Utilities beyond fossil fuels CASE STUDY: ENGIE

This case study by Ember evaluates the transition strategy of ENGIE, a France-based global energy company. The report argues that ENGIE's reliance on converting coal plants to fossil gas and biomass, its lack of a comprehensive coal phase-out schedule, and its 2°C Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) accreditation are not aligned with the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C objective.

• ENGIE lacks a comprehensive coal phase-out plan, with 70% (approximately 3GW) of its global coal-fired electricity generation having no confirmed shutdown dates. While it committed in 2016 to stop producing electricity from coal, it commissioned three new coal-fired plants between 2016 and 2019: Safi in Morocco (2018), Mejillones Unit 4 in Chile (2019), and Pampa Sul in Brazil (2020).
• ENGIE's strategy involves converting coal-fired power plants to fossil gas and biomass as a transition measure toward 2050. Examples include the planned installation of an 800MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) plant at the site of former coal units in Vado Ligure, Italy, and stated intentions to convert coal plants in Chile to gas or biomass.
• The company's reliance on fossil gas exposes it to significant financial and regulatory risks, including the potential for stranded assets. This is driven by the rapidly falling costs of wind and solar PV—which decreased by 70% and 89% respectively over the last decade—and shifting financial policies, such as the European Investment Bank's (EIB) intention to phase out funding for all fossil fuels.
• ENGIE faces environmental risks related to methane emissions from its fossil gas procurement, particularly if it sources shale gas from the US or Argentina's Vaca Muerta field. The report notes that US LNG is ranked as the "dirtiest in the world" due to fugitive methane emissions, which are significantly higher than those from Russian pipeline gas.
• The use of biomass as a coal replacement is identified as a high-risk strategy due to the complexity of ensuring low-carbon wood sources and the potential for biomass to produce higher emissions than fossil fuels for at least 30 years in 96% of scenarios analyzed by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre.
• ENGIE's climate targets are not aligned with the Paris Agreement. Its Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) accreditation is for 2°C, a category for which the SBTi stopped accepting new submissions in October 2019. This contradicts the Paris Agreement's goal of keeping warming well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.
• ENGIE is investing in new-build gas assets and expanding LNG infrastructure, including a planned 870MW CCGT power station in Vilvoorde, Belgium, and a co-developed LNG regasification terminal in Geelong, South Australia. The report notes the Belgium project is contingent on a capacity market, suggesting it is not economically viable without subsidies.
• ENGIE aims for renewables to provide 58% of its total power generation by 2030, up from 27% in 2019. In Chile, it has implemented projects such as the Capricorn Solar Park (100MW), Calama Wind Farm (150MW), and Tamaya Solar Park (120MW), supported by a $125 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank group.

APA

Brown, S. (2021). Utilities beyond fossil fuels CASE STUDY: ENGIE. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/11/Report-Utilities-Beyond-Fossil-Fuels.pdf

Chicago

Brown, Sarah. Utilities beyond fossil fuels CASE STUDY: ENGIE. Ember, 2021. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/11/Report-Utilities-Beyond-Fossil-Fuels.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Brown |first1=Sarah |title=Utilities beyond fossil fuels CASE STUDY: ENGIE |publisher=Ember |date=February 2021 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/11/Report-Utilities-Beyond-Fossil-Fuels.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{brown2021utilities, author = {Brown, Sarah}, title = {{Utilities beyond fossil fuels CASE STUDY: ENGIE}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2021}, month = feb, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/11/Report-Utilities-Beyond-Fossil-Fuels.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }