Engie SA (ENGI) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, I'd like to warmly welcome you to this Annual General Meeting being held in the very specific context due to the COVID-19 epidemic. I'd like to start by saying I have thoughts for all those whose kith and kin may have been affected by the virus and them themselves, of course, and you have my full sympathy. This AGM is being broadcast by live and will be available for one year on ENGIE website. Given the health situation, you can appreciate that we won't have our shareholders physically attending. I'm really sorry that the health situation hasn't enabled us to organize a normal meeting with all shareholders attending, but we've done our very best despite these unusual circumstances that there will be high-quality dialogue with our shareholders. And that was always the objective of ENGIE. So under these circumstances, no entry card was awarded. We are, 5 of us, today, all sitting around this table to share this Annual General Meeting with you. On the other hand, you're able to vote prior to the Annual General Meeting either by the Internet via the secured vote access platform or by sending your voting slip by land mail. And by the same token, you were able to give your proxy to the Chairman or to the third party. Now while preparing this AGM this morning, our Board of Directors examined the written questions submitted to it within the business regulations. And as per usual, our written response has been made available on the website. Now despite this backdrop, we wanted to preserve an informal dialogue with you by opening as of the 5th of May and through to midday yesterday as a complement to the business regulations governing written responses. So it's a simple and direct manner of putting questions at them. And we're going to attempt to answer the questions in the second part of AGM based on a representative sample of the questions and issues. Now in accordance with the statutes, I have the honor sharing this AGM. And I've got the members around me of the collegial management team, and we -- who've been in place after Isabelle Kocher left us. Claire Waysand, who is the acting Managing Director; and Judith Hartmann, who is the Finance Director; and Paulo Almirante, who is the Director for Operations; and also -- and François Graux, who is the Legal Affairs Director of our company. Now in accordance with the deliberations of the Board of Directors and by using the option, which was opened up to us by the recent decree, we've appointed as the timekeepers and tellers, Paulo Almirante and Judith Hartmann, who've been kind enough to accept to perform those these duties. And of course, I'd like to thank them for that. We're appointing François Graux as the Secretary of this Annual General Meeting. Now this -- Paulo has the documents available, which attest to the fact this AGM has been organized in the appropriate manner, and given the circumstances -- specific circumstances of this AGM, which I briefly recalled. The definitive quorum has been attained yesterday by the 13th of March at 3:00 in the afternoon via the Vote Access platform. Now the quorum -- a definitive quorum comes to 1 billion -- in excess of 1,000,740,000 thereabouts, which represents 70% of the total shares with voting rights. So the quorum has therefore been attained, and we can then therefore legitimately deliberate. And the quorum is up by 10 points compared to the prior year, which is an extremely satisfactory result given the current and unusual circumstances. As a consequence, I hereby declare that this AGM is -- therefore, it can legitimately deliberate. Furthermore, I'd like to point out that as of the 30th of March, the company received from the unit trust fund, LINK France, an alternative resolution to the third resolution, which has as an objective to not distribute dividend for 2019. But the Board of Directors having self-decided on the 1st of April to cancel the paying out of dividend, this alternative resolution is therefore null and void. Now the timetable for our AGM today, you can see it up on the screen. A few introductory remarks and regarding the crisis we're going through and its implications long term. And then I'll give the floor to the collegial management team to present the way in which the group is dealing and managing this crisis. And then we'll dwell upon the strategic and tactical high points of 2009 (sic) [ 2019 ] Then we'll give the floor to the auditors. And then I'll take the floor again with my colleagues, the chairperson of the committee, who will talk about the way the Board operates and will touch upon the main issues which have arrested our attention. And you will look at the resolutions. Well, there are many of them this year, as you'll be able to see. And then we'll go into Q&A session, which has been -- before going on to the results of the votes. So this timetable is based on your expectations that we gathered in as we do each year, prior to the AGM, more than 1,600 shareholders responded to our questionnaire. So I'd like to thank them for that. Now first of all, I'd like to share with you a few observations, which this very -- these unusual times we're going through. My first thoughts, as it were, now in a few -- just in a few weeks, the world we once knew spun off its axis. And who would have imagined at the end of February that we're forced to hold our AGM without public attending? Who would imagine that today we just have -- we've just -- normally, we have about 4,000 people here. We just have a dozen or so people here today. Now our professional and personal lives have been greatly changed. And it's become obvious we have to focus on what is essential, that ENGIE is a responsible group. It is attentive to all its stakeholders. And actions and decisions have been formed over the last few weeks by 2 clear principles, to ensure our duties of public interest and to support the most vulnerable. So our teams very quickly, and on a massive scale, stepped into action. I'd like to thank them. I'd like to warmly thank all our teams for stepping into action. And I'd like to say to them how proud I've been of the 170,000 employees who we have. Proud of the speed of reactions. Proud of the sense [Audio Gap] the ability to adopt new working methods, be it on-site or by working from home. I'd like to thank, notably, my 4 colleagues in the collegial management team, Claire, Judith and Paulo. And they were appointed on the first of March. And just a few days afterwards, they had to set up a crisis management unit to manage these very unusual circumstances. And they did it with a great deal of resolve and total commitment. And of course, I'm extremely grateful to them for that. Now we -- during this crisis, we set 4 clear priorities for ourselves. The first thing was to maintain the health and safety of all employees or their families and subcontractors and all those with whom we enter into contact on our sites. And our priority was to deploy rigorous health protocols to limit the spread of the virus and enable our teams to work under the safest possible conditions, best possible conditions. Despite that, we've been affected by the epidemic. And of course, we've had employees who've been unwell. And unfortunately, I'm regretful to tell you, there have been a few lives lost. And I'd like to convey my sympathy to the families and the teams involved. Our second priority was to pursue our key businesses, our critical businesses, both on sites and in operations we manage directly, but also those operations on the premises of our clients. And the group is managing essential infrastructure, transport infrastructure, gas distribution, electricity generation. And we're also supporting some critical bits of infrastructure. We're supporting around 350 hospitals, about 500 hospitals in Europe, which depend on us for the energy access for heating, air conditioning, air purity. They depend on ENGIE's teams. And we're very much established in the cold chain and assisting