- Groupe BPCE has now become the main partner of Energy Observer, the first autonomous hydrogen vessel and both advocacy and laboratory for ecological transition.
With this partnership, Groupe BPCE is supporting a project aimed at developing technological solutions around hydrogen and contributing to the deployment of financing tools adapted to new technologies and green energies.
Groupe BPCE has placed the fight against climate change at the heart of its strategic plan for 2024. The partnership with Energy Observer is therefore logically in line with this ambition to be a major player in the energy transition.
Energy Observer is an ecological transition laboratory designed to push back the limits of zero emission technologies. Hydrogen, solar, wind, tidal power, all the solutions are experimented, tested and optimized to make clean energies a concrete reality and accessible to all.
Beyond supporting the overall Energy Observer project, this partnership will notably make it possible to offer suitable financing tools. It will thus provide impetus to the development of hydrogen technology, necessary for industrial decarbonization and the development of renewable energies.
This alliance is also perfectly in line with Groupe BPCE’s objective of supporting its customers in their own transition challenges.
“ Taking action against climate change for a banking group means committing to greening its balance sheet, financing renewable energies, encouraging the energy renovation of buildings, and rethinking mobility… but it is is above all to participate in the environmental transition of the entire economy. Groupe BPCE is mobilized through this partnership with Energy Observer, which fits perfectly into this dynamic ”, underlines Valérie Derambure, CSR director of Groupe BPCE.
“This partnership is obvious to us, as we have to build with Groupe BPCE. At the very start of the project, Banque Populaire Grand Ouest was already by our side. It allowed us to finance the construction of the laboratory ship at a time when hydrogen was still a disruptive technology. This initial confidence created a very special relationship with Groupe BPCE, which we are very happy to see strengthened today. This partnership is all the more carrying meaning and values as after more than 40,000 nautical miles covered by the ship and the launch of an industrial branch (EODev) offering sustainable hydrogen energy solutions, it is obvious that the question funding is key to accelerating the energy transition. We do not finance an electro-Hydrogen group or an electrolyser like diesel equipment, everything is new: the service life of the equipment and the flexibility of use. The issue of raising awareness, acculturation and training in the challenges of the hydrogen sector for industrial project partners in the regions is just as decisive. It is at the heart of the Energy Observer Foundation and of this partnership. Groupe BPCE has unique experience in green innovations and intends to become an expert in financing hydrogen technologies, whether in mobility or stationary, with companies, individuals or communities. Together, in a context of absolute climate emergency which obliges and commits us, », Says Victorien Erussard, President, captain and founder of Energy Observer.
About Groupe BPCE
Groupe BPCE, with its universal cooperative bank model represented by 9 million members, is the second largest banking player in France. With 100,000 employees, it serves 36 million customers around the world, individuals, professionals, businesses, investors and local communities. It is present in retail banking and insurance in France with its two large networks Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne as well as Banque Palatine. It also deploys, with Natixis, the global asset management, large client banking and payments businesses. Through this system, it offers its customers a complete and diversified offer: savings, investment, treasury, financing, insurance and investment solutions.
About Energy Observer
Energy Observer is at the origin of the name of the first autonomous hydrogen ship and zero emissions, both advocacy and laboratory of ecological transition. The development of reliable, sustainable energy solutions without harmful emissions and economically accessible are at the heart of the challenges of our odyssey and of our industrial subsidiary EODev. We sail around the world for 7 years, calling iconic cities, meeting women and men who devote their energy to creating sustainable solutions that respect the planet. First French ambassador of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN,
Energy Observer received the High Patronage of Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic. It has the official support of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, Unesco, the European Union, Irena and Ademe.
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