The French energy utility Engie plans to switch all its current gas operations to biogas (biomethane) and renewable hydrogen by 2050 and to reach a 100% renewable gas target. This announcement comes at a time when Engie is about to leave the upstream oil and gas business through the sale of its exploration and production activities to the British company Neptune Energy for US$3.9bn and the divestment of its LNG production, shipping and trading activities to Total for US$15bn.
While it is sourcing most of its gas from abroad, the group has 70 biogas projects worldwide, of which 40 in France, in particular facilities which turn agricultural waste into methane. Engie estimates that biogas from agricultural (excluding food crops) and other waste could soar from around 1% of French gas consumption to 10% by 2025, 30% by 2030 and 100% by 2050.
Engie also seeks to develop renewable hydrogen production units and produce hydrogen gas with solar energy by electrolyze water at a more competitive price than today. The company is looking forward to investing in industrial-scale hydrogen production where solar energy can be bought at a cheap price.