ENGIE supports creation of new woodlands across UK

Photo: Engie

BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 27. ENGIE is supporting more than 20 landowners in Scotland, Wales and England in developing new woodland projects, providing funding for their establishment and long-term management, the company said in a statement on October 27.

The company is financing the initiatives by purchasing Pending Issuance Units (PIUs), which represent the carbon dioxide expected to be absorbed by trees as they grow. The carbon units are subject to independent verification under the UK’s Woodland Carbon Code.

CarbonStore, the woodland carbon division of Tilhill Forestry, identified suitable projects, while The Shared Wood Company assessed the initiatives and brought together more than 20 woodland owners. The portfolio represents more than 200,000 PIUs, enabling ENGIE to support woodland creation in different parts of the UK.

The projects include Brynllewelyn in South Wales, where 44 hectares of diverse broadleaved trees have been planted on an organic hill farm, and the award-winning Ardachuple Forest in Argyll, Scotland. A significant proportion of the trees being planted are native species. All projects are being developed under the Woodland Carbon Code, the UK’s voluntary standard for woodland creation initiatives.

The projects are expected to expand natural habitats, improve local environments, support rural communities and contribute to carbon removal as the trees mature.

ENGIE operates across the energy value chain, from renewable electricity and green gas production to energy infrastructure, storage, distribution and supply. The group employs more than 90,000 people in 30 countries and invests an average of €12 billion annually in the energy transition. It aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2045.

In the UK, ENGIE employs more than 8,000 people and manages a varied portfolio of renewable energy generation and storage assets, including Europe’s largest pumped-storage hydropower plant in North Wales. The company also supplies energy to more than 17,000 business customers and produces over 200 GWh of biomethane annually.

ENGIE owns UK Power Networks, the country’s leading electricity distribution network operator, which serves 8.5 million customers across London and the South East and East of England. Through its joint venture Ocean Winds, ENGIE is also one of Scotland’s largest offshore wind power generators, with installed capacity of 1.8 GW.

Over the past two decades, the group has invested billions of euros in the UK’s energy transition, supporting energy security and helping customers reduce their carbon emissions.