our citizens in this regard. Our group was capable of delivering a very high quality of uninterrupted service, and we've shown ourselves to be extremely reliable. And I think that we need to pay tribute to all the teams of the group for their ability and capability of dealing with what, for us, is really part of our spirit of public service. The third priority, limit the financial impact and preserve our cash flow. That's a major concern of any senior executive. And the markets have shown interest in us, and Judith and her team have done a remarkable job to secure access to the financial markets to secure the situations with -- to secure bank loans with our banks and ensure the appropriate level of liquidity and cash flow. And I can say that we are primed to tackle the next few weeks and months of the crisis and to approach the exit of the crisis with peace of mind. And in the spirit of responsibility and caution, we have decided -- based on the priorities, the impact of the crisis on our financial situation, we decided to cancel our dividend. I know that we're asking for some sacrifice on the part of our shareholders, who are for both the small and large shareholders alike. And you can imagine that this decision was not taken lightly by the Board of Directors. We discussed the various options on the table. And -- but that was the final decision that we came to. And our objective is to emerge stronger from this crisis and to find a pathway to new economic growth during this crisis. Characterized by much uncertainty, we're established in France. And in most European countries, we're coming out of lockdown. We're seeing things beginning to start up again. We can see in France, we have 8,000 employees more who have been working since Monday. That's an important development, but the next chapter remains somewhat unclear. There are a new fresh risk of contamination, and we'll be seeing the whole economy beginning to start again, but this will be shrouded in some uncertainty nevertheless. And I think that ENGIE and its Board of Directors have demonstrated responsibility with a willingness to contribute to the efforts of all the various stakeholders of the group during this crisis. And our intention, and I say this with a great deal of emphasis and clarity, is to reestablish the payment of the dividends. So what's happening this year is completely exceptional, and the Board will think about the dividend that we'll pay when we close out the financial year of 2020. Now the last priority strand for us is the measures of solidarity. And I think that, indeed, the situation of ENGIE, the importance of ENGIE in the economic and social environment, the countries where we have to hold, we have a degree of responsibility. We shoulder responsibility for a whole range of measures to be implemented. We hope to be up to the task. I'll just mention but a few of the measures that we've put into place. So as to demonstrate to you, dear shareholders, that your group was capable of showing self-commensurate with responsibilities bestowed upon it in France. We've canceled 2 months of energy costs of 600,000 households. We've helped -- we provide money to help with our small suppliers. We paid our small suppliers very quickly indeed to ensure they have a high degree of cash flow. And we've provided gifts in cash and kind to the Energy Foundation to accompany the work of the Energy Foundation. And we've taken pay cuts, the Board of Directors, to assist the Energy Foundation as well as the other Board members have taken pay cuts as well. And this is all designed to help the most fragile populations, the most vulnerable populations, but as hospitals, in particular, so that we can exit this crisis. Now the group has demonstrated a degree of resilience during this first phase of turbulence, but we have to be fairly circumspect because we're beginning to enter into the second chapter of what will be a complex period of turbulence, I think. And we've been able to showcase the resilience of our company, its various business lines. I'm thinking of the gas infrastructure. I'm thinking of the energy, electricity production, which are the best equipped because of the intrinsic attributes, to sail through this crisis. And we are implementing strategies to attenuate the negative damage caused by the crisis so as to rebound successfully later on. Now a few thoughts on what we might learn from this crisis. What are the lessons? Well, my first observation is the vulnerability of our societies and private companies, given the independence of economies, the free circulation of people, globalization, as we've called it, which should be undeniable factors of wealth creation and economic integration, are also a source of fragility. And our societies and private companies have had difficulty in looking ahead, thinking ahead and planning for such exogenous external shocks. So we need to think in depth. And I think this is an important time. I think it prompts us to think about the challenge of global warming. I think that everything that has happened in this time frame should help us to become -- should force us to become more resilient when it comes to global warming and climate change and try to limit the risk of thermal warming and climate change, ensure that its effects are as diminished as possible. My second observation is a little more positive. Now in the state of emergency, we're capable of deploying disruptive solutions at breakneck speed. I've really been impressed at how fleet of foot our teams have been working from home, teleworking, technicians from our group, executives of our group. Now I don't know if I'd ask Claire to ask all our staff to start working from home. And it might have taken a few years to actually prepare that, but, within 48 hours, we had thousands of staff working from home. And there's extraordinary capability demonstrated to adapt to the situation, and I'm talking about them. But I don't want to forget employees working on-site, who also had to find new working methods, and I'm grateful to them as well. Now we have the capability to speeding up, moving more quickly to react to the climate change and global warming. So with that said, the course charted by this group over the last few years, which has been a leader in climate change in any transition, we -- this has demonstrated that we've made the right choice. And I'm proud that we want to get you to commit, too, with us on this subject. Because like a few other groups -- but we're a minority of companies in this situation. We have decided -- the Board of Directors has decided to propose to the shareholders of this group to enshrine our reason for being our raison d'etre into the statutes of our company. That is to say, this will be the compass which will guide us, inform us and assist us to stick to the course chartered to hold firm in future. Now our sense of purpose, our raison d'etre is expressed in a few sentences, in a few words. And this is the reason and also it's why we take action. I think this reference to our raison d'etre, our reason for being a sense of purpose, is a very important moment indeed. Now this -- the role of our company as a leader in energy transition process, this role that we decided to play, we want to beef it up for the future. And for that reason, the group has mapped out a road map to increase our impact to -- by targeting our resources more specifically via -- for work strands. More strategically, 2 key issues for us to move forward. The first point is the future of our Nuclear operations in Belgium are for to the Belgian government to decide on the country's energy future. A decision is necessary now and quickly so because we're working -- the time frame of its energy mix has been implemented in 2025. So ENGIE wants more place to play its role either by preparing the dismantling and decommissioning of nuclear reactors or there is, of course, the possibility of extending the life cycle of these reactors. And it would will depend on the