* Wants to use offshore oil expertise in wind
* Aims to use 20 pct of capex by 2030 for renewables
* Target equivalent to NOK 100 bln or $12 bln
By Nerijus Adomaitis
STAVANGER, Norway, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Norway's Equinoris focusing its green efforts on offshore wind, a goalit is already on its way to achieve, but some investors areconcerned about the impact this shift will have on the company'sbottom line.
European oil and gas companies are diversifying theirportfolio to include less-emitting sources of energy as a resultof the Paris 2015 agreement, which outlines a shift from fossilfuels this century.
Equinor, formerly Statoil, is betting on offshore wind,leveraging its expertise in operating offshore platforms and itsability to scale up small projects into industrial ones.
Last year Equinor opened the first floating offshore windfarm, off Scotland. And on Tuesday it said it was planning touse floating wind turbines to power offshore oil installations,in a world first.
"I think the floating concept is very fascinating. We have aleading position there right now," Equinor CEO Eldar Saetre toldReuters.
Equinor also plans to build three large, bottom-fixed windprojects off the coasts of the United States, Poland andBritain.
The three projects alone could cost around $11.7 billion tobuild at current prices, which already fulfils the announcedbudget of 100 billion crowns, or $11.8 billion, according to aReuters estimate.
By comparison, Repsol has gone into operatinghydropower plants, Total is developing solar power andowns a battery producer, while BP bought Britain'slargest electric vehicle charging company.
"For Equinor, it's more important (to diversify) because itdepends more on upstream, compared to its peers like Shell,Total or BP, which have larger downstream operations which willbe less impacted by the energy transition," Rohan Murphy, ananalyst at Allianz Global Investors, told Reuters.
Equinor has said it aims to dedicate up to 20 percent of itscapital expenditure by 2030 to renewables. Saetre said the plancould amount to 100 billion Norwegian crowns for the period,roughly $12 billion.
"It could be more than 100 billion crowns, but it could bealso less. It's not a fixed number," Saetre said.
Annual spending is likely to increase as 2030 approaches andmore projects reach maturity, he added.
A spokeswoman said the company expected costs associatedwith offshore wind to fall in the future, allowing more to bebuilt with the same money.
DOGGER BANK
Equinor has said it planned to spend between $500 millionand $750 million on "new energy solutions" in 2017-2020, and$750 million to $1.5 billion in 2020-2025.
Equinor has also bought Danske Commodities, an electricityand gas trader, but sees offshore wind as its main growth area.
Executives told Reuters on Tuesday they planned to make thefinal investment decision on Britain's 3.6-gigawatt-capacityDogger Bank project in the North Sea by May 2019, and intendedto take part in an auction to supply offshore wind power to thestate of New York later this year.
It is also opening an office in Japan to position forpotential offshore wind tenders there.
It aims to reduce the production cost of floating wind powerto 40-60 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 2030, making itcompetitive with other sources of energy, from around 200 eurosper MWh at its Scottish project by scaling up and simplifyingthe technology.
FROM STATOIL TO EQUINOR
Equinor's green shift came soon after Saetre took the helmof Statoil in 2015 following the departure of Helge Lund to leadBG.
One of Saetre's first decisions was to establish a separatebusiness segment to drive investments in renewable andlow-carbon technologies.
Two years later, he pushed for Statoil to be renamed Equinorto reflect its commitment towards becoming a "broad energy"company. Some in Norway protested, shocked that a nationalchampion established for 46 years would drop its name.
"The energy transition in the oil industry is probably thehottest topic now," WoodMackenzie research director ValentinaKretzschmar told Reuters.
But some investors are concerned, particularly those on thesell-side, who demand maximum returns on a quarterly basis, shesaid.
"The jury is still out whether it is the right thing for oilmajors to invest in renewables at all," she said.
"There is no question that renewables and electric cars(fleet) will continue to grow. Whether oil and gas companies areright to invest is an open question."
There is also caution among buy-side, longer-term investors,keener for oil companies to grapple with the energy transition.
"We don't want them to go and just greenwash things ... Theyhave to make things work and show that they are worthy of thecapital," said Murphy at Allianz Global Investors.
Saetre is convinced this is the way forward.
"Some people say we should stick to producing oil and gas,but I have realised that at some point the energy transitionwill have an impact on that. You can get to a point where oiland gas starts to shrink," he said.
($1 = 8.4525 Norwegian crowns)(Editing by Gwladys Fouche and Dale Hudson)
