Norwegian state-owned petroleum and power generation company Equinor has launched a new business unit, which will combine all of its power generation assets under one roof.

The company cited the growth of artificial intelligence and data centers as a primary driver of the decision, believing that consolidating all its power assets under one unit would support higher value creation and facilitate its growth in the power markets.

“By combining our renewables portfolio with our flexible power offering, we strengthen our competitiveness and value creation in the power market. This reinforces our capability to deliver high returns and the continued disciplined growth in power production,” said Anders Opedal, chief executive officer at Equinor.

The new power business area (PWR) will combine the company’s renewable business area and flexible power assets from its marketing, midstream, and processing team (MMP). As a result, all of the company’s generation assets, from natural gas to renewable energy, will all be under one roof.

PWR will be headed up by Helge Haugane, who will assume the role of executive vice president from September. He moves from the position of head of gas and power in the MMP business area.

“I look forward to building on Equinor’s significant power position, both executing existing projects and further developing the portfolio. By integrating our power business, we can look across technologies, markets, and ownership structures. This will be important for further profitable growth in the rapidly changing world of power,” says Haugane.

Earlier this year, the company rolled back on a pledge to earmark more than 50 percent of its gross capital expenditure to renewables and low-carbon technologies by 2030, citing industry headwinds.

The company has 7GW of installed renewable energy capacity. It aims to boost the share of renewables in its power portfolio to four percent in 2026. Currently, 55 percent of its power generation comes from oil and 41 percent from gas.

The majority of the renewable capacity will be derived from offshore wind projects. It is currently constructing the 3.6GW Dogger Bank offshore wind farm in the UK North Sea in partnership with SSE and Vaargroenn. However, in the past year, the company has canceled offshore wind projects in Spain, Portugal, and Vietnam.