course chartered by the Belgian government once they are known. Another important question for us, what the production means that ENGIE has available in Belgium. That is where a recourse to gas will probably be a necessity in volumes which remain to be determined. And there needs to be a willingness on our part to be a significant investor in this field. So the second major issue for the group is the role of gas. We are a large gas group. We need to acknowledge that. It's part of our history, I think, but it's part of the operational reality of ENGIE. Now gas -- and perhaps gas has a full place and a role to take in the world energy mix. And in France, sometimes, we're somewhat overly concerned or one has -- we seem -- there seems to be a doctrine of where everything has to be all about electricity. And I think it's the responsibility of ENGIE to remind people the diversification of the energy mix and to remind people that gas has attributes which renders its role absolutely crucial in the energy transition process. Two attributes. Its ability to be stored, stored very quickly so as to meet specific needs, for instance, during winter. And the second key attribute is you can have -- you can greenify gas and buy gas or hydrogen. And so gas control -- we -- it's up to us to demonstrate how a greener form of gas can be an important part of the French and world energy mix. The second working strand is to be selective and make the right choices. Now when presenting results for the first quarter, we announced a series of decisions, which concern the selectiveness of our priorities. We want to break out of some very business lines, which are far removed from our priorities as far as the energy transition is concerned. Now these are changes that we will make in the spirit of -- which we will decide upon -- we will implement as part of the dialogue with labor integrations dialogue. But we need the resources available to focus on the key business lines and the key countries, which are going to make up the strategy. And lastly, we need to simplify the way in which the company works. We have to play with the synergies. We have to find the right balance between what's local and what is global, and we have to find the pathways and the resources to simplify the company's organizational matrix. And of course, we have to find the new chief executive of the group. As you know, we recruited 2 headhunters, 2 executive search firms to assist us in this. We initiated this process a few weeks ago before Isabelle's departure was announced. Of course, the health crisis hasn't really helped in speeding up the search process. It has been a bit of a -- there's been a limited degree of contact over the last few weeks. The -- some chief executives may be feeling less mobile because they have to manage their companies in -- during a crisis situation. But I am hopeful that when I announce the first quarter results, I hope that we will have a new chief executive in place by the end of the year. Françoise Malrieu, who chairs our Appointments, Remuneration and Governance Committee, will come back to this issue and the profile that we're looking for a little later on. So before giving the floor to Claire Waysand, I'd like to show you a very brief video, which will provide you a succinct and convincing and moving presentation of the group's commitment over the last few weeks. [Presentation]

Good afternoon, dear shareholders, and everyone in attendance of this general meeting in very special circumstances. Hello, and thank you for your loyalty towards our group. First of all, just as Jean-Pierre Clamadieu did it before me, I'd like to, of course, extend my sympathies to those of you who have been impacted personally or people close to them who've been impacted by this COVID-19 pandemic. Just like the chairman did, I'd like to share with you all my gratitude and my pride, our gratitude, and proud for the way in which men and women working for ENGIE have responded in the past month. Also, I'd like to thank, together with Judith and Paulo, our Board of Directors and its Chairman, Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, who have chosen to put their trust in us -- in all 3 of us, Judith, Paulo and myself, to conduct the activities of the group and to best prepare its future. This very special moment will be dedicated to 3 things this year: first of all, share with you very quickly what is the group like today; then to go back to this decision to put the purpose of the company in the bylaws of the company and explain what it means for our group; and then I will tell you about the priorities we will be implementing in 2020, priorities to respond to the crisis and also to speed up the implementation of our strategy. ENGIE, as you know, has 170,000 staff members all over the world, 80% of them in Europe, 20% in other territories. Because of this worldwide activity, we're able to see the crisis coming in Asia to be able to face up with it very quickly and to measure the need to adapt. The ENGIE group has 5 areas to deal with, which are all at the service of the energy transition and the fight against global warming. I'd like to say a few words about each of these. The production of renewable energies, first of all. We developed in this area our action in all technological areas, hydropower, land and offshore wind power, solar energy, biomass, geothermal energy and, of course, the green gases: biomethane and green hydrogen, with one conviction and one objective, which is to offer a carbon-free energy at the best price possible. We are totally convinced of the fact that to do so, we need to make room for various technologies and not put all our eggs in the same basket, and not push electricity as the only way to have a carbon-free energy in a context where the cost of the different energies can evolve very quickly. Therefore, we need to give a chance to all of the different technologies. This is what the group has been doing. The group today is one of the main European developers of renewable energies. 28% of our production capacity for electricity are today renewable. And we have -- of course, have 3 gigawatt of additional capacity in 2019. And the group, as you know, is a leader in the land wind power and the solar energy in France. Second major activity, the thermal and nuclear energy. In the nuclear energy sector, we have 7 reactors in Belgium, which are the basis for the provision of electricity in that country. They have worked very well in 2019 with a build rate of 80% in 2019. Our thermal plants, by definition, are very flexible in terms of use, and they also were called upon very widely. Finally, we have continued to lower our coal-fired energy production, which only accounts for 4% of our power generation capacity as opposed to 15% in 2015. And so in all of these areas, of course, we were able to have the business continuity during the crisis. The third major activity area, what we call infrastructure, they include gas and electricity infrastructure in the group. These infrastructures, primarily located in Europe and Latin America, are meant to continue to play a key role in the energy transition, particularly with the integration -- gradual integration of green gases and projects having to do with green hydrogen. Here, again, of course, the business continuity was guaranteed during the crisis. Fourth major activity area, what we call the supply, which includes all of the marketing activities for gas and electricity, to households and professionals as well as the services linked to that. Today, we have more than 20 million contracts worldwide with our residential customers. We also continue to provide energy to all the customer during the crisis and to guarantee the necessary repair activities. In France, since the beginning of the lockdown period, we've had more than 100,000 repair services in households since the 17th of March. Finally, 110,000 staff members are in Client Solutions. These are services making it possible for our