BUSINESS: 327 PRACTICES
Founded in 1998, HELLENiQ ENERGY (https://www.helleniqenergy.gr/en) is one of the leading energy groups in South East Europe, with presence in 6 countries and activities spanning across the energy value chain, namely: oil refining and fuel marketing, exploration and production, renewable energy sources, petrochemicals, power and gas.
HELLENIC PETROLEUM Group has incorporated into its strategy to address and mitigate the impacts of climate change. As our main business is refining, we are both an energy producer and an energy consumer. Energy consumption is not only a significant operating cost, but also the main source of carbon dioxide emissions. We are therefore redesigning an energy transformation toward a low carbon economy in response to increasing demands for energy and in order to ensure sufficient energy supply. We invest in projects on energy efficiency, renewables, second generation biofuels and research & development of low carbon footprint products to reduce our emissions. At the same time, since our activities are primarily in Greece, a country with a large coastal front, we have already started studying ways in order to adapt to and address the impacts of climate change. Our approach and results so far have been positive, with significant progress made in achieving quantitative targets (reduction in CO2 emissions and continuous reduction of our carbon footprint) as well as external evaluation from the Carbon Disclosure Project Organization – CDP with a score of B- (in comparison to the sector’s average “C” score). Our remarkable progress contributes to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 regarding climate action and SDG 7 regarding clean energy.
To all stakeholders of the HELLENIC PETROLEUM Group, from employees, customers, consumers, suppliers - partners to investors, the business & scientific community, the local & wider society.
Continuous development and gradual implementation of strategy (no time limit for completion)
(CDP questionnaire completion started in 2018 and has annual frequency).
Climate change affects our business activities, creating significant challenges and opportunities. To properly manage and address climate change issues, HELPE Group has developed a strategy for its energy transformation towards a low-carbon economy, in response to increasing demands for energy and in order to ensure energy sufficiency by taking measures and implementing projects to reduce emissions. The Group's future investments are mainly determined by its climate change strategy.
The implementation of the Group’s environmental policy related to energy and climate change is achieved and measured by a series of tools, such as setting targets and key performance indicators. All environmental parameters are also compared through European indicators and benchmarks are used to assess the Group’s position in relation to the European industry performance. In the framework of GHG emissions monitoring and reporting, the Group systematically monitors not only direct CO2 emissions (Scope 1) but also indirect emissions (Scope 2 and 3) to the maximum extent of its activities. In addition, our staff’s and social partners’ continuous environmental education across a wide range of activities within the Group is an important part of our climate change management.
Moreover, the Group is actively involved in the development of energy and climate change policies at a national and European level, including the EU ETS, the Energy Efficiency Directive and others.
In the framework of all the above and with a focus on continuous improvement, the Group has been participating from 2018 in the annual international evaluation of CDP (formerly known as Carbon Disclosure Project), the only participation from Greek energy sector (in 2018). Thus, for 2018 (2017 data) the Group was asked to provide not only information about its current climate change management but also for HELPE overall strategy in the future. The CDP questionnaire is based on four pillars that outline each company's holistic approach to the above. These pillars are corporate governance, the risks & opportunities arising from climate change and the business strategy developed in this context. Finally, the Group records in detail the CO2 performance as well as other air emissions, distributed products data, wastewater & solid waste management and also the results of the Groups’ climate change objectives. Note that in 2018, CDP integrated questions from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD), which focuses on climate change risks to companies.
The results highlighted the strategy and performance of the Group in a better grade (B-) than the industry average (C), thereby laying the basis for further and continuous improvement.
Our approach and results so far have been positive, with significant progress made in achieving quantitative targets, (reduction in CO2 and continuous reduction of carbon footprint) as well as external evaluation from the Carbon Disclosure Project Organization – CDP with a score of B- (in comparison to the sector’s average “C” score).
The tn CO2 emissions per tn crude oil feed index, which is monitored over a period of time in relation to the 2014 base year, is decreased by 19% over the past five years and exceeds the initial target set for a 5% reduction by 2020.
Moreover, over the last five years, photovoltaic power plants in Group owned properties with a total nominal power of 19 MW and a 7 MW wind farm in Pylos in the Messinia Prefecture have been constructed and are already in operation. Ten photovoltaic projects with a total nominal power of 100 kW are in operation for self-generation and self-consumption (net metering program) in an equal number of EKO and BP fuel stations.
The total energy produced by the Group’s photovoltaic plants has exceeded 27 GWh from their initial operation and the production from Messinia’s wind farm has exceeded 89 GWh respectively. The total avoided CO2 emissions exceeds 115,000 tonnes while the future objective is to develop a 300 MW renewable energy sources (RES) portfolio to avoid 500,000 tonnes.
Last but not least, in the last four years (2015-2018), 12% of the total amount (€ 700 million) of investments is related to RES and energy saving projects.
All facilities and activities of the HELLENIC PETROLEUM Group
Collaboration with the non-profit organization CDP for the evaluation of the Group's climate change strategy.
Collaboration with the University of Patras & the National Center for Scientific Research "Demokritos" for climate change adaptation of Group’s critical energy infrastructures.
Collaboration with universities and research centers for the development of low carbon footprint products and solutions.
HELPE Group's climate change strategy requires the involvement and active participation of the majority of the Group's employees, from Group's top management, which sets out the overall strategy and objectives, to Group’s engineers, who test and apply low carbon technologies, increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy consumption in every day operation.
The benefits of the HELPE Group's climate change strategy are multidimensional and can be divided into short-term (e.g. financial due to fuel and energy savings) and medium-long term (e.g. increasing competitiveness in a low-carbon economy).
