10-years - Engie

The beginning

Our brand may only be 10 years old, but our roots go back over 100 years. We have inherited a powerful blend of multi-faceted origins and deep roots that help us to understand the world today and look towards the future.

Back to our roots

ENGIE, before it becomes ENGIE, builds a rich, diverse history drawing from a varied background. This heritage continues to guide us today.

19th

Up North

Our story begins in Belgium back in the 19th century, with the first electricity concessions. From Meeûs & Cie to Tractebel, and then Electrabel, we hone our expertise over a number of major industrial and international transformations.

1862

The Egyptian dream

In 1858, in Alexandria, Egypt, Ferdinand de Lesseps founds the Compagnie Universelle du Canal maritime de Suez, with support from Said Pasha, opening a new connection in the Middle East. The name Suez is retained as a souvenir from our adventures in Egypt, and stays with us for many, many years.

The lights
of Paris

1880, Paris becomes the City of Lights. The Société Lyonnaise des Eaux emerges as one of the main providers of energy in the Roaring Twenties, facilitating the expansion of electricity and helping to make public lighting more widespread. In 1997, the Société merges with Suez, marking the start of a new chapter that leads to the birth of GDF Suez in 2008.

Energy, a public service

Using gas to rebuild and live better

In 1946, to support the efforts to rebuild the country and provide a secure source of energy in sufficient quantity, the French State sets up Gaz de France (GDF).

Throughout the 1950s, the company focuses on developing natural gas, which replaces town gas. At the heart of the renewed network, GDF forges a position for itself as a key energy supplier in France.

Reinventing the world of gas

In response to the challenges arising from the energy crisis in the 1970s, GDF transforms itself, signing new contracts, developing storage and helping market gas around the world via Liquified Natural Gas (LNG). In the early 2000s, the European Union opens the energy market and imposes the separation of operations – Gaz Réseau Distribution France (GRDF) is tasked with distribution, while Gaz Réseau Transport (GRTgaz), which becomes Natran in 2025, is responsible for delivery, alongside Storengy (2005) and Elengy (2008).

In the meantime, the Compagnie Financière de Suez turns into an industrial group fully focused on energy, especially since the acquisition of Electrabel in 2000.

In 2008, GDF and Suez join forces, creating GDF Suez, which ultimately becomes ENGIE.

The proposed merger between Gaz de France and SUEZ was driven by a shared ambition to build a leading European player in the energy and environmental sectors.

GÉRARD MESTRALLET, Chairman and CEO of GDF SUEZ
JEAN-FRANÇOIS CIRELLI, Vice-Chairman and Deputy CEO

A global energy leader

Out to conquer the world

The merger between GDF and Suez in 2008 makes our Group a major player in the global market. Upstream, GDF Suez explores and operates natural gas deposits in Europe. Downstream, it develops services for retail customers, local authorities and industries under the brands Dolce Vita and Énergies Communes. Before becoming ENGIE, GDF Suez is already the leading supplier of gas in France and the largest gas infrastructure operator in Europe.

It also extended its operations into electricity generation and supply, harnessing the expertise and reach of Electrabel.

Focus on the future

Our Group began developing services, staying true to the legacy of the SLEE and Suez. It integrates engineering, construction, maintenance, heating and cooling networks, as well as environmental services in order to respond to the needs and imperatives intrinsically related to energy. One year later, with the acquisition of the British electricity generation company International Power, the Group propells itself to become the world’s leading independent producer.

GDF Suez lays the foundations for the future and begins investing in renewable energy, even before the birth of ENGIE.

We are already well on the way to bringing about our transformation.

ENGIE, before it became ENGIE, was built on over 150 years’ experience

We have successfully reinvented ourselves while remaining true to our primary focus “to be useful to people”, useful to society as a whole.

A new century begins. The trajectory is set.

We are ready to rise to the enormous challenge: reinvent energy models to help build a sustainable future.

The year is now 2015.

Reinventing
ourselves

2015 is a momentous year. A year in which the world widely acknowledges the need to combat climate change. A year of pledges, with the signature of the Paris Agreement. A year in which a new brand emerges, ready and raring to drive progress in the energy transition. It is our brand. It is ENGIE.

Climate change, a common combat for all

“Our house is burning down while we look the other way”. The French President, Jacques Chirac, sets the tone with this quote at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg in 2002. The 21st century begins with the dawn of a new era, an era of uncertainty about what our planet will look like in the future. Thirteen years later, the 21st Conference of the Parties on climate change takes place, culminating in the Paris Agreement, binding countries to decisive commitments for the coming decades.

Three years ago, we launched an ambitious repositioning initiative to make ENGIE the champion of the new energy world.

ISABELLE KOCHER, Chief Executive Officer of ENGIE, 2017

Pioneers of the energy transition

In 2015, our Group made a strategic shift in order to rise to this challenge, positioning itself as a pioneer.

More than a mission, a purpose

In 2020, we identify our purpose and enshrine it in our bylaws.
“ENGIE’s purpose is to act to accelerate the transition towards a carbon-neutral economy, through reduced energy consumption and more environmentally-friendly solutions. The purpose brings together the company, its employees, its clients and its shareholders, and reconciles economic performance with a positive impact on people and the planet. ENGIE’s actions are assessed in their entirety and over time.”

Last week, we unveiled ENGIE‘s purpose. It will serve as a foundation for our ambition to tackle the energy and climate challenge while also positioning the Group as a reference for responsible capitalism. It is our purpose, our cause for action.

Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ENGIE, 2020

A major strategic shift

In 2021, ENGIE commits to become a Net Zero Carbon company by 2045. We stop investing in coal, begin efforts to completely phase out this fuel by 2027, and increase activity in renewable energy, triggering a shift toward electric infrastructure.