customers, companies and municipalities to improve the use of energy from design to management over time of solutions that are fully integrated. In this category, you can have the heat and cold networks or activities in the cold chain, activity where ENGIE is a leader in France. We also include in this category the services to hospitals, as Mr. Clamadieu mentioned, in some 330 hotels in France, for whom we provide air conditioning, heating and sterilization of equipment, in particular. Thanks to all of the ENGIE teams, we're able to guarantee the continuity of all these indispensable operations. These major activities have to do with the energy transition and the fight against climate change. And thus, we are going to express our raison d'etre, our purpose. We put it together with all of our stakeholders. You will find in the resolutions the wording, this purpose, raison d'etre, that was agreed upon by the Board of Directors in February is to add to -- to accelerate transition towards a carbon-neutral economy with more energy lean solutions, more respect for the environment. This purpose brings together the company, the employees, the customers and shareholders and reconciles economic performance and positive impact on people and the planet. The action of ENGIE will be appreciated over its entirety and in the future. We want to have this purpose in the bylaws. And if you agree to this, it will be the case. But as Jean-Pierre Clamadieu just said, this purpose of the company is a reason to act. With that, actually, we want to, of course, combine economic performance and positive impact, both from people and the planet. A few examples, economic performance, growth investments, EUR 7.4 billion in 2019, which, of course, are a token of growth for the years to come. Positive impact for the planet. We have reduced, for example, since 2015, greenhouse gases emissions by 55%. A positive impact for people now. The crisis has made it possible to show who we are and to show it to all of our stakeholders. We have shown solidarity and responsibility in line with the purpose that we have put forth. Solidarity towards the municipalities where we operate, where all hands were on deck to help the health care professionals, the people who were ill, disenfranchised people, be they adults or children. Solidarity towards our customers who are impacted by the crisis. We have offered 2 years of power subscription to the lower-income households, also the possibility to postpone the payment of bills without penalty for households who have been impacted by the crisis because of the furlough. And we've also done it for the very small companies that were severely impacted by the COVID. Solidarity, finally, towards our staff members. We have a wealth protection system in place for all of the staff members throughout the world. With the crisis, we wanted to make sure that all of these staff members would be covered in case they need to be hospitalized and to provide them with life insurance. These are our values. It's also a good way to make this purpose alive. Let me close by sharing with you the major objectives that will be implemented this year in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, in order to accelerate the implementation of our strategic priorities also. In the face of the epidemic, right at the beginning of the crisis, we set up a crisis management scheme so that we could, of course, fare through the lockdown period in a better way, and which means it's possible to now proceed to the restart of all activities in the gradual lifting of the lockdown. Major priority is the health of the staff members, their families and all the people that they interact with. Very quickly, we made it possible for all the employees, who could work from home, to do that. Now we have 40% of employees teleworking, 65,000 people. And this way of working remains recommended whenever possible. We also, of course, guarantee the health and safety of all the staff members who had to work on site. At the height of the crisis, there were more than 10,000 of them who were working in France with masks and personal protection equipment in order to support the critical installations, hospitals or the cold chain for the agri business. Second priority, to guarantee the business continuity. We said that earlier on, all of the social activities were guaranteed all throughout the crisis. We were there to help all the customers who needed us. And I'm very proud to say that all of the staff members of the group took part in this effort to face up for the crisis and very proud of what we managed to do. What that says for the group today is the restart of the activity. Some of them had slowed down. Some of them had to stop. And Paulo Almirante will tell you more about it later on. Third major priority. We need to make sure that the group fares through the crisis in a robust way and prepare for what will come afterwards. At the very beginning of the crisis, we took all the financial measures that were necessary to preserve our robust cash flow and a robust balance sheet. And Judith Hartmann will tell you more about it. This crisis is unprecedented. It's very difficult for us to say how long it will last and what will be its magnitude. That's also difficult for all the companies. But our group is very robust, and we have done our utmost to mitigate the impact of the crisis. And if some of our activities and some of our customers are more impacted, the reasons of others will help us fare better throughout this crisis. Finally, the COVID-19 crisis also meant that there were new opportunities for the group, which reassures us to the relevance of our strategic priorities. The COVID-19 crisis has shown that countries are interdependent. It also showed the vulnerability of human beings. A climate crisis tomorrow will be even worse than what we have experienced today. To limit the magnitude of the climate change is a challenge for all of us. It's also a major commercial opportunity for which ENGIE, your group, is well positioned well in 2 different areas to help customers to consume less energy on the one hand and to produce or generate cleaner energy. Our strategic priority for this year, aim at improving even further the capacity of the group to meet this challenge. First of all, we will be focusing on the most relevant geographies for the development of the group, those where the market have a significant size and where -- or significant potential where the group has the capacity to differentiate itself and to be profitable. That will, of course -- that will mean that we'll need to withdraw from more than 25 countries by the end of 2020. We will remove ourselves from nonstrategic geographies for the group with a very limited contribution to our financial results. Secondly, we will be focusing on the service activities, which make it possible to demonstrate at best our added value, and, of course, to help our customers move towards carbon neutrality. This increase in activity will make it possible to be stronger in all of the activities that are at the core of the group strategy and will allow for others to develop in better conditions. These evolutions will, of course, be systematically shared with the trade unions and the bodies representing the staff as part of a transparent and responsible social dialogue. The third strategic priority. Finally, we will continue with our development in renewable energies. We've already added 3 gigawatts of installed capacity in 2019. Our objective is to have an additional 6 gigawatt by the end of 2021. In 2020, you will have understood that we have been faced with the crisis of COVID-19. We have implemented strategic priorities, which are consistent with the energy transition. Together, we continue to build a very robust group; prepared to face the future at the service of the introduction and the fight against climate change. Now after these few words, Paulo Almirante will now tell you about our operational activities and our performance.

