Strategic planning for a carbon capture and green energy business

How we helped

• Oil & Gas

A multinational oil company wanted to establish a new business line with a green energy and low carbon focus, including solar, wind, sustainable fuels, hydrogen and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). Some capabilities were there, while others were nascent—provided funding and a strategic roadmap, it could come into its own. The company potentially had financing for a 5-year roadmap with several billions in annual capital deployment to establish and grow the business. To put that action into play, the leaders called in AlixPartners.

Our team set out to help establish and design a low carbon transition strategy for the company, outlining key business decisions around how to initiate, grow, and eventually maximize value for the new business line, as well as providing recommendations for critical organizational design criteria.

Our approach identified both corporate and business-line strategies for low-carbon expansion and mitigation plans. For each business line we reviewed, working teams were consolidated along with industry experts to define:

• Leading practices for early movers in solar, wind, sustainable fuels, hydrogen and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and companies in other nascent energy sectors, enabling the foundation for critical organizational design
• Key organizational strengths and capabilities as well as potential gaps to address with organizational design and talent
• Important market strategies and regional considerations including regulatory trends to prioritize when developing future growth targets
• Thresholds for critical growth-oriented decisions or tasks, to help articulate timing of business needs during the growth phase

Beyond a phased roadmap, our team laid out a technology and market pathway for decarbonization with multiple net-zero scenarios, including acquisition, IPO, and financing. As the business grew, we had a detailed capability map that identified company strengths and advantages and highlighted talent and technology gaps to fill. Moving into the future, we defined the most important market considerations for partnerships, market constraints, and risk mitigation during early- and mid-growth phases.

Talent needs and a growth plan secured, the company is now a leader in both carbon capture and sequestration and sustainable fuels, with a capital advantage over most other players.