Energy Intelligence announced that ENGIE is the winner of its 2017 Award for Leadership in New Energy.
 
The award, now in its sixth year, recognizes a company that is at the forefront of the energy transition from traditional fossil fuels to a lower-carbon energy system. ENGIE has distinguished itself among its peers with a series of bold initiatives to aid the clean energy transition. The French-headquartered utility, with activities in around 70 countries, is overhauling its portfolio to focus in particular on low carbon solutions from natural gas and renewables, and has made significant forays into decentralized solar power and alternative transport technologies.

"ENGIE hasn't merely accepted the energy transition, it is embracing and advancing it," said Lauren Craft, editor of EI New Energy. "Beyond cleaning up its portfolio, it is also carving out a role as a solutions provider for consumers that wish for example to produce their own energy or own an electric vehicle."

ENGIE has set a goal of increasing its renewable capacity to 25% of its generation fleet by 2020, up from roughly 20% now. It also aims to cut the carbon intensity of electricity produced by 20% by 2020, versus a 2012 carbon intensity of 443 grams of CO2 per megawatt hour of electricity generated.

To finance its low-carbon growth, ENGIE is shedding assets in coal, merchant power, and oil and gas E&P. ENGIE is no longer developing new coal-fired power plants and has taken many steps to sell or retire existing coal assets. The French company is also embracing the rise of "prosumers," households or neighborhoods that produce their own energy, and has for example designed a new product in France, My Power, to support residential customers in installing solar panels.

ENGIE is also an active player in the shift to green mobility and in particular to electric drive. In March, the group bought Dutch-based charging station provider EV-Box, which has built up a network of 40,000 charging points in 20 countries. ENGIE is also developing solutions for electrifying public transport and digital platforms to reduce traffic problems.

The Energy Intelligence Award for Leadership in New Energy will be presented to ENGIE during the 38th Oil & Money Conference in London on October 17-19.

The award's selection process began with the Energy Intelligence editorial team compiling a list of nominees that exemplify excellence in transitioning from traditional fossil fuels to a lower-carbon energy system. The winner was then chosen by a selection committee comprising independent experts in new energy from the business world complemented by senior energy executives and government officials who act as advisers to Energy Intelligence.

Former winners of the award:
2016: Total, presented to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Pouyanné
2015: Statoil, presented to Senior Vice President for Wind & CSS, Stephen Bull
2014: Dong Energy, presented to Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Stakeholder Relations, Jakob Askou Bøss
2013: Iberdrola, presented to Renewables Chief, Xabier Viteri Solaun
2012: Masdar, presented to Chief Executive, H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber
 

Energy Intelligence | www.energyintel.com