Good afternoon, everyone. Let me start with a review of our major achievements in 2019. In Client Solutions, we are growing organically on asset-based projects. An example is the Iowa State University contract, a campus with 100 buildings and 33,000 students. We are investing $1 billion with a financial partner to provide heating, cooling and electricity through dedicated networks during 50 years. Similar projects but with different scopes have been awarded to ENGIE by the city of Angers in France and by the city of Ottawa in Canada. On asset light, our performance was not good. We need to increase margins. And for that, we need to densify our operations in specific markets by doing selective acquisitions. In 2019, examples are Conti in the U.S., Otto and Powerlines in Europe. These 3 acquisitions represent a total turnover of EUR 1 billion. Regarding infrastructures, the acquisition of TAG in Brazil is a major step in the development of international infrastructures. TAG is also a strong contributor to our results, partially offsetting the impact of the regulatory reviews in France. In Latin America, we are developing power transmission projects with similar secure business models. In Brazil, we won 1,800 kilometers of greenfield concessions in addition to the 1,000 kilometers that we already have under construction. If we move now to renewables, we commissioned in 2019 a record 3 gigawatts of capacity. About 2/3 are wind, and 1/3 is solar. Important to note here that this is 4x more than the capacity commissioned in 2018. We also acquired a portfolio of 6 hydro plants in Portugal with an average concession life of 45 years, contributing to the long-term visibility of ENGIE's portfolio. In Mexico and India, we established partnerships to develop new projects. And with EDPR, we established a global joint venture for offshore wind. Let's now go to conventional generation and supply. Nuclear operations have stabilized in 2019 after a very difficult 2018. Thanks to the efforts of our teams, the nuclear fleet achieved an availability of 79%, significantly above the 52% level of the previous year. The objective to phase out coal is progressing well. In 2019, we have divested or closed more than 6 gigawatts of capacity, out of which 3.5 gigawatts are coal, which represents now only 4% of our portfolio, as Claire said before. Looking at supply. In 2019, we lost 300,000 gas customers on the B2C segment. But on the other side, we gained 200,000 new electricity customers. These are mainly in the French and Belgium retail markets. If we move now to the next slide, over the last months, we have been facing a major global crisis created by the new coronavirus. At ENGIE, we established a clear priority: continue to serve our clients in total security. We operate assets, which are critical for our clients, in 4 countries where we are based. Gas networks, power plants, water production plants. In addition, and probably never expected, Client Solutions became a critical service. Our teams have been in the field supporting clients such as hospitals, the food industry, data centers and much more, and this during the lockdowns. So far, all our critical activities are operational and resilient. This was only possible because we rapidly activated business continuity plans at all our sites and entities. A major procurement and logistics effort was deployed to procure face masks for respiratory protection and other personal protective equipment, providing our staff with safe working conditions. As a global company, we could learn and share the experience of our teams as the pandemic spread from East to West. And now our priority is to restart. We have established 3 key areas. First, protect our workforce by providing them with new working methods and safe working conditions. Second, increase our focus on clients to support their restart, knowing that the situation will be quite different from one country to the other, from one sector to the other. Third, work closely with our key suppliers to secure the supply chain and to ensure the delivery of parts and services. Globally, we see business ramping up with the lifting of lockdown measures, but it's important to note that we are preparing the restart having in mind that this situation might last for a long period of time. Let's move on to the next slide. The COVID crisis has affected all our operations, but Client Solutions is the most impacted with many clients closing their sites, leading to a significant reduction of activity. We have implemented partial unemployment plans for part of our teams, but always in open and transparent dialogue with social partners. Energy supply was also impacted with a significant reduction of volumes from our B2B clients and several regulatory measures introduced by governments to help the treasury of companies. Renewable and conventional generation shows strong resilience, and the impact are mainly related to price volatility and supply chain disruptions, but with limited delays on construction or maintenance projects. Our networks business is, to a large extent, regulated and, as such, not significantly impacted. For the remaining of 2020, we are adapting our priorities. It is expected that countries will bring new incentives and investment plans to reactivate the economy. And this might open opportunities to develop new asset-based solutions. In Latin America, we are accelerating the construction of transmission lines, benefiting from lower construction activity in the region. For renewables, and despite the COVID crisis, we are maintaining the objective to achieve 3 gigawatts of new capacity this year. The major upgrade works at our nuclear sites in Belgium were never stopped, but physical distancing measures are slowing down these complex works. Despite some delays, we are working to conclude them during this year. Regarding our supply business, we need to rebalance the volumes, upstream, downstream, and actively monitor credit risks. In conclusion, the COVID crisis is impacting our operations, and it is difficult at this stage to imagine the world after the crisis. But overall, our businesses are solid, and we are prepared for the recovery. Before I hand over to Judith, let's take a look on a short video, which shows how our colleagues faced this special period. [Presentation]

Hello, everyone. I wanted, first of all, to thank you for being in attendance in spite of these special circumstances having to do with the COVID-19 crisis. I sincerely hope that you and people close to you are all healthy. In 2019, your company once again has met its goals. The results show an acceleration of the organic growth and very good operating cash flow. Moreover, we continue to benefit from a very robust financial structure. We are proud of these results, which have created the robust basis. They will be even more important to be able to face up for the health and economic crisis, which has arisen since the beginning of the year. It is for that reason, as Jean-Pierre Clamadieu just reminded you of, that the Board of Directors has decided to cancel out dividends for 2019. We aim at reestablishing the payment of dividends as part of the politics that we announced last year. We have continued to implement our strategy. On a regulatory point of view, we now have an increased visibility. The revision of the remuneration of the regulated gas networks will give us more clarity for the next 4 years. Our new measures regarding Belgian nuclear provisions and their financing have made it possible to reduce uncertainties in this area. Our growth profile has been drastically improved. We have commissioned 3 additional gigawatts of renewables, which accounts for 4x more capacity commissioned than in 2019. It's a record that ENGIE has set. Moreover, we have reinforced our position, thanks to key acquisitions. In Portugal, we have announced the acquisition of an important portfolio of assets in the hydropower sector. We should conclude this operation in the next few months. In Brazil, we have acquired TAG, an important gas transmission network, which has already generated visible benefits as early as 2019. With this operation, we have increased the length of our network by 12% at the world level. Finally, in terms of Client Solutions, we have done a number of acquisitions which have contributed up to EUR 800 million of income in 2019. At the same time, we continue to decarbonize our energy -- electric energy generation. The share of renewables in our electric capacity mix has increased further. It has now reached 28%. We have further reduced our coal fire energy generation for more than 3 gigawatts, particularly in Asia and in Europe. So now its share in our electricity generation capacity mix is only 4%. Finally, we have exited 9 countries in the course of the year 2019, and we will continue our strategic review. In fact, we have announced this very week our decision to withdraw from more than 25 countries between now and the end of 2021. It will have a limited impact on the recurring operating result and will make it possible to reduce the debt by roughly EUR 1 billion. Therefore, we are refocusing on our key countries. And at the same time, this is not going to lead to a reduction of our financial capacity. The current crisis make it necessary to be even more simple and even more selective. 