ENGIE’S ROAD TO (NON-) DECARBONISED POWER

The report argues that while ENGIE has ambitious renewable energy targets, its overall climate plan is not aligned with a 1.5°C trajectory due to continued investments in fossil gas infrastructure, long-term LNG contracts for fracked US gas, and a reliance on immature technologies like CCUS and large-scale renewable gas. It highlights a lack of precise intermediate absolute emission targets and insufficient methane reporting as key governance failures.

• ENGIE's climate plan is certified by the SBTi for a "well below 2°C" trajectory but is not aligned with a 1.5°C pathway. The company's net zero target of 2045 is considered late compared to IEA projections, which require the power sector in advanced economies to reach net zero by 2035.
• Despite planning to increase renewable energy capacity from 40.5 GW to 80 GW by 2030, these efforts are undermined by a strategy of continuous gas expansion. ENGIE plans to invest €1 to €2 billion in gas-fired assets and €1 billion in gas infrastructures over the next three years.
• The company's gas sourcing is becoming more carbon-intensive due to long-term LNG contracts for fracked gas from the US. Starting in 2027, two new contracts will increase US-based LNG imports four-fold, with total deliveries exceeding 3.5 Mt of fossil gas per year until 2040.
• ENGIE relies on "renewable gases" and Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) to meet decarbonisation goals, but the report describes these as immature or non-existent at commercial scale. Specifically, it targets 10 TWh of biomethane annual production and 4 GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2030.
• The coal phase-out strategy is criticized for favoring the sale of assets over closure, which does not reduce real-world emissions. While coal is to be phased out in Europe by 2025 and the rest of the world by 2027, some plants are being converted to gas or biomass instead of being closed.
• Methane emissions reporting and targets are insufficient. ENGIE's target of a 30% reduction in scope 1 methane emissions between 2017 and 2030 was already reached in 2020, and the company does not report or target scope 3 methane emissions, which could double its reported figures.
• Financial planning shows that 5.6% to 6.3% of ENGIE's CAPEX is dedicated to gas power plants, which contradicts IEA NZE projections where fossil fuel investments by 2030 should be almost immaterial.

APA

Sebrecht, P.-A., & Her, H. (2024). ENGIE’S ROAD TO (NON-) DECARBONISED POWER. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ReclaimFinance_ENGIE_Road-to-non-decarbonized-power_April-2024.pdf

Chicago

Sebrecht, Pierre-Alain, and Henri Her. ENGIE’S ROAD TO (NON-) DECARBONISED POWER. Reclaim Finance, 2024. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ReclaimFinance_ENGIE_Road-to-non-decarbonized-power_April-2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sebrecht |first1=Pierre-Alain |last2=Her |first2=Henri |title=ENGIE’S ROAD TO (NON-) DECARBONISED POWER |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=April 2024 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ReclaimFinance_ENGIE_Road-to-non-decarbonized-power_April-2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sebrecht2024engies, author = {Sebrecht, Pierre-Alain and Her, Henri}, title = {{ENGIE’S ROAD TO (NON-) DECARBONISED POWER}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2024}, month = apr, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ReclaimFinance_ENGIE_Road-to-non-decarbonized-power_April-2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }