Finance Desk – French energy giant TotalEnergies has announced plans to sell all its renewable energy businesses outside the US, Brazil, and Europe. This includes its investments in India, where nearly a quarter of its renewable portfolio comes from joint ventures with the Adani Group and its direct stake in Adani Green Energy.
CEO Patrick Pouyanne said Adani Green is a “strong and growing company,” but confirmed that TotalEnergies will not expand its green energy ties with the group. “I would be very happy to sell my stake in Adani Green,” he added. The company had bought the stake for about $2 billion, and it is now worth nearly $8 billion.
As part of a cost-cutting move, TotalEnergies will reduce its annual spending by $1 billion, bringing it down to $15–17 billion between 2027 and 2030. The group wants to save $7.5 billion overall and has also slowed down share buybacks due to weak oil prices.
The company is raising cash through asset sales, including a $950 million deal with KKR for a 50% stake in a US solar portfolio. However, some deals have fallen through, like the $860 million sale of Nigerian oil assets after the buyer failed to arrange funds. Another sale in Britain collapsed after the buyer went bankrupt.
At the same time, TotalEnergies is looking to buy gas-based power plants, which it considers more reliable alongside renewables.
The company’s debt has more than doubled this year, pushing its net debt-to-equity ratio to 18%. Including leases and hybrid debt, it rises to 28%. This comes after reporting its weakest quarterly earnings in four years.
Pouyanne assured investors that the debt ratio would fall to 15% by year-end and said he was comfortable with levels below 20%.