2019 was a profitable growth year for the company. The turnover of EUR 64 million has gone up organically by 4%. The recurring operating income has had an organic growth of 14%, which has shown that ENGIE continues with its profitable growth. The recurring operating income group share is up to EUR 2.7 billion, up by 11% organically. The recurring operating income group share is up to EUR 1 billion. It is stable versus 2018. These good results, of course, are due to the recurring operating income of our businesses. The Client Solutions have been up by 7%, thanks to a strong contribution of the acquisitions and a good performance of the energy production activities, which are decentralized and production on-site. The infrastructure are down by 3%, in line with our expectations in spite of the initial contribution of the gas transmission facilities acquired in Brazil. Renewables are up by 5%, thanks to the very robust performance of the wind, solar, and hydropower performance. The Thermal energy is down by 11%, primarily to the fact that we have divested from activities in Thailand. Nuclear power is up by 70%, thanks to Belgian rates, which are very high and, of course, higher prices. I would like to pay tribute to the wonderful job done by our Belgian teams, which is bearing fruit after a very difficult year in 2018. Finally, the energy sales are down by 36% because, of course, of the temperatures, which were higher than normal in the winter season. So apart from infrastructure in this very peculiar situation, our growth is due to the activities in which we will continue to invest. Your company has a very strong balance sheet. Our net debt is up to EUR 25.9 billion on December 31, 2019. After 4 years of reduction of our debt, minus 25% since 2015, our debt is up by EUR 2.6 billion compared to where it was at the end of 2018. This increase can be explained by investments made during this period, particularly the acquisition of the gas transmission network in Brazil. The cost of the gross debt has remained stable at 2.7%. On the 24th of April, S&P gave ENGIE a credit rating of BBB+ in spite of the current economic crisis. And last week, Moody's has confirmed our category A rating, which is A3. Therefore, our rating remains one of the highest in the sector because ENGIE has one of the strongest balance sheets in the business, with EUR 20.6 billion of cash at the end of December, including EUR 10.8 billion of cash flow. The CSR is at the heart of the energy values. It accounts for major assets in terms of resilience and attractiveness. The Board of Directors has therefore set 19 CSR objectives for 2030. They reflect the operational implementation of the purpose of ENGIE. And of course, there will be a number of short-term milestones. Moreover, we have decided to present 3 indicators relating to our CSR, and they will be correlated to our financial results. This shows how important it is to have an integrated vision of our performance. First of all, the greenhouse gases emissions of power generation. We intend to reduce them by half between now and 2030. And therefore, I'm proud to let you know that ENGIE has recently been given the Science Based Targets certification, which is a coalition of people who've been recognized at the international level. This certification guarantees that our carbon policy is compatible with a global warming limited to 2 degrees centigrade. ENGIE is the first multi-energy company to be given this certification. Now let's talk about the share of women when it comes to management. Our objective is to reach gender parity in 2030. We now stand at 24% of women in management in the company. Here, again, this is a strategic objective for ENGIE. And more widely speaking, as a responsible economic actor, we want to give the same opportunities to all our staff members. This increased gender diversity will make it possible to work better and to find the most suitable solutions for our customers. Finally, the share of renewables in our electric or power generation capacity should be doubled by 2030; will go from 20% to 58% of renewables. This objective is indispensable in a world which needs green solutions. Of course, this contribution to our energy transition is not to be limited to these indicators, and particularly our development of solutions will make it possible to reduce their carbon footprint. The commitment and the results of ENGIE are recognized outside of the company. In fact, the CSR rating of the company is above that of the average in this sector for the majority of indices and our integrated report refers -- is seen as a reference in the business. In 2020, we are -- of course, drafted this report after having consulted stakeholders, and it was published in April. Let me conclude with the future prospects for the company. Because of the COVID crisis, the negative effects had to do with the drop in the commodity prices and the evolution of the currency exchange rate, particularly the Brazil real are to be expected. From an operating point of view, the impact are still uncertain and will differ depending on the activities. I'd like to underline the fact that most of our activities have shown a lot of resilience. That is the case for the network, the thermal sector, nuclear and renewables. Well other activities will, of course, undergo a major impact, first of all, the sale of energy because of the reduction of the volumes of industrial clients. And the Client Solutions were the most impacted by the lockdown given the fact that some sites have been closed of some of our customers and the impact of the crisis on the construction business. Well, given the uncertainties linked to the current crisis, ENGIE has decided to, of course, withdraw its financial objectives for 2020 and will express itself in due time on the financial goal for the year 2022. However, we have, of course, set up action plans in order to mitigate the impact of the crisis for ENGIE with the reduction of the operating spending and the postponement of some of the investments. Our teams have responded very quickly to this unprecedented crisis. And of course, today, everybody is still on deck. We guarantee the proper functioning of the critical infrastructure as well as the robustness -- the financial robustness of ENGIE. I'd like to, of course, congratulate them for this incredible job that they've done. Finally, I'd like to share my conviction for the future of the company. It is true that the pandemic has led to an economy crisis, but we will be able to overcome the crisis. Because of a very strong balance sheet and our skills, we are well positioned to renew with growth. I am totally convinced of the fact that the energy center will remain a very profitable growth sector. Energy sobriety and renewables are at the heart of this new growth, greener and more sustainable growth. We are actively preparing for the recovery and the restart. And of course, we try [Audio Gap] in the future. And now I would like to give the floor to Charles-Emmanuel Chosson, who will, of course, read to us in a video the report of the statutory auditors. I'd like to thank you for your attention.

