“Energy must be saved on a large scale…the challenge now is to practice the behaviour of energy sobriety,” said Marianne Laigneau, CEO of French energy company Enedis.
Laigneau was speaking during the opening keynote of Enlit Europe in Paris, where energy sobriety and effective demand-side management strategies proved central themes to speed up energy transition.
The discussion included more than a hint of urgency as the talk turned to more frequent and extreme weather events and the fact that climate change is increasingly impacting ecosystems across the globe.
“One thing is certain we have clear evidence of climate drift and increased frequency of weather events,” said Laigneau.
She referenced storm Ciaran that hit France at the beginning of November, which disrupted the power supply to over 1.2 million Enedis customers.
She said the impact on grid infrastructure was severe, adding that “although mitigation remains at the heart of our efforts, we need to adopt a new approach.”
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According to Laigneau, the time has come to set new ambitions to put Europe at the forefront of the energy transition and biodiversity protection. And energy companies, she added, must take the lead in this transformation and be willing to adopt a new mindset.
“Let’s not be stuck in our old ways of thinking, this is a call for all CEOs with social responsibility, we have to speed up to work with equipment companies on low-carbon solutions,” said Laigneau.
Besides a change in behaviour and a fresh mindset to drive sustainable change, Laigneau encouraged investment into networks and grid infrastructure with a decades-long life span.
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Laigneau referred to grids as the “backbone of electricity systems”. She emphasised that a mindset change needs to include grids too, as they are no longer considered merely the last part of the electricity value chain as used to be the case.
For this reason, Enedis plans to invest 100 million euros in grid expansion within the next year and will continue with its Linky smart meter rollout, which has seen over 37 million meters deployed over the past six years.
Of course, it’s not only the behaviour and mindset of the current generation that needs to be adjusted. Laigneau highlighted the importance of training the younger generation to continue the momentum and work towards 2050 goals.
