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“ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Énergies” takes stake in Green Bio Energy

ENGIE has revealed that it has taken an 18.5 percent minority stake in Green Bio Energy Ltd, a company that develops improved cooking implements and biomass fuels in Uganda.

Ugandan company Green Bio Energy (GBE) designs, produces and distributes innovative energy solutions to fight poverty, deforestation and climate change (photo courtesy GBE).
Ugandan company Green Bio Energy (GBE) designs, produces and distributes innovative energy solutions to fight poverty, deforestation and climate change (photo courtesy GBE). Ugandan company Green Bio Energy (GBE) designs, produces and distributes innovative energy solutions to fight poverty, deforestation and climate change (photo courtesy GBE).

France-headed energy major ENGIE has revealed that it has via its investment fundENGIE Rassembleurs d’Énergies taken an 18.5 percent minority stake in Green Bio Energy Ltd, a company active in Uganda where it produces improved cookstoves and charcoal briquettes reconstituted from waste materials.

– ENGIE Group is very happy to be diversifying the activity of ‘ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Énergies’ by supporting this key challenge of improved cookstoves, of major significance for those most in need, and thus promote Green Bio Energy’s development in this sector. This investment expands upon the fund’s traditional involvement in promoting access to sustainable energy for everyone, said Isabelle Kocher, CEO of ENGIE in a statement.

Disadvantaged communities manufacture the briquettes as part of a green circular economy model, utilizing wood charcoal dust and burnt banana peels. By making use of recovered waste, Green Bio Energy replaces traditional fuels such as wood, thereby effectively countering deforestation while providing customers an alternative that is custom-tailored to local cooking practices.

The company also produces locally improved cookstoves, thereby maximizing its effectiveness with users. The stoves are numbered and may be traced, thus enabling their distributors to take advantage of carbon credits.

With some 2.7 billion people worldwide without safe, hygienic cooking systems, the dissemination of improved cookstoves will help reduce households’ fuel consumption and decrease air pollution in homes.

– The support and confidence of ‘ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Énergies’ will enable us to accelerate our development in Uganda and in the region and extend our work with these populations. Green Bio Energy’s goal is to improve the quality of life of nearly 300 000 people by reducing emissions of fine particulate matter (PM) in homes by the year 2020, said Vincent Kienzler, Managing Director of Green Bio Energy.

Facts

About ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Énergies

ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Énergies is a high impact ENGIE fund investing in sustainable energy access projects in support of disadvantaged populations. With EUR 50 million in capital, the fund’s vocation is to invest in projects with high social and environmental benefits that are economically viable and are supported by innovative entrepreneurs. Green Bio Energy is the 17th investment of “ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Énergies” and its 6th in Africa. After investments in Fenix International, BBOXX and PEG Ghana in individual solar systems, Simgas in biogas, and Ausar Energy in microgrids, the fund thus diversifies its portfolio and is now active in the area of improved cookstoves and waste energy recovery.

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