Environmental products house of the year: ENGIE

ENGIE is driving change in energy transition, with a strong focus on renewable energy and the liberalisation of power markets in Asia-Pacific (Apac), which presents significant long-term growth opportunities. In recognition of its efforts, ENGIE Global Energy Management & Sales (GEMS) has been named Environmental products house of the year

Varun Gujral, chief executive Apac of ENGIE GEMS, is proud of the team’s track record. “This award is a testament to our team’s hard work and 20-plus years of experience in navigating the unprecedented volatility and uncertainty in global environmental products markets. We offer more than just a comprehensive suite of low-carbon solutions – ENGIE GEMS is at the forefront of transforming the Apac renewables landscape, helping clients lead and accelerate their decarbonisation journeys through innovative energy solutions.”

A significant development for the firm this year was the signing of its first corporate virtual power purchase agreement (PPA) in Malaysia for a total of 29.9 megawatts (MW) through the country’s Corporate Green Power Programme – a renewable energy initiative by the Malaysian Energy Commission.

ENGIE also signed a virtual PPA with Hewlett Packard Enterprise to deliver 10MW of renewable energy from the JTC Corporation SolarRoof programme and additional renewable energy of up to 10MW from ENGIE’s assets in Singapore. “These PPAs in Malaysia and Singapore not only demonstrate ENGIE’s leadership in the region, but also strategically position the firm to capitalise on the growing demand for corporate PPAs as companies pursue more stringent environmental, social and governance [ESG] targets,” says Teck Hao Tan, Green PPA originator and structurer at ENGIE in Apac.

True to its mission, which consists of supporting the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries, ENGIE GEMS sold a great volume of renewable energy certificates (RECs) to a large mining company in the region. Given the success of this first transaction, the firm has continued supporting this client with additional volumes towards the decarbonisation of its scope 2 emissions.

ENGIE GEMS opened its Tokyo office in October 2023 and, more recently, its Delhi office, leveraging ENGIE’s total India renewable portfolio of 2.3 gigawatts (GW) – including development projects – with the ambition to increase that number to 7GW by 2030. Gujral explains: “With the development of this new franchise in India, ENGIE GEMS will support the group to develop more renewables assets while addressing corporate and industrial decarbonisation through corporate PPAs and other innovative solutions.”

The France-headquartered firm has undergone a full-scale digital transformation, providing new solutions to help Apac clients navigate uncertainty and decarbonise their portfolios and businesses.

Pierre-Alexandre Deplaix, who manages trading, structuring and origination of carbon, renewables and e-fuels in Apac and the Middle East, says the company has spent time and resources developing better tools for its clients over the past few years.

One example currently in the works is Qatalyst: a due diligence platform for carbon offset project investments, for which ENGIE partnered with SC Ventures – Standard Chartered’s innovative fintech investment and ventures arm. Deplaix explains that Qatalyst aims to bring more transparency to the carbon credits market for upstream projects worldwide, while delivering returns for investors. The initial phase focuses on nature-based projects, while technological projects will be added in the future.

“When investors are looking to allocate funds to carbon projects, they have to assess how the due diligence was performed; from project design and development through to monitoring, finding partners, financing and all the way to issuance, monitoring and then monetisation,” he adds.

The platform is undergoing testing and is expected to launch early next year.

ENGIE is also the founder of Attributes, a spin-off entity whose data platform provides greater transparency around the ESG performance of energy. The platform’s blockchain-based technology is designed to guarantee the immutability of the data and eliminate double-counting.

To align with ENGIE’s group-level ESG strategy, ENGIE GEMS formalised an internal governance structure to mitigate carbon offset and RECs-related risks. Due diligence is carried out to cover environmental and social risks.