26.10.2022
The company wants to be a protagonist in actions involving climate change and energy transition and highlights investments in innovation as a path to this goal.
CTG Brasil, one of the leaders in clean energy generation in Brazil, has just defined ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) goals and commitments that will support the company’s business from this year. The strategy, which the company is calling the ESG Platform, was developed from a study of the maturity of its management, on aspects of corporate sustainability, which defined short, medium and long-term objectives. Among the commitments made is the reach of the leading role in climate change and energy transition by 2030. The company still aims to achieve the negative carbon index in the coming years.
The ESG Platform reinforces the company’s long-term commitment with Brazil. In addition to climate change and energy transition, the company’s strategic objectives also include issues involving six other themes: impacts on water resources; preservation of biodiversity; safe, healthy and diverse work environment; impact and local development; corporate governance and sustainable value chain.
“We have developed a strategy aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), proposed by the United Nations, which will help us to improve the management of risks and opportunities within these themes. In addition, we will start to consider the goals in the performance evaluation processes of our professionals, including executives”, says José Renato Domingues, Corporate Vice President of the company.
To become one of the main agents in climate change and energy transition, CTG Brasil has innovation as one of the pillars of this transformation. In 2021, BRL 23.8 million was invested in Research & Development, exceeding the regulatory obligation by 46%. Part of the resources is directed to the company’s growth through portfolio diversification and complementarity of generation sources.
“Climate change is already a reality. Innovation, combined with CTG Brasil’s robustness for clean and renewable energy projects, will be fundamental for us to drive the energy transition in Brazil and in the world”, says Domingues.
Innovation projects drive contribution to the low carbon economy
The company’s innovation and research and development strategy are focused on operational excellence and asset management, in addition to identifying new opportunities that increase businesses focused on generating 100% renewable energy. The company recently launched the Green Hydrogen Strategic Mission, the largest public call ever held in the country for innovation projects in this area, which received applications from 31 projects, from 13 different states. The three selected initiatives will receive support from the company for the development of the programs.
Also led by CTG Brasil, an initiative focused on electric mobility works with the installation of 18 charging stations along 1,300 km between the states of São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul. The route links the headquarters to 12 hydroelectric plants operated by the company and provides for testing a viable business model for recharging electric vehicles. Carried out in partnership with the science and technology institute Lactec and the manufacturer of vehicle chargers Incharge, the project should be extended, in the future, to public points through local partnerships, making the network accessible to the general population. When fully installed, the route will be one of the largest electric mobility routes, in terms of extension, financed by a company in the electric sector.
CTG Brasil also evaluates the performance of photovoltaic technologies with bifacial modules in Brazilian climatic conditions through a fundamental initiative to improve the predictability of performance of solar plants and optimize energy production. The study, carried out in Florianópolis, considers factors such as degradation, dirt, equipment operation in extreme irradiance and high temperature, in addition to measurements of horizontal global irradiation, albedo, air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed. The result of the measurements will allow the realization of an implementation plan for future solar plants across the country, boosting the photovoltaic energy generation sector.
Digital transformation is also on the radar of CTG Brasil, which maintains strategic partnerships with the National Service for Industrial Learning (SENAI) and the Santa Catarina Technology Association (ACATE). Last year, the company opened an Innovation Habitat at the SENAI Institute for Innovation in Renewable Energies (ISI-ER), in Natal (RN), and has the CTG Brasil Innovation Hub in São Paulo. In the same period, it invested BRL 1.6 million in the renewal of the partnership with ACATE to maintain the Digital Innovation Lab, which works as a connection to the startup ecosystem. Corporate communication, commercialization and technology projects have already been developed in recent years
Going beyond carbon neutral
To achieve its ambition to become carbon negative, CTG Brasil created a multidisciplinary working group to plan the company’s next steps in this direction. Although it has neutralized 100% of the direct emissions of greenhouse gases related to its operation, in addition to the indirect emissions related to its energy consumption, the company understands that it can make a greater contribution in this area and, for this reason, should expand the scope of your emissions inventory.
Neutralization has been achieved through the financing of the Jari-Amapá REDD+ project, which trains agro-extractive families in the Amazon for sustainable forest management, in an area of 220,000 hectares, in the Vale do Jari region. CTG Brasil was recognized in the last two years with the gold seal of the Brazilian GHG Protocol Program, the most used benchmark in the world to quantify and manage greenhouse gas emissions.
2021 results
In the socio-environmental field, in 2021, CTG Brasil invested BRL 28 million. Annually, the company monitors almost 8,500 kilometers of reservoir edges – an extension greater than the Brazilian coast – to ensure adequate environmental conditions around its operations. About 3.6 million fingerlings are released into the reservoirs and more than 350,000 seedlings are destined for reforestation plantations. In 2021, the company planted and managed 186.3 hectares in the process of restoration, an increase of 19.4% over the previous year.
In the same period, projects focused on income generation and socioeconomic development of regions close to hydroelectric plants (UHEs) were developed through the Usina de Negócios program and Prosas (platform for selecting and monitoring social projects).
In 2021, CTG Brasil became the first Brazilian company in the electricity sector to certify 100% of its operations in the ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 14001 (environment), ISO 45001 (health and safety) and ISO 55001 (management of assets), an important step in the search for excellence in its operations. In addition to improving its management, the company has strengthened its corporate governance practices by adopting levels of transparency similar to those of a publicly traded company. In 2021, CTG Brasil reinforced its Advisory Board and registered Rio Paraná, a subsidiary of the company, as a publicly-held company in the “B” category of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