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, the shareholders, good afternoon. On behalf of the auditors of ENGIE, I'm going to give your audit report for 2019. The speech has been done on a remote basis and conditions adapted for the health crisis we're going through. And on behalf of Deloitte and Ernst & Young, we -- our thoughts go out to all the shareholders of the group, the employees as well as their families, who may have been personally affected by this epidemic. Our audit was in pursuant to the professional objectives to give a fair and true view of the group and ensuring it is compliant with the IFRS 8 and established according to French principles. There are no significant anomalies. Two firms, Deloitte and Ernst & Young, looked at operations at home and abroad and due diligence approach was adopted. So as to taking together specific attributes in terms of regulations, risks, the organization, the accounting rules and the existing internal controls, our conclusions were presented to the Audit Committee on the 24th of February 2020 and to the Board of Directors on the 26th of February. With agreement of the Chairman and the Board, I'll sum up the -- our audit in 3 main parts. First of all, our report on the consolidated accounts. Now you can see this on 340 to 345. Now we identified 4 key points on these consolidated accounts. The valuation of goodwill and other long-term assets for which losses of value were accounted for to take into account the operations and track sessions taking place during this time frame and evaluation of the nuclear provisions and the decommissioning of nuclear reactors in Belgium. And this -- taking into account all aspects, the evaluation of provisions for commercial disputes claims and tax rates. And fourthly, estimating turnover regarding electricity sales and gas sales, which we've done. And that's the energy in [Audio Gap] and in particular, we look to the main estimates of the senior management and the sensitivity to interpretation. And we feel there's appropriate reporting to be done. Now there have been the changes in accounting standards with the IFRS with rental contracts, with the impacts for the decision in March 2019 regarding the 4 nonfinanced parts. Now we are assured the satisfactory information was provided during the appropriate time frame. Now regarding the COVID-19 is an event which took place after the financial year ended 2019. So its impact is, therefore, relevant to after the closing of the accounts. So the communication of the senior management during the AGM will confirm this and after additional information has been provided. Moving on to the second part now, the report on the annual accounts, our report on the annual accounts on Pages 372 to 375. Now the accounts have actually limited 3 key points of audit to -- which are common with the consolidated accounts. That's the assessment of the provisions for commercial disputes, claims and tax risks and the estimation -- estimates for ENGIE in the accounts. And lastly, assessment of shares for Electrabel, and which was subject to devaluation of EUR 1.6 billion during this financial year. Our work also focused on the presentation of all accounts and the quality of the financial information. Our assessment is part of our order approach taken as a whole, and they've contributed the forming of our opinion and enable us to give a good assessment of the accounts without reserve of ENGIE. Third part. We were prompted as part of our audit to issue different reports, which some of them focus on resolution subject to the vote. Two, in particular, the special report on the regulated agreements on Page 177, 178 and Resolutions 4 and 5. In fact, the objective of Resolution 4 and 5, which is cited upon, and the different reports regarding the extraordinary Annual General Meeting on concerning Resolutions 19 to 28, and which you had to vote upon. These operation -- there are no specific observations on our part. And so other reports on attestations without a corresponding resolution reports and decoration, the extra financial performance and labor relation information, environmental relation report on the green bonds, the attestations on the corresponding remuneration and expenditure. These different reports and attestations do not require any specific remarks to make their audits. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, thank you very much for your kind attention.

I'd like to thank the -- Charles-Emmanuel Chosson on behalf of the auditors. Now we're going to move on to governance part of this Annual General Meeting, and I'd like to provide you some comments regarding the modus operandi of the Board of Directors and the collegial management team and also the main resolution subjected to vote. Now during the previous Annual General Meeting, you approved limiting the size of the Board from 18 to 14 since the resignation of Isabelle Kocher at the end of February. Today, the Board of Directors is 13 members. In this collaboration, the rate of independence is 67%, and the women's representation comes to 40%. Now some Board of Directors have given the questions which was sent out to me. Some people doubted my ability to do the math, but the figures of 40% might surprise some. I'd like to point the law provides the directors representing employees, which are not elected by the AGM, are not taken into account in this ratio. Now regarding 2019, the average participation rate is 99%. That's a presence rate for the Board of Directors. So the individual participation rate of the directors' members, meetings of Boards for the third consecutive year was published in the documents which are publicly recorded. You can see that your Board members are very serious. And this -- we carried this assessment with the support of an external consultancy firm, which is complemented by assessment of the contribution by all individual Board members following up of the operations, previous devaluations, some benchmarking of a Board of Directors against the best practice in industry. Now the key message, which are being sent out by my colleagues, the reduction in the size of the Board has been particularly appreciated, has enabled a more efficient form of debate, particularly regarding difficult decisions to take, and the changes, the way that these Board meetings, these executive Board meetings. And the -- as also the strategic thinking of the Board members, that's also an important part of work. And this has been much appreciated by the colleagues. Now of course, there is room for progress. As regarding the exposure and the interaction, the management team and the Board members and setting priorities in our work and the ways that organize strategic seminars could also be further improved to make it more efficient. And I think this is something which is important. So we actually have to pay a particular attention to the follow-up of all the decisions that we take. Your Board of Directors and the various committees have taken note of this work improvement, and we will all make all necessary changes. The rate of participation or the security is there's a participation rate between 93% and 100% for each committee. And I'd like to give floor of each chairperson of the committee to provide feedback on the work during the year. And there will be video speeches, which have been pre-recorded for you. [Presentation]

