According to an analysis of documents from Italian energy companies Enel, French Engie, Czech EPH, Spanish Iberdrola and Norwegian Statkraft, the latter “do not plan to gradually stop producing electricity from fossil gas by 2035, as recommended by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),” details the Berlin-based coalition in a report.
Enel, Engie and EPH in particular “remain important developers of fossil gas power plants”, adds the document, which draws attention to projects based on the use of hydrogen and biomethane (gas from organic waste). The latter are still “immature or non-operational on a commercial scale”, according to this group representing around sixty European civil organisations, including WWF and Reclaim Finance.
The French energy company Engie, for example, certainly plans to double its renewable energy capacities from 42 GW in 2023 to 80 GW in 2030, so that they then represent 58% of its energy mix, and to strengthen its storage capacities.
But the group plans to still devote between 1 and 2 billion euros to new gas-fired thermal power plants and 1 billion euros to gas infrastructure by 2026, the report notes. And Engie is engaged in contracts for gas from hydraulic fracturing in the United States which run until after 2040, the document also notes.
Transition plans criticized
Taken as a whole, the transition plans of EPH, Enel and Engie “do not allow us to foresee a rapid exit from fossil fuels”, estimates Pierre-Alain Sebrecht, campaign manager at Reclaim Finance, cited in a communicated.
“Their commitment to developing new gas-fired power plants will block future emissions and hamper Europe’s ability to achieve its climate objectives“, he adds, emphasizing that “this also compromises compliance with the carbon neutrality commitments of the actors who support them financially.”
Even if they do not commit to abandoning fossil fuels by 2035, Iberdrola and Statkraft “show that a coherent transition plan towards a sustainable electricity system (wind, solar, storage and networks) is possible”, underlines also the report.
With AFP.
