As Belgium’s leading renewable energy producer, ENGIE helps clients reduce their carbon footprint. “We provide our customers with long-term renewable electricity supply agreements, commonly known as PPAs or power purchase agreements.” explains Liesbeth Verscheure, Industrial Customer Originator at ENGIE GEMS. These contracts protect customers from price fluctuations for up to 20 years.
Technology companies are leading the charge in this space. “In recent years, ENGIE has been chosen as a preferred partner for leading technology companies in their decarbonization efforts.” explains Stéphane Pilotot, European Sales Director at GEMS. In Belgium he has over 500 employees and around 20,000 of his B2B clients, making it the second largest platform in the world after Paris. For example, Google, where he has strategically operated data centers for 15 years, has been working with GEMS since its founding in Belgium to achieve its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.
The latest projects include GEMS and the Renewables division working together to select renewable projects near sites where the US tech giant will build two new hyperscalers, data centers with over 100MW of power. Includes: GEMS was previously contracted to supply renewable energy for five years from the Noser offshore wind project in the North Sea in 2019. “At the time, it was Google’s first ever signing of an “offshore” PPA.” says Stéphane Pilotto.
Reference contracts for other departments
However, these contracts also have interest in other areas of the industry. Approximately 10 companies have signed five-year contracts with GEMS, including agrifood company Agrist, circular materials technology leader Umicore, mobile phone company Proximus, and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. “Until the end of 2028, we will share with them a portion of the energy produced by the C-Power offshore wind farm in the Belgian North Sea.” explains Stéphane Pilotto.
The main challenge in such contracts is ensuring continuous access to electricity from renewable sources to meet instantaneous consumption. “This is where GEMS differentiates itself from its competitors. Its portfolio is sufficiently diversified to supplement production at any time. ” Liesbeth Verchule says. Currently, this compensation is done via the “traditional” grid. However, ENGIE and GEMS are exploring solutions such as storing energy in large-scale batteries or using hydrogen. “We’re co-developing solutions with Google to tackle intermittent challenges” continues Liesbeth Verchule. the goal? “Working with leading technology companies to address this challenge and extend the benefits to all businesses”
Did you know that?In the field of energy-intensive industries, ENGIE Belgium is committed to achieving the same conclusions as: Approximately 1,000MW PPAs for 350 MW by 2030 have already been signed. |