We also make a fundamental decision to develop battery storage, as reflected by the acquisition of US-based Broad Reach Power in 2023.

2021 is the year in which we refocus our energy. Having established operations in 78 countries, we decide to concentrate on around 30 countries and our core business as a power company. This movement gives rise to EQUANS, a new brand bringing together all the Group’s energy services that is sold to Bouygues in 2022.

Time to pick up the pace

Leveraging the €10 billion invested each year on average, ENGIE has developed the components of a low-carbon energy system for the future. Our culture is transforming, having identified operational excellence, digital tech and artificial intelligence as performance drivers, as well as workplace health and safety as an absolute priority.

Challenging times prove our vision right

2022 sees conflict break out once again at the gates of Europe. The war in Ukraine sends shock waves through the energy market, causing prices to rise and exposing vulnerability in the security of the supply chain. The teams at ENGIE do everything possible.

Developing local renewable energy sources becomes more important than ever. Because the energy transition is not only a response to climate change, but also to geopolitical and financial challenges. It reduces our dependency, makes us more competitve and creates jobs. We support an energy transition that harnesses molecules and electrons to guarantee the most reliable and affordable low-carbon energy possible.

Our greatest strength: our collective

With over 150 years’ history and 98,000 employees, ENGIE leverages its collective to drive the energy transition forward.

Taking action

More than a vision, the energy transition is all about action

Read more about our iconic projects and find out how they are helping drive the energy transition around the world.

On track

Today, we are looking ahead to the future with confidence, ready to embrace the coming decade. One in which we will become “the best energy transition utility”.

In an uncertain world, the rules of diplomacy, economics, and politics are constantly being rewritten.

Our profile as a utility company gives us a significant level of resilience. It is built around our geographical footprint, which enables us to reallocate our investments where necessary, as well as our robust business model, with a strong focus on regulated activities, and our vision for a balanced energy mix, combining electrons and molecules.

We are committed to excellence, both operational and financial, but we aspire to much more. We want to play a decisive role by providing the countries where we operate with everything they need to ensure access to energy that is decarbonized, reliable, and as affordable as possible.

We are harnessing the power of data and digital technology to increase our value creation, enhance the services we offer, and further strengthen our operational excellence. But above all, we are benefiting from the professionalism and dedication of the best employees, guided by our commitment to being “useful”, as well as our ability to make a real difference and drive lasting change, from decision-making centers to operations on the ground.

Succeeding

Catherine MacGregor, ENGIE CEO

The fight against global warming is the defining challenge of our century. It will shape our future: the prosperity of our societies, social justice, public health, biodiversity, and peace.

Each and every one of us has, directly or indirectly, been faced with the consequences of global warming. The increased frequency of extreme events serves as a reminder of the urgent need to take action.

However, the energy transition faces some strong headwinds, including continued climate skepticism, concerns about feasibility, financial cost, and fears that it could deepen social inequalities or penalize certain regions. Behind this resistance, often lies a legitimate fear of being left behind, or of bearing the burden, with a temptation to slow down.

And yet we have everything to gain by accelerating the energy transition.

It is not merely about responding to the environmental emergency, we endeavor to drive deep transformations in our societies and economies to make them fairer, more resilient, and more sovereign. We further strengthen our energy sovereignty and protect our economies against geopolitical shocks by reducing our dependence on imported fossil fuels. We help protect consumer purchasing power by stabilizing prices. We create long-term jobs, anchored in our communities, by investing in local renewable energy. And last but not least, we tangibly improve living conditions in terms of public health by reducing pollution caused by energy production.

In 2025, the energy transition has led to industrial projects that deliver genuine improvements in people’s lives.

District cooling networks that are refreshing cities, like in Barcelona.

The heat from a data center being used to warm an Olympic swimming pool in Paris or a neighborhood in Berlin.

Local, lower-cost renewable energy that is powering more than a million homes near the Red Sea in Egypt.

Sustainable jobs that are being created by offshore wind power on Île d’Yeu in France, and local industries that are developing in our communities and across our regions.

Batteries that are storing energy in Chile and Belgium to prevent power cuts.

It also means aviation and shipping sectors that are preparing to turn the page on fossil fuels.

A well-managed transition also means greater resilience and competitiveness in a context of increased competition between different countries. All around the world, decarbonized energy is being leveraged as a competitive advantage at a time when certain emerging economic powerhouses such as India and China are investing heavily in this area. Nearly 20 years ago, Europe paved the way by setting ambitious goals. We now need to move more quickly in order to retain control of our destiny and remain among the world’s leading powers.

The transition is underway, and it is accelerating because it has become a concrete response to the challenges we face this century. Far from being a constraint, it is an opportunity on which we can capitalize.

We must stay the course, with ambition and confidence.

Because energy is thought out and shaped over the long term. And businesses have a key role to play in this endeavor. While politics can often be constrained by a short-term focus, companies can – and must – drive the long-term vision forward.

Because it is a heavy responsibility ENGIE has shouldered, together with its employees, its suppliers, its customers, both commercial and residential, and with communities that want to remain attractive and competitive. In all the countries where we operate, we will continue to take part in the public debate, making our voice heard to promote and defend our vision for the energy transition, a transition that is opening up opportunities for our economies and our societies.

But this project calls for our collective mobilization. From citizens to communities and regions, public authorities and economic stakeholders. It calls for a form of courage – the courage to invest, innovate, and build.

We are the first generation to fully understand the scale of the climate challenge. And maybe the last with the power to still change its course.

So, let’s keep moving forward !