Sustainability Planet - ENGIE North America

ENGIE is shaping a more sustainable future with clean, affordable, resilient energy and the infrastructure that supports it. Guided by our corporate purpose, we are broadening access to low-carbon energy resources today to meet the climate challenges of tomorrow.

Decarbonization – an integral part of sustainability

As a part of their sustainability initiatives, governments and organizations around the world are setting aggressive decarbonization goals to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050 or before.

ENGIE aims to set the pace to decarbonize the energy industry

ENGIE has made a bold commitment in the decarbonization of our activities, setting an objective to achieve Net Zero emissions in our ways of working by 2030.

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ENGIE is shaping a sustainable future for customers

ENGIE supports its customers in their energy transition. We have committed to contributing 45Mt to the decarbonization of clients by 2030, from 20Mt in 2020.

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Mitigating the global erosion of biodiversity

In accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, ENGIE North America remains committed to mitigating its impact on the global erosion of biodiversity while simultaneously taking strides to protect and improve local ecosystems and habitats. We avoid, reduce, and compensate at every opportunity.

Protecting landscapes at solar sites

ENGIE leverages several strategies to help promote local ecosystems at solar sites. Planting vegetation with pollinator benefits beneath and surrounding solar arrays expanded further in 2021 to 1,120 acres of pollinator-friendly vegetation.

Also, five additional grid-scale solar sites were completed in 2022. These habitats use low-maintenance vegetation to attract local pollinators, such as birds and bees.

Solar Grazing

ENGIE also joined the American Solar Grazing Association with the goal of using grazing livestock, such as sheep, as a natural way to manage vegetation at solar arrays. The livestock can graze within the fenced-in areas, fitting underneath installations to help prevent overgrowth that can block rays from reaching panels. ENGIE is currently practicing solar grazing at our Anson solar site.

Mt. Tom wildlife study

ENGIE conducted a study of Mt. Tom, the largest utility-scale storage and community solar farm in Massachusetts, to assess whether fencing and arrays deter wildlife use. From September 2020 to February 2021, six cameras were deployed and monitored, three located within the array and three facing the perimeter area. With 1,036 total wildlife sightings during that time, a determination was made that fencing and arrays do not cause dramatic differences in the species composition found inside the farm compared to outside. Future studies that compare species diversity before and after will be an important next step to better understand how solar arrays may impact biological communities.

Mitigating risks to birds and bats at wind sites

All renewable projects undergo thorough environmental evaluations to consider possible effects and identify appropriate setbacks associated with wildlife, such as nests, hibernacula and other habitat features; valley breaks; wetlands; watercourses; and areas of cultural and archaeological significance. Bird and bat conservation strategies are also developed for all wind projects, and post-construction monitoring programs are initiated at all facilities after they begin commercial operation. ENGIE began this program in North America in 2020 at five wind facilities and by the end of 2021, ENGIE had operated this program at all wind facilities in North America.

Wildlife monitoring at the Cape Cod Wind project

In 2004, ENGIE began development of the Cape Scott wind project, a 99 MW farm located in a unique ecosystem on a plateau of land near the northwestern tip of Vancouver Island. For more than a decade now, the wind farm has operated with a wildlife monitoring program to ensure that native populations remain unaffected and that the site provides adequate habitat needs with ongoing use. In a recent report, the monitoring demonstrated regular use of the site by sandhill cranes during breeding season. Western toads and red-legged frogs are using former quarry ponds and other wetland areas. Coastal black-tailed deer, gray wolves, black bears, Roosevelt elk, and many other birds, including geese and wetland species, are also continuing to use the site.

Ensuring biodiversity at wind sites

ENGIE conducts and advises on the development of renewable energy projects for any potential wildlife interference risks. All projects undergo an evaluation to identify potential setbacks and other habitat features, and strategies to protect avian and bat species both during construction and in operation are subsequently developed.

Reducing our water usage

ENGIE monitors water use as part of our environmental management strategy and focuses on reducing, restoring, and replenishing. In 2021, ENGIE maintained its commitment to protecting the water supply in communities with power generation assets. We continued a trajectory to dramatically surpass our Group objective to lower water consumption from industrial activities by 35% as we increased investments in renewable energy. Divestments of several water-intensive generation resources also contributed to our significant decline in water use.

To gauge our impact, we monitor water withdrawal and consumption. Water withdrawal involves removing water from a local source, such as a lake, river, or aquifer, while water consumption is the amount of water evaporated during the generation process. In 2020, ENGIE North America achieved a 69% decrease in water consumption. In 2021, we reduced total freshwater use by nearly 34 million cubic meters and total water consumed (fresh and non-fresh water) by 0.5 million cubic meters. That’s a 77% reduction compared to 2020 data.

Evaluating our supply chain

ENGIE performs an annual analysis of suppliers to better understand the CO₂ emissions of our supply chain. Purchase records from ENGIE’s global procurement system are utilized as well as CO₂ conversion factors, which are based on the average emissions associated with different categories of products and services. Through this analysis, ENGIE North America estimated that 2020 purchases were associated with roughly 1.7 million metric tons of CO₂.

Improving our ways of working for a greater impact

ENGIE evaluates its operations’ carbon footprint annually with the goal to reach Net Zero by 2030 in this measurement. This metric captures all the ways our employees generate emissions on behalf of the business, from business travel to office buildings.

Learn how we are improving the way we work