How do the projects you finance demonstrate energy sobriety or contribute to it?

Financing wind farms, hydroelectric solar farms or biomass power plants helps to decarbonize energy production, which accounts for ¾ of greenhouse gas emissions.

Additionally, we are working on "green" infrastructure projects, led by territorial collectivities.

Thus, the creation of heating networks and urban heating networks that operate at 80% or 90% with green energy allows companies, businesses, associations, and individuals to connect to these networks and to access a competitive and more stable energy price than those of gas, for example.

We are also involved in waste recycling projects, with a logic of not only incinerating waste but also recovering the emitted heat to produce electricity.

How do you position your activity in relation to the environment and sobriety?

The challenges of decarbonization are very prevalent, especially in the energy sector. Today, 75% of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, come from energy production, and in Europe, 60% of the electricity produced is carbon-based (gas, coal, etc.).

Even if France is (or was) ahead in terms of decarbonization of energy production, thanks to its nuclear fleet, our energy mix must evolve and make more room for renewable energies.

In 5 years, by 2028, the production of renewable energy must double; we are faced with a considerable volume of investments, exceeding €10 billion per year, that must be financed.

Other challenges are also present in the transportation, industry, and housing sectors…

How do you define sobriety and what are the consequences for your business ?

Energy sobriety is a multifactorial subject, with individual, collective, societal and organizational dimensions.

The resulting changes concern mobility, public lighting, industrial or agricultural production processes and will impact all the actors in society, citizens, companies, local authorities, and administrations, which will need to be supported, with advice and funding.

We are probably more in a state of forced sobriety than a chosen one 

How do you analyze the decline in French electricity consumption recorded at the end of 2022?

When warnings were issued about the risk of power cuts, four out of ten households reduced their electricity consumption. Additionally, five out of ten French people have also reduced their travel over the last six months.

 It is difficult to judge whether these changes are linked to inflation / pricing effect or a growing awareness of our ways of functioning, but we are probably more in a state of forced sobriety than a chosen one. It is likely the beginning of a process with certain segments of the population that have fully embraced this sobriety while others are more opposed to it.