be able to become a player in hydro power in Uganda, a country where we are also developing a major oil project. This is another example of TotalEnergies’ ability to implement its multi-energy strategy in oil-producing countries to support them in their energy transition,” said Patrick Pouyanne, Chairman and CEO, TotalEnergies.
Transition
In May 2021, amid criticism from environmental activists, Total changed its name to TotalEnergies. The name-change also came with the promise of becoming a company that does not emit any emissions by 2050.
To prove this, in February 2022, TotalEnergies EP Uganda signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Uganda to put up 1GW of clean renewable energy by 2030.
TotalEnergies EP Uganda General Manager Philippe Groueix
Nearly 10 months later, in November 2022, TotalEnergies, in line with its commitment, signed its first solar project agreement with the government of Uganda to put up 120MW of solar power.
At the signing ceremony, government proposed six sites, where the French company would install 20MW of solar power at each site. The sites are: Iganga, Kumi, Kapeeka, Tororo, Paliisa and Bukedea.
TotalEnergies has so far conducted assessments on two of the six sites, and declared them to be mature to host a solar power project, according to a source within the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development.
The company is now concluding the preliminary feasibility studies in readiness for submission of the Notice of Intended Application to the Electricity Regulatory Authority for award of a permit to conduct detailed feasibility studies leading up to grant of a license and ultimately construction and commissioning of the two sites.
It also plans to construct and generate a maximum of 80 MW of gas-fired power for its own use at the Tilenga oil project.
The gas-fired power plant – the biggest in Uganda – will be located at TotalEnergies’ central processing facility in Buliisa district. This energy will be generated from the associated gas resources in the Tilenga oil field.
The company is already one of the biggest retailers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, a growing source of energy for many homes.
To supplement the electricity from the gas-fired power plant, and also reduce its carbon footprint, TotalEnergies, in February 2024, applied to the Electricity Regulatory Authority for a license to put up a 15MW solar power plant for its own use at the industrial park within the Tilenga oil project.
The development of these different power projects points to the kind of identity that TotalEnergies will have.
While Uganda’s oil resources is expected to be depleted over a 20-year life span, with TotalEnergies at the centre of it all, there is a strong likelihood that the French company will have a completely different profile at the end of Uganda’s oil cycle, with a far narrower gap between revenues from its oil and renewable energy sales.
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