Repsol, a Spanish oil and gas company, plans to buy a 40 per cent stake in Hecate Energy, a US-based company. Repsol’s business in the United States had so far only focused on hydrocarbon production. Meanwhile Hecate Energy’s portfolio includes more than 20 solar projects that are either operating or at late stages of development in countries including the United States, Canada and Jordan. Currently, it has a pipeline of more than 40 GW of capacity, which includes 16.8 GW of solar and energy storage projects.
This deal will help Repsol to increase its renewable generation capacity to 15 GW by 2030, from the 1 GW of hydropower and wind capacity it had installed at the end of last year. Repsol is also in talks with potential partners to take a stake in its low-carbon business before a possible market listing.
In June 2020, Repsol announced plans to set up two industrial decarbonization projects with the participation of Spanish and international partners. The projects will be located in the port of Bilbao and its surrounding area and will attract a combined initial investment of approximately Euro 80 million. The first project, in which Euro 60 million will initially be invested, involves the development of green hydrogen production plants.