ENERGY TRANSITION

Everything you need to know about our Net Zero roadmap

By ENGIE - 17 May 2023 - 09:00

Two years ago, Catherine MacGregor set the ambition for the Group to be Net Zero Carbon by 2045. How far has ENGIE got in implementing this roadmap? Answers in 4 points.

 

ENGIE is following an ambitious decarbonization strategy, which aims to reach Net Zero Carbon by 2045 across its 3 scopes, giving us a 5-year head start on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommendations. In 2022, the Group emitted 174 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (inclusive of all greenhouse gases), a figure which has dropped by 33% since 2017 (260 million tonnes).  

ENGIE’s roadmap implies reducing all emissions by 90% at the very least between 2017 and 2045, leaving only the remaining 10% to be neutralised.  

 

A 2030 trajectory that is “well below 2°C” and has 4 goals

The Group has worked hard to set and publish its decarbonization goals. Last February, this led to receiving Science-Based Target (SBTi)’s “well below 2°C” certification, a science-based decarbonization benchmark. 
Today, 99% of our carbon footprint is covered by a decarbonization ambition for 2030 which has 4 main goals. They involve reducing:

  • our energy production emissions (scopes 1 and 3) by 59%, 
  • emissions arising from gas sales (scope 3) by 34%, 
  • carbon intensity from our energy production (scope 1) and our energy consumption (scope 2) by 66%, 
  • and the carbon intensity of energy sales (scopes 1 and 3) by 56%.

 

A clear roadmap

To achieve this roadmap, ENGIE is implementing several operational levers. 

  • First, it must totally abandon coal in the very short term—by 2025 in Europe and by 2027 in the rest of the world. 
  • Next, it must speed up efforts involving renewables (solar, onshore, and offshore wind power) to attain 58% of its electricity generation mix by 2030. Their production capacity will increase by 50 GW in 2025, to reach 80 GW by 2030.
  • In parallel, to bring additional flexibility to our energy mix and support the Group’s production of renewables, 10 GW of battery storage capacity will be installed by 2030, mainly in Europe and the US.
  • Finally, increasing green gases. 
    • Reassessing our biomethane ambitions: production capacity will reach 10 TWh/year in Europe by 2030, and biomethane injection capacity will reach 50TWh/year across all ENGIE's networks.
    • Green hydrogen is a key element for sectors that are difficult to decarbonize and for which electricity is not an option. ENGIE is aiming to produce 4 GW by electrolysis by 2030. In parallel, a 700km dedicated transport network and storage capacity of 1 TWh will be developed. 

The Group will also be able to manage 30 TWh/year of decarbonized hydrogen and more than 100 refuelling stations for hydrogen vehicles.

 

Growth investments to reach nearly €25 billion 3 years from now

To facilitate this trajectory, ENGIE intends to invest €22-25 billion over the next 3 years (2023–2025), of which 75% will be aligned with the European taxonomy that qualifies an economic activity as sustainable.
These short-term growth investments will focus on the Group’s priority regions and 70% of them will concern renewables and Energy Solutions, while up to 10% will concern batteries and green gases.

Reasoning in Global Business Units, 55-65% of growth investments in the next three years will go towards the Renewables GBU, 10-15% to the ESGBU and NGBU, and 5-10% to FlexGen & Retail.

 

Helping our customers and our suppliers to decarbonize

ENGIE’s responsibility is also to support the decarbonization efforts of its customers and supplier. 
The Group has created a benchmark to calculate “emissions avoided.” It quantifies the carbon footprint reductions that result from our decarbonization products and solutions. By 2030, our goal is to help all our customers avoid 45 million tonnes of CO2 yearly. In 2022, 28 MT of emissions were avoided thanks to our products and solutions.
With regard to our suppliers, our 2030 goal is for 100% of our 250 top suppliers (excluding energy purchases) to be SBTi aligned or certified (compared with 23% currently). We are aware that these decarbonization and certification efforts are complex, and are therefore launching a partnership with ADEME and BPI that will help our SME suppliers to calculate their first carbon footprint or to formalise a transition plan.