Green energy supplier ENGIE South Africa has been awarded the Sustainable Energy Transition (SET) label certification by global testing, inspection, and certification company Bureau Veritas.

ENGIE says that this milestone highlights its continued commitment to developing, building, operating, and dismantling renewable energy projects that are well integrated into local communities, respectful of nature, and instrumental in reducing carbon emissions.

The SET label, launched in May 2022, is said to reflect ENGIE’s global approach to ensuring its renewable energy projects meet high standards of sustainability and community integration.

It comprises nine concrete commitments across three key themes – community, nature, and climate – which are systematically applied throughout the lifecycle of each project.

These commitments include stakeholder engagement to ensure local communities and relevant stakeholders are actively involved throughout the project lifecycle.

Environmental preservation is also a key aspect.

Through this commitment, ENGIE says it ensures it implements measures to protect local ecosystems and biodiversity near project sites.

A third commitment entails climate action and maximising the contribution of renewable projects to reducing carbon-dioxide emissions.

Bureau Veritas’ certification process entails an initial audit followed by two confirmation audits over a two-year period, aimed at ensuring long-term compliance with the label’s criteria.

With the recent certification, South Africa joins a group of 11 countries that includes Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain and the US, which collectively represent nearly 85% of ENGIE’s onshore and solar installed capacities.

“Receiving the SET label certification is a testament to our dedication to sustainability and community integration. This certification reflects the high standards and robust methods we have developed over the years in the development, operation, and maintenance of our projects,” ENGIE South Africa Renewables AMEA MD Mohamed Hoosen says.

“At ENGIE, we want to contribute to the life of a region, participating in the development of its socio-economic environment while listening to all our stakeholders. SET recognises this and is a certification we are incredibly proud of,” he highlights.

ENGIE avers that the SET certification process has highlighted several global best practices implemented by its teams, including structured and detailed stakeholder engagement plans, comprehensive environmental measures, rigorous evaluation of suppliers and partners, internal training on carbon accounting and biodiversity and sustainable job creation that benefits local economies.