Alessandro Garrone at Sciences Po – Paris School of International Affairs

ERG Executive Vice President Alessandro Garrone spoke today at Sciences Po - Paris School of International Affairs during the Industrial Energy Transitions course.

He took the opportunity to talk about the transformation of the Group - which since 2008 has radically changed its business model from an oil operator to a renewable energy producer - and its plans for future growth:

"During my years as CEO of the Group, I was able to see and ground ERG's industrial transformation. It was a fascinating time: for 75 years, we were an oil company. Changing course was a difficult challenge, but one that we succeeded in meeting".

This choice was made primarily due to the need and desire to contribute to the fight against climate change, but there were also economic and industrial reasons:

"Historically, but especially at that time, oil prices fluctuated and depended very much on geopolitical circumstances. We sought a strong partner to help us sustain the business while eliminating these risks as much as possible. So in 2008, we sold our refinery in Sicily and decided to reinvest the acquired capital in renewable assets."

This marked the birth of a new ERG, a major player on the European scene, whose primary mission is to help with the energy transition at EU level. To fulfil this role, we needed to strengthen our internal organisation:

"Our people are our most important asset: we did a huge job in terms of re-skilling, as we needed to acquire new skills following the transition from oil to green. We internalised the entire O&M (Operation and Maintenance) sector so that today we have excellent results in terms of expertise and know-how acquired while continuing to invest in M&A (Merger and Acquisition) operations and in constructing wind farms internationally."

Indeed, today ERG operates in nine European countries: Italy, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Poland, Sweden, Romania and Bulgaria, producing clean energy from wind and solar sources. However, to continue to grow, we need to continue to invest through a constant search for new opportunities, both geographically and technologically:

"Technological innovation is one of the key pillars of our new business plan, which has just been presented to the market. We have recently entered storage and are looking with great interest at floating wind power and the development of hydrogen and circular economy projects. For the time being, we prefer to consolidate our presence in Europe, exploring new geographic areas such as Norway, Portugal and Greece, but the plan is to go even further".

The transformation into a pure renewable operator, producing clean energy from wind and solar power, has enabled ERG to grow economically and industrially while reducing its impact on the planet, decarbonising its portfolio of assets, and aiming to become Net Zero by 2040, ten years ahead of European targets. This is the vision of a Group that has placed ESG issues at the heart of its business strategy:

"ERG wants to contribute to a more sustainable society, not only environmentally but also economically and socially. This is why we want to make ERG an inclusive and diversity-conscious company, with more women, especially in top positions. Leading industry institutions have recognised and rewarded our commitment, as reflected, for example, in our recent inclusion in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index."

However, to achieve a more economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable society, we need all players to contribute, especially governments and institutions. They need to make a greater commitment to authorising the construction of renewable energy plants, which is still subject to slow and cumbersome bureaucratic procedures, and investing in grid connection systems.