Sonangol

Sonangol’s scope 3 emissions from the combustion of its oil and gas products by customers are its most important source of emissions. Sonangol’s locked-in scope 3 emissions from its upstream activities alone are expected to exceed its 1.5°C carbon budget by 4% between 2019 and 2050. This does not leave any scope for the company to develop new oil and gas projects. Instead of continuing exploring for oil and gas and developing new projects, the company needs to initiate a managed decline in production from its current oil and gas assets.

Sonangol does not produce any low-carbon energy at present, but it is committed to producing 50 megawatts (MW) of renewable electricity by 2027. Compared to 2019 figures, this is less than 0.01% of the company’s total sold energy. Sonangol has set up a joint company, Solenova Ltd, with Eni to explore renewable energy opportunities in Angola. However, since the announcement of this joint company in 2019, Sonangol has not deployed any renewable energy projects.

Sonangol should commit to increasing the ambition of its renewable energy production to account for a large share of its total energy, and should report clear timelines for the deployment of these projects.

Although Sonangol has not set any emissions reduction targets, the company is committed to producing more than 50 MW of energy from renewable sources by 2027. This comprises less than 0.01% of the total energy sold by the company in 2019.

Sonangol reports it will meet its renewable energy target by developing projects leading to the gradual replacement of diesel with renewables.

Sonangol currently only produces and sells fossil fuel energy. Oil made up nearly 92% of its product mix in 2019 and gas the remaining 8%. The company recently entered an agreement with Eni for the incorporation of Solenova Ltd, a joint controlled company set up to assess and develop renewable energy opportunities in Angola.

Between 2014 and 2019, Sonangol’s scope 1 and 2 and scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions intensities decreased slightly due to a decline in oil extracted from the emissions-intensive region of Venezuela and due to increased gas in the company’s sold product mix. These decreases in emissions intensities, however, were not in line with the company’s 1.5°C pathway.

Apart from its renewable energy target, there are no other signs that Sonangol is preparing for the low-carbon transition. The company lacks climate-related governance and its main focus is oil and gas growth. The company needs to make significant internal effort to align with its 1.5°C pathway.