Isabelle Kocher, ENGIE CEO, Monday (March 26) signed a partnership agreement with Victorien Erussard, the founder and captain of Energy Observer, and Jérôme Delafosse, the expedition leader of Energy Observer. ENGIE has thus become one of the main partners of the first ship in the world powered by hydrogen and renewable energies only, an experimental laboratory aimed at energy autonomy, without emissions of greenhouse gases or fine particles.
A pioneer of the energy revolution, ENGIE’s ambition is to become the leader of the new world of energy that is decarbonised, decentralised and digitised. The Group considers that renewable hydrogen is currently one of the essential and missing links for building a more sustainable energy system and world.
ENGIE is already active in the hydrogen sector, to meet industrial needs, to develop sustainable mobility and to address the intermittent nature of renewable energies by using it as a storage medium. By becoming a partner of Energy Observer, ENGIE is supporting a single demonstrator which is proving the viability of an energy production system that is virtuous, decarbonised, decentralised and digitised: Energy Observer is the first ship in the world able to produce its own hydrogen on board, by combining renewable energies (wind, solar, hydrokinetics) and sea water.
More than simply a boat with innovative technology, Energy Observer is undertaking a world tour over several years, led by Victorien Erussard, the founder and captain, and Jérôme Delafosse, the expedition leader, seeking out concrete solutions that prove that a positive growth dynamic, reconciling economic growth and the common good, is possible. ENGIE teams will contribute to this adventure in particular by presenting solutions that the Group is developing and which aim, on the one hand, to produce and distribute ever cleaner energy, and on the other hand, to help its customers – private individuals, businesses, territories, etc. – to improve their energy use.
On the occasion of the signature of the partnership, Isabelle Kocher stated: : “At ENGIE, we believe that harmonious progress is possible. We are proud to share this aspiration with Energy Observer and to play our part in this great adventure, a meeting-point between our expertise and the boldness and the imagination of the whole crew. It is now together that we will accelerate the movement and lead to the emergence of solutions that combine performance and responsibility: let’s identify them, and allow everyone to be an active player in the world of tomorrow!”
Victorien Erussard, founder and captain of Energy Observer, explained: “ENGIE’s commitment as Energy Observer’s main partner proves that our vision of virtuous and decarbonised energy prefigures the energy networks of tomorrow. What we are experimenting at the scale of a vessel, ENGIE is already implementing it for our everyday lives, reflecting an energy revolution that is already underway, with hydrogen as the key to its acceleration.”
Jérôme Delafosse, expedition leader of Energy Observer, commented: “Energy Observer is also an Odyssey for the future to meet women and men who innovate for the planet. We want to make people dream, to teach them to think differently, to re-learn how to live in harmony with the world around them. It is with this pioneering spirit, that we share with ENGIE, that we will explore the paths to a cleaner future.”
Source: ENGIE