GdF Suez Engie : ENGIE 2014 Activities Report: building a new energy world

In 2013, the Group embarked on a major strategy shift with twin goals: to lead the energy transition in Europe, and to become the global benchmark energy provider, with particular focus on emerging countries. In the words of its Group Chairman & CEO Gérard Mestrallet: «The energy transition is the cornerstone of ENGIE growth», and should enable «the reduction of, and adaptation to, climate change in a fair and non-brutal fashion. Our role is to fuel development and growth in emerging countries by providing them with all the energy they need, but it also goes further than that to helping the most underprivileged communities on every continent to escape poverty by facilitating universal access to energy.»

The transition to a carbon-free world is now a global reality. As part of reducing its carbon footprint, ENGIE is developing its involvement in the more mature renewable energy technologies of onshore wind power, solar power and biomass, and engaging with new high-potential projects, such as offshore wind, hydrokinetic energy and biogas.

For example, ENGIE and SUEZ Environnement are working together in Abu Dhabi on research into seawater desalination using solar energy; this technically and financially challenging project is a world first. In onshore and offshore wind power, ENGIE operates more than 200 generating sites around the world, with particular emphasis on Africa, where the Group opened the continent's largest wind park last year at Tarfaya in Morocco.

As Europe's leading importer of Liquefied Natural Gas with 16.4 million metric tons of LNG transported in 2014, ENGIE provides the market with retail LNG for trucks, ships and industrial companies with no hook-up to the natural gas network. More and more refueling points are now being rolled out in Europe, the USA and Mexico.

The ability to be connected to everything everywhere and for all uses has triggered a step change in the way we live our lives. At ENGIE, digitalization is enabling much greater interaction with all customers. It is also enabling the Group to expand its range of products and services, and offer smart grids that can limit, or even reduce, energy consumption. In 2014, ENGIE and SUEZ Environnement launched Cit'Ease™, a digital ecosystem designed to gather and interconnect all the data generated by urban communities in real time.

The Group also uses innovation to promote energy efficiency by focusing on three goals. The first is to stimulate innovative projects in-house by creating the OpenInnov collaborative working platform. The second is to internationalize its ENGIE Labs research laboratories, three of which opened during 2014 in Chile, Singapore and the Middle East. The third priority is the ENGIE New Ventures investment fund launched in 2014 with €100 million to invest in partnership and business startup centers, which include the 'For better energy in the City' center.

ENGIE is committed to playing its part to counter climate change in preparation for the 21st UN Climate Change Conference to be held at the end of this year in Paris. The issues surrounding the world's climate impose the need to find effective solutions for better energy management. So in 2014, the Group set itself the twin challenges of responding to the continual rise in consumer demand, at the same time as reducing its own climate-related impacts.

ENGIE implements many energy solutions, and in May 2014 launched a successful €2.5 billion bond issue to fund the development of large-scale wind power, hydropower and energy efficiency projects. The Group is also lobbying for the introduction of a global price for carbon in order to put a cost on disruptive climate change. The majority of the practical proposals in favor of a sustainable European energy system put forward by the Magritte Group of 11 of Europe's largest energy companies, including ENGIE, were adopted by the European Council at its Summit meeting of October 2014.

ENGIE has, for many years, supported projects that accelerate the process of helping underprivileged communities to become self-sufficient and improve living conditions. Since 2011, the majority of these projects have been channeled through the Rassembleurs d'Energies initiative. The scope of its actions extend from the provision of solar power in India, Mexico and East Africa to energy efficiency for social housing in Europe.

The Group also works via its corporate foundation, which has supported more than 150 child welfare, energy solidarity and biodiversity projects since 2010. For example, the Match of Their Dreams initiative to promote social and employment integration via sport enabled fifteen young people to travel to Brazil during the Soccer World Cup in June 2014. In the same year, the Foundation also funded the distribution of 375,000 aid packages to children in The Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Hagupit in conjunction with the French NGO La Voix de l'Enfant.

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