Developing renewable energy
The Caisse des Dépôts Group has made the environment its main area of innovation based around three axes : renewable energy, the climate, and biodiversity.
In 2008, the countries of the European Union committed to increase the production of renewable energy. It should reach 20% of the EU’s gross internal energy consumption by 2020.
In support of this public policy, Caisse des Dépôts has committed to finance up to 10% of the planned investments in renewable energy in France (the French multi-year investment programme (PPI)).
A significant investment
Caisse des Dépôts’ commitment to renewable energy translates in reality into 500 megawatts of power set up between now and 2010 and 1000 megawatts of power set up between now and 2020.
The programme is based on the four main sources of renewable energy: wind power, biomass, solar power and hydropower.
This support takes the form of minority interests in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) whose activity is linked to the production of renewable energy (electricity and heat).
The supported companies belong either to the emerging sectors (photovoltaic, biomass), or to those sectors which are undergoing transformation (wind power, geothermal energy, micro-hydropower).
This programme places Caisse des Dépôts amongst the ten leading French investors in renewable energy.
Strengthening the French sectors
Beyond this large-scale programme, Caisse des Dépôts’ involvement with renewable energy is based around 3 main priorities:
- decentralise energy production throughout the national territory,
- maintain competition in a largely centralised industry (the large European energy engineers): Caisse des Dépôts favours actions which enable small and medium players to preserve their independence, to develop and to unite.
- strengthen the French sectors in the context of strong international competition.
The energetic valorisation of biomass in all its forms is, for example, a sector that the only private initiative does not allow to develop sustainably. While it can create a lot of employment.
Caisse des Dépôts’ commitment to renewable energy was enshrined in an agreement signed by the Ministry for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Sea (MEEDDM) and Caisse des Dépôts on 31 March 2009 within the scope of the Grenelle environmental conference. The agreement sets out Caisse des Dépôts’ pledge to channel €150 million over 2008-2010 into equity financing in order to help build new installations producing 500 MW of renewable energy.
Investments at end-2009
By the end of 2009, the Group had invested a total of €118.7mn in renewable energy production projects, representing total capacity of 433 MW, of which 107 MW had been connected.
