Our Commitment
"We commit to achieve carbon neutrality for our direct activities and our energy consumption by 2030, and to reduce these related emissions by 50% by this date."
Pierre Marx
Chief Operating Officer, GE Vernova's Hydro Power
Our position on the Sustainable Development Goals
Our hydropower technologies help our industry play an essential role in fighting climate change (13), providing flood control, drought mitigation, resilient water resources and irrigation (6).
They provide affordable renewable energy and integrate other clean energy solutions through energy storage (7), (9).
Our products and services are designed to promote sustainability, respect for the environment, and ensure the Health, and Safety of our employees and the communities in which we work (8), (11).
Our actions for the climate
ACCOUNT
For our operational green-house gas emissions in each business
REDUCE EMISSIONS
By finding efficiency opportunities within energy, waste, and mobility
POWER WITH RENEWABLES
By securing green electricity for our sites-onsite installations, PPAs Environmental Attribute Certificates
Campaign
By sharing what we learn, celebrating employee contributions and showcase leadership
Account Emissions
Tracking our emissions to understand our impacts
GE Hydro 2021’s emissions on scopes 1&2 accounted for 52 ktCO2. These emissions have been certified by an accredited certificatory.
Measuring our emissions allows us to become aware of our impact and to determine actions that will have the biggest reduction impact.
Reduce Emissions
Energy efficiency actions
GE Hydro Solutions sites have carried out strong actions to improve energy efficiency on its diverse sites. Since 2020, GE hydro has invested above 1M USD into energy efficiency actions for its diverse sites, this represents more than 5800Mwh/Year of energy savings.
Power with Renewables
PPA & Green Tariff Electricity contacts
100% of our manufacturing sites are powered with renewable energy. Our Tianjin Manufacturing site has installed more than 13 000 photovoltaic panels which are connected to the grid with an estimated annual average power generation of 6,400 MWh. It means that they can provide up to +30% of the site's electrical consumption. The rest of our green energy supply is ensured through green tariff electricity contracts (Europe and North America) and renewable energy certificates (Other sites).
ENGAGE AND LEAD
Promoting sustainability within our industry
Developing sustainability actions in our processes, and creating a sustainability culture within the company.
"We will not participate in hydropower projects which do not fully comply with the requirements set forth in the Hydropower Sustainability Standard"
Pascal Radue
President & CEO of GE Hydro Solutions
Promoting sustainability within our industry
GE Hydro Solutions signed the San José Declaration on Sustainable Hydropower, issued at the 2021 World Hydro Congress, committing to an ambitious set of principles and recommendations to guide the future of sustainable hydropower development.
GE also worked with the Solar Impulse Foundation to demonstrate the contribution of the Pumped Hydro Storage solution in the fight against climate change, highlighting its importance in providing clean and affordable energy.
Developing sustainability actions in our processes
To ensure that the projects in which we take part meet sustainability standards, we have integrated the requirements of the Hydro Sustainability Standards into our business processes.
We can also carry out Carbon Footprint Assessments to meet the demands of our customers. We have trained some of our employees to collect and estimate the GHG emissions related to the value chain of our products, and we plan to develop this competency to be able to deliver full Life Cycle Assessments for our products.
Creating a sustainability culture within our company
The GE Green Team Network Employee Resource Group supports and furthers GE sustainability goals with a grassroots-driven approach. Through actions to raise awareness or reduce emissions or protect biodiversity, these volunteer employees execute local projects in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and develop a corporate culture geared towards sustainability.
A great example of sustainable actions carried out by employees is the success of the Formare Garden in Taubaté (Brazil) where operators trainees and employees worked together on a collective garden project with the vision to be a differential between GE units, disseminating culture and good sustainability practices.
Our actions to reduce water use
In the continuity of the actions carried out on the Tianjin site to reduce its environmental impact (Cf. Installation of solar panels), here is a video presentation of the new wastewater cleaning system of the site. The main benefits of this action are the reduction of 70% of the energy used compared to standard installation, and the reduction of 90% of hazardous liquid waste at source.
Our actions on product sustainability
Complying with the most stringent legal and environmental requirements, GE Hydro Solutions product sustainability is based on our extensive experience and rigorous standardized processes, strengthened by advances digital tools. The continuous sustainability improvement of our products is driven by a will to increase product efficiency and life expectancy, and to reduce its impact on wildlife and the environment.
The four sustainability pillars of our products
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Decarbonization
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Biodiversity and eco-systems
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Circular Economy
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Value creation
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Decarbonize our products through energy efficiency actions and green energy contracts for all our sites
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Capacity to measure the carbon footprint of our products
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Fish-friendly technologies to protect biodiversity
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Oil-free technologies and biodegradable oils to protect aquatic ecosystems
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Dissolved oxygen runner technology to protect downstream habitats
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Minimize resources used during the design process
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Additive manufacturing
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Digital simulation
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Extend the life of our products
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Design improvements
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Coating technologies
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Extend the life of hydropower plants
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Diagnostic and repair tools
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High level of recyclability
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Improve the flexibility or our products, easing the integration of intermittent renewable
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Develop control and coating technologies to improve performance and lifetime
Downloads & Links
Our Declarations
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