ENGIE Impact’s Net Zero Ellipse Platform Shakes Up The Decarbonization Solutions Market

ENGIE Impact’s Net Zero Ellipse Platform Shakes Up The Decarbonization Solutions Market

Global low-carbon energy solutions provider ENGIE announced on September 20th the launch of its new carbon intelligence platform Ellipse. The ENGIE Ellipse consulting, software and engineering capabilities span net zero strategy development, action planning, target setting, GHG data management, feasibility analysis, offset advisory, energy and decarbonization engineering, utility expense management and energy sourcing. The ENGIE Ellipse proposition is designed for firms seeking to achieve absolute and permanent reductions in GHG emissions as part of a science-based net zero emissions strategy. The launch of Ellipse by ENGIE’s energy and sustainability consulting group Impact reflects ENGIE’s insight into growing demand from its thousands of corporate customers for solutions which deliver on decarbonization plans by changing operational processes.

What’s special about this market move compared to myriad announcements from climate and carbon tech innovators such as EcoAct, Emitwise, Measurabl and SINAI Technologies? Firstly, scale. ENGIE Impact already works with 1,000 corporate clients including 25% of the Fortune 500, across a million operational locations. ENGIE itself employs 170,000 people and recorded revenues in 2020 of €56 billion ($66 billion). Secondly, decarbonization engineering capabilities. In the past, few firms outside the power generation sector had to invest in GHG emissions reduction engineering projects. But as climate reporting regulations bite from 2023, investors benchmark the carbon intensity of operations and products, and the cost of buying offsets ramps up, many more firms will need to engineer carbon out of their value chain. This is why ENGIE Impact’s Ellipse capability includes ‘engineering-grade scenario models’. Thirdly, ENGIE Ellipse is designed around a gargantuan data aggregation and analytics engine so firms can finally crack the code on Scope 3 emissions and also shift to daily analysis of GHG emissions from operations.

ENGIE’s bold move to launch a strategy-to-engineering net zero emissions offering will shake up competitor strategies. As firms like Chevron move from dabbling in carbon reduction to investing $10 billion in their energy transition programme, they will need large-scale providers who can act as the general contractor to implement changes across dozens of countries and hundreds of sites. This is a role that small software firms will not be able to fulfil. Likewise, management consulting firms lack the engineering talent to undertake design-build work on renewable energy equipment and building technology decarbonization. International engineering services firms with digital smarts and energy experts like AECOM, Arcadis and Veolia have an opportunity to follow suit.