REDUCING WATER USE
WITH A NEW TARGET
The water challenge is a local issue
closely tied to the availability of fresh
water and the degree of water stress
of the watershed.
For ENGIE, the activities that
consume the most fresh water are
thermal power plants, LNG terminals,
heating / cooling networks and the
creation by dissolution of salt caverns
for gas storage.
In 2022, ENGIE set a new target for
2030: the reduction of the fresh water
consumption rate in relation to the
energy produced (m
3
/ MWh) for the
consolidated entities of the Group with
the following target: 0.100 m
3
/ MWh.
This target thus represents a reduction
of 70% in fresh water consumption per
energy produced at the end of 2030
compared with 2019.
REDUCE THE IMPACT OF WIND
FARMS ON BIODIVERSITY
Wind farms are sometimes criticized
for their impact on birds
The impacts can be minimized by
avoiding sites that include the
preferred areas of reproduction and
food of birds or by using wind turbines
that reduce the risk of collision
In 2020 ENGIE launched a research
project with the universities of Aix
Marseille and Groningen to study and
predict the flight behavior of birds
near the turbines and the connection
with the rate of collisions The study
is being conducted at different wind
farms countries and on several species
of birds of prey the red kite the
common buzzard the marsh harrier
the hen harrier and Montegus harrier
Identify the impacts on biodiversity to
target actions
The Group’s impacts and dependencies
on biodiversity are analyzed with
respect to five major pressures*:
changes in land use, overexploitation
of resources, climate change, pollution
and invasive species.
The impacts of the Group’s activities are:
Changes in land use
• Direct land footprint of the sites.
• Extraction of raw materials.
• Indirect impacts from the production
of biogas (utilization of agricultural
or forest waste).
• Air footprint for birds and bats.
• Aquatic footprint (fish).
Overexploitation of resources
• ENGIE has a small impact on
the direct exploitation of resources,
except for some forms of biomass
coming almost exclusively from wood
waste or agricultural waste (bagasse,
straw, etc.).
Climate change
• Greenhouse gas emissions
(CH
4
, CO
2
, N
2
O essentially).
Pollution
• Emissions into the air
(NOx, SO
2
, particles, etc.),
• Releases into water.
• Waste.
• Light pollution;
Noise
Invasive species
The Group can also generate impacts
on invasive exotic species because
excavation work is potentially a vector
for dissemination
In addition the green spaces around
the sites represent potential habitats
for these undesirable species
Analysis of the impacts throughout the
value chain
The majority of ENGIE’s activities have
been the subject of a life cycle analysis.
Their impacts affect:
Supply
• Dependence of the Group’s
technologies on natural gas, uranium
and biomass resources.
• Use of rare earth metals and critical
materials.
• Exposure to climate events: floods,
drought, storms, heat waves, mild
winters.
Production
• Dependence of electrical and thermal
energy production on the water
resource.
• Ground footprint of the Group’s sites
and strong interaction with the natural
ecosystems of the territory.
End-of-life
• Recycling of the materials used,
particularly for the production of wind
turbines and solar panels.
Multiple dependencies on nature
Raw materials of natural origin
• The Group’s activities depend on raw
materials of natural origin, minerals
(coal, natural gas, metals, rare earth
elements) or vegetation (biomass).
Water cycle
• Dependence of hydroelectric
generation on waterways and their
regulation
Climate regulation
Dependence of solar and wind power
production on climate regulation
Exposure of the Groups activities on
climate events
Soil quality
Dependence of the activities of the
networks transport distribution
heatingcooling on the stability of
the soils provided by the ecosystemic
services of support water filtration
biodiversity of the subsoil etc
IDENTIFY ITS FOOTPRINT
TO LIMIT ITS IMPACT
In constant interaction with biodiversity, the Group’s activities can have indirect impacts on
ecosystems. But they also benefit from services provided by nature, such as the raw material
supply or the regulating cycles.
These pressures are identified by the
Intergovernmental SciencePolicy Platform on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services IPBES
2023 INTEGRATED REPORT - 89