Brazil is a core element in ENGIE’s strategy for expanding the generation of renewable energy, construction of energy transportation infrastructure and natural gas as well as solutions for cities and for decarbonization. This scenario was delineated by ENGIE Brasil’s CEO, Maurício Bähr at the opening of ENGIE Day on August 2 at the Museu do Amanhã in Rio de Janeiro, a gathering attended by an audience of nearly 500, among the Company’s clients, suppliers, shareholders and employees in addition to authorities from the energy sector.
The executive highlighted the role of Brazil in reaching the group’s global targets for becoming net zero by 2045 and achieving a landmark 80 thousand MW of renewable energy capacity in 2030. “We have projects totaling 2,000 MW in renewable energy in the country with investments exceeding R$ 10 billion. Furthermore, we are expanding the Transportadora Associada de Gás’ (TAG) network of gas pipelines as well as having recently won the auction for one more transmission line of 1,000 Km, this bringing energy from the Northeast to the Southeast. Such projects are aligned with our proposal of accelerating the fair energy transition”, Bähr pointed out.
In this context, president of the Brazilian Wind Energy Association (ABEEólica), Elbia Gannoum, stated that recent studies indicated that by 2040, the demand for energy in Brazil will be twice that of today and for this reason the country must invest in its installed capacity – across the entire renewable source spectrum.
Heloísa Borges, director for Petroleum and Natural Gas Studies at EPE, noted that Brazil has an “abundance of natural resources and the potential to attract investments. Our energy matrix today is what the world is planning for 2050”, she declared.
Gannoum at ABEEólica also recalled that the approval of bills in Congress for promoting legal solidity for attracting more investments to Brazil, particularly bills regulating offshore wind farms, green hydrogen and the carbon market, is all “fundamental for guaranteeing the energy transition in Brazil”.
For Ana Meyer, Green Hydrogen business developer at ENGIE, hydrogen is one of the leading vocations in Brazil since the country has all the fundamentals necessary in addition to competitive natural resources. “It is a great opportunity for the decarbonization of industry. Steel, mining, and petrochemicals are all energy intensive sectors and hydrogen is emerging as a decarbonizer of these processes”, she says.
Industry and energy efficiency
Although the use of the soil is responsible for the larger part of emissions in Brazil, industry has to improve its energy efficiency especially through the replacement of obsolete equipment, says Venilton Tadini, president of Abdib.
In this context, ENGIE offers products and services which help clients decarbonize their activities. “When we find in industry, various obsolete processes and equipment consuming above average energy, we see this as ‘the beginning of the end’. And in such cases, either we do something to bring about improvements or we are not going to be competitive”, said João Pínola, Utilities Director at ENGIE Soluções.
One of the aspects to be addressed is financing. This is where the Brazilian Development Bank – BNDES has a critical role to play. One of the ideas for increasing resources dedicated to renewable energy is to use the Climate Fund, comments Luciana Costa, Director for Infrastructure, Energy Transition and Climate Change at the BNDES. “We have a window of opportunity to be a powerhouse in renewables and we can use the Climate Fund to this end.”
Natural Gas
According to Gustavo Labanca, Chief Executive Officer of TAG and also present participating in one of the panels at the event, “after two and half years from the enactment of the New Gas Law, some points in the law need to be regulated, together with the harmonization of state legislation, for fostering development of the segment and consolidating the process of liberalization – already translating into more agents and greater dynamism in the segment – and to promote the complementary nature of generation from renewables and to ensure that the gas brings with it energy security”.
Fair transition
So that the energy transition process takes place in a fair way, society as a whole has to benefit, especially in the case of the most vulnerable and this has to happen quickly. In the view of Sérgio Besserman, Brazil’s representative on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the climate crisis is going to hit the most vulnerable in a dramatic way. “We are talking about the poor, victims of environmental racism and women. Things which were forecast 15 years hence are happening now”.
Suzana Kahn, Director at Coppe/UFRJ, pointed to the need for investments on a more broad-based basis. “There is no nation in the world that has developed without investing in science and technology. If we fail to focus on this new era of knowledge, we are going to lose touch with the movement of world leadership”.
Diversity and inclusion
Global Head of Talents and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at ENGIE, Renata Spada says that one of the Company’s aims is to increase diversity among human resources. “One of our targets is to reach at least 40% of women in the Group’s managerial positions by 2030. And we have the educational programs to move ahead with this objective”.
Juliana Kaiser, founder of Pathways of Impact, underscored the absence of women in the higher echelons of companies: “There is still a bias against women in positions of leadership generally although I am optimistic. Those companies publicly listed on the stock exchange will have to promote changes and this will accelerate the process”.