BNEF’s report on global energy utilities
(Sustainabilityenvironment.com) – What are the leading energy utilities of the ecological transition? Which utilities are best equipped to deal with climate change? And which have already consolidated lines of business dedicated to low carbon technologies?
These questions are answered in part by the Utility Transition Scores of the research company BloombergNEF (BNEF). In a new report, BNEF compared 98 major power companies around the world on their respective paths to a low-carbon world. And he discovered that the first energy utilities are those of the Old Continent. Far more committed than foreign colleagues.
Of the top ten, 8 are based in Europe
The authors compiled scores using 24 separate data fields to cover all important aspects, from the company’s regulatory status to technology investment. Of the top 10 companies (those with the highest score), 8 are based in Europe. We are talking about big names in the electricity sector that, supported also by the European Green Deal, have reduced the risk of exposure to climate change. The podium is occupied, in order, by E.ON, Iberdrola, and EDF, but in the top ten also appear Enel, Endesa, EDP, Engie, Vattenfal. By contrast, in the last places of the ranking, stand-out companies – especially Asian – are still very linked to coal.
For public services, writes BloolberNEF, the ability to generate low-carbon energy from renewable sources is a determining factor of transition risk exposure. Leading companies are already doing well on this metric. The first energy utility in the ranking produces on average 0.16 tons of CO2 per megawatt hour generated. A value that soars to 0.67 ton/MWh for the last ten.
“Clean energy enables the climate transition for all other sectors. So to understand how the global economy reaches net-zero, we have to accurately gauge how utilities, the providers of clean energy, are adapting and at what speed”, said Danya Liu, sustainability analyst at BloombergNEF.