(AOF) – Engie has obtained approval from the National Electricity Coordinator (CEN) to start the commercial operation of Bess Coya, the largest battery energy storage system (BESS) in America Latin. With 139 MW of installed capacity, Bess Coya has a storage capacity of 638 MWh. Located on the Coya photovoltaic site (180 MWac) in the Antofagasta region, this storage system equipped with lithium batteries will store the renewable energy produced by the solar power plant.
The Bess Coya system, with its 232 modules, will store the equivalent of five hours of electricity and inject it into the network during peak periods, which represents the supply of 200 GWh on average per year. It will provide enough green energy for around 100,000 homes, thus avoiding the emission of 65,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
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Key points
– Group born in 2008 from the GDF-Suez merger, world leader in energy transition, leading global producer of non-nuclear electricity, leading provider of energy efficiency services, second provider of environmental services;
-Activity of €93.3 billion with strong positions in Europe ahead of America;
– Business model based on control of the value chain and on refocusing on 5 businesses: renewables, infrastructure, energy solutions, energy production & supply and energy and nuclear management;
– Capital controlled 23.64% by the State, alongside the Caisse des Dépôts (4.59%), and 3.2% by employees, Jean-Pierre Clamadieu chairing the board of directors and Catherine MacGregor providing general management;
-Controlled financial structure with €24.1 billion in net debt giving a leverage effect of 2.8, €20.9 billion in cash
Challenges
– Annual growth strategy for Renewables increased to 4 GW between 2022-25 and 6 GW between 2026-30 via:
– simplification of the group with 4 Business Units and an international presence reduced to less than 30 countries in 2023,
– deployment of “BRIGHT”, specialized in multi-technical services,
– At least €11 billion in disposals (completed at the end of 2022) and €15-16 billion in growth investments (€5.5 billion in 2022, in renewables, infrastructure and energy solutions), at least €11 billion in disposals and €15 to €16 billion in growth investments;
-hence an increase in profits (€3.8 to €4.4 billion in 2024 and €4.1 to €4.7 billion in 2025), a debt leverage effect of less than 4 and a distribution rate of 65 to 75% until 2023, with a floor of €0.65.
– Innovation strategy organized into transversal roadmaps: Horizons: 1/ process efficiency, 2/ diffusion of new technologies, 3/ monitoring and research for future growth / Ecosystems: 23 thematic Labs, Engie Factories, internal platforms (DigiPlace , Common Data, Hub, Inner Source);
– Environmental strategy aiming for carbon neutrality in 2045: 2 2030 objectives: reduction to 43 Mt of CO2 emissions compared to 2017 (60 Mt) and increase to 58%, compared to 38% at the end of 2022, of renewable energies in electricity production ; total exit from coal (2.6% of the total electricity portfolio) in Europe in 2025 and elsewhere in 2027,
– Strong growth in profitability thanks to the leading position in Brazil, a key market for the group, the CCGT fleet (the largest in Europe), renewables and long-term partnerships with gas producers, such as Gazprom.
Challenges
– Normalization of net profitability after a year 2022 impacted in particular by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict (€1 billion) and Belgian nuclear power (€1.2 billion)…
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Restructuring of Belgian nuclear power: closure of 2 reactors, extension of the activity of 2 others by 10 years and dispute over the amount of provisions for dismantling;
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Normalization of net profitability after a year 2022 impacted in particular by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict (€1 billion) and Belgian nuclear power (€1.2 billion)…;
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2023 objective of a recurring net profit between 3.8 and 4 billion;
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2022 dividend of €1.4.
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The challenges of water recycling
According to a report from the World Economic Forum, demand for water will jump by 55% by 2050. However, only 11% of water is recycled globally, with strong disparities depending on the country: if this rate reaches 89% in Israel, it falls to 15% in Spain. It is even less than 1% in France! The Veolia manager, however, believes that the rate of 10% targeted for 2030, as part of the new Water plan announced by the authorities, is achievable under certain conditions. At the forefront is administrative simplification. Veolia is committed to tripling its production of recycled water by 2030 to bring it to 3 billion m3. In this area, the world leader in environmental services strengthened its know-how during its takeover bid for the former Suez group.