Engie continues to see a strong US demand for renewables

Edouard Neviaski, executive vice president of French power company Engie, said that the U.S. is still a major market for the company in terms of renewable energy projects.

The U.S. president Donald Trump ordered a stop to spending on the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. These climate and infrastructure laws were signed into law in 2009 by his predecessor Joe Biden.

Engie signed 4.3 gigawatts in power purchase agreements globally in 2024. This is up from 2.7 gigawatts in 2023.

Neviaski stated that there is a high demand for such contracts in the United States. There are some questions about the development of certain renewable projects. However, there is still a great deal of interest among customers.

"We expect that other countries will increase their PPAs more than the U.S. in the future, but still believe the U.S. to be a good proportion."

Engie's wind and solar farms in North America have a combined capacity of 8 GW, with several other projects in development.

Neviaski said that it is too early to predict what will happen to the wind segment. However, he said he expects to see more renewable projects like solar powered by batteries to increase flexibility.

He believes that battery technology will grow more rapidly by 2025, as the cost of materials has fallen and renewable energy sources have been constructed faster than expected. (Reporting and editing by Dominique Vidalon, Jan Harvey, and Forrest Crellin)

(source: Reuters)