Paris, 22 February, 2024 – The French energy company, Engie, announced profits of 5.4 billion euros in 2023 when it presented its annual results today. The company also reported a record dividend payout of 4.1 billion euros in 2023, and announced plans to pay 3.5 billion euros in 2024 (1). Reclaim Finance is urging Engie’s shareholders to demand the company calls a halt to its gas expansion strategy, including ending LNG imports and the development of new gas-fired power plants.
Engie has opted to spend over €4 billion on its shareholders in 2023 rather than financing its exit from fossil gas, which the company continues to develop despite its stated climate ambitions. Shareholders – who include the French state – and who were already concerned by Engie’s contracts to import shale gas from the United States, must act quickly to demand that the company cease its gas expansion strategy and immediately abandon plans for new gas-fired power plants in the Netherlands, Belgium and Chile.
Antoine Laurent, French advocacy lead at Reclaim Finance
As Engie’s main shareholder, the French state has received over a billion euros in dividends. Given the objective set by the French state agency, the “Agence des participations de l’Etat” “to support the government’s ecological planning agenda” (2), it would be appropriate for the government to call on Engie to prioritize investing in its exit from fossil gas rather than increasing shareholder remuneration.
Controversy surrounds the Nijmegen gas-fired power plant project in the Netherlands
Although it may be necessary to maintain gas capacity to meet peak demand in the future, the Nijmegen power plant, scheduled to operate until 2045, cannot be necessary. The only way for Engie to recoup its costs for this enormous project will be to run the plant well above the emissions threshold for limiting global warming to 1.5°C. In other words, its construction contravenes European climate targets and will prevent the Netherlands from achieving the government’s goals of decarbonizing electricity by 2035 and increasing the share of renewables in its electricity mix to 95.5% by 2040.
Engie is also jeopardizing the transition in Europe through its LNG terminal expansion projects and by signing contracts to import American shale gas, some of which extend beyond 2040.
This means Engie intends to continue promoting the import and consumption of the world’s dirtiest fossil gas for decades to come. This at a time when the EU is aiming to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040 compared to 1990 levels, and to halve its gas consumption by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. According to the IEA’s net-zero scenario, the EU should decarbonize its electricity mix by 2035 at the latest, as seven European countries, including France and the Netherlands, have already pledged to do.