So I'd like to warmly thank my colleagues for the speeches, which I think have enabled us to become aware of the important role played by these risk committees. We have a fourth committee, which I actually chair, which is the Committee of Strategy, Investment and Technology. And I'd also like to briefly present you the nature of our work during the past year. And now the committee focuses on 3 key sections: the strategic orientations of the group, strategically speaking, our growth projects, external and internal growth, acquisitions and disposals and partnerships, which go beyond a certain threshold; and of course, a review of our technological choices. Now in 2019, the committee focused mainly on drafting 3 strategy from February 2019 for the beginning of the Capital Markets Day in London, discussions with the Belgian authorities on the nuclear, which is a very heavy-duty subject, which we said on several occasions during this presentation, a series of investments and acquisitions and disposals and some feedback from the past few years. Lastly, the search for innovation in new businesses with the group as well as the contribution of the digital world to innovational excellence. And there's a subject to which are doing great deal. But there is also a considerable room for progress, I think, and the interactions of the positive exchange that we have within this committee is really very useful, indeed, I think, and I hope also for the management of the group. Now what I'd suggest now is now we're getting close to the part of this AGM, the one where we can ask you to vote. I will -- just to give you a brief overview of the various resolutions, which was subjected to vote this year, 32 resolutions are subject to the voting process. The full text of all these resolutions as well as a few comments is on Page 19 -- 17 to 28 of the invitation brochure for the AGM. The details and explanations of the resolutions are also listed in the report of the Board of Directors, which is also put up in this brochure. Now regarding the first 18 resolutions, which have been proposed to the ordinary AGM, it's actually -- we took decisions with a simple majority. The following other decisions required an extraordinary AGM, which required 2/3 of the votes expressed. Also called the secretary assembly will be presenting the resolutions at the end. Now our timetable, in general, provides the regulated approval as well as those concluded with Isabelle Kocher. And I'll talk about that a little more in detail. Now during the meeting as of 6th of February, we decided not to extend the mandate of Isabelle Kocher, which comes to an end at this AGM, which brings an end to her role as Chief Executive of the company, albeit necessary in the Board to reach a draft agreement where we had the early departure of Isabelle was dealt with. And the conclusion is protocol. On the 24th of February, we made it possible to put into place a new transitional senior management team without waiting for the AGM to take place. And we're committing to a new stage, let's just say, the implementation, the strategy of the company, the financial commitments made with regard to Isabelle in this protocol are broken down 3 different forms of compensation, all based on their own internal rationale. A contract-ending compensation, which linked Isabelle to the group for about 20 years, which was suspended when she was appointed as a Board member. And this is about 1.4 million gross as well as a pre-notice for the compensation. That's 3 months of gross remuneration. In fact, Isabelle joined the group in 2002, and her working contract have been suspended since the 1st of January 2015 through to her ending duties with the company. To this can be added a noncompetition compensation of the -- we didn't provide for a noncompetition clause for the remuneration of our senior Directors. But given the nature of the duties performed by Isabelle and part of the -- or given the specific nature of our business, we -- it seemed important to preserve a legitimate interest by subjecting Isabelle Kocher to a commitment of noncompetition of 18 months, which is -- this is presented in the fourth resolution now. And this is the point which will be subject to much discussion with quite a few of our shareholders and the Board of -- Board members in full knowledge of the facts believe that it's important that it was indeed necessary to establish a principal -- a noncompetition so as to protect the ENGIE Group. The last part of this draft agreement or protocol agreement, a transactional compensation, about EUR 0.7 million, which were in millions and euro, which will be paid once this protocol agreement has been approved by the AGM shareholders. Now in total, this package -- for this departure package for Isabelle Kocher provides for commitments, which are at EUR 1.9 million, which complies with the threshold with the official regulations. And this also preserves, as best as possible, the short and medium-term interests of the ENGIE Group. Now the Resolutions 7 and 8, which have been submitted to you, we talked about extending the mandates of 2 independent members: Peter Ricketts and Fabrice Brégier; and the renewal of the appointments of our 2 auditors, Ernst & Young and Deloitte. So as 2 of our Board Directors, their term office is coming to end, which we would like to renew Peter Ricketts and Fabrice Brégier. They joined the Board in 2016. This was -- this is their first term on the Board, and both are the members of the Appointments, Remuneration and Governance Committee. I can tell you they can make very significant contributions to this committee and to the Board. Lord Ricketts is British, and he's had a very long and distinguished diplomatic career when -- he's able to shed interesting light on strategic issues as well as on public sector issues. And geostrategic issues are becoming increasingly important for the group because we find ourselves in an ever more complicated way. And the light that Peter can shed is particularly useful to the company. Fabrice Brégier is the Chairman -- Chief Executive of Palantir, a company called Palantir. And his career journey is -- was being particularly shaped by Airbus where -- for which he worked for a long time. After -- then worked for Matra, Eurocopter, EADS. And he's a senior industrial leader with the reflexes of someone who has access to high office in a very complex environment. And he shares his vision of -- his vision linked up with the digital transformation, technological changes and the change in world in general. And once again, I would like to say how delighted that both Peter and Fabrice have accepted a second term with us. And that we're delighted to extend their first term and to subject this to a -- the vote of our shareholders. Now the resolutions for 11 to 18 concern remuneration of salaries, allowance that Françoise Malrieu, who is the President of the Nominations Committee, have come to present those to us. These resolutions take on some complexity given the managerial transition situation, which we find ourselves in 2020. Françoise, over to you.

[Foreign Language]

Thank you very much, Françoise, for these explanations. You've provided great enough clarity on the resolutions when you read the resolutions one after the other. They -- sometimes it's to distinguish them or see the clear line through them. And thanks for this presentation, our shareholders will now know what they will have to vote on. If I continue my overview of the resolutions. The Resolution 19 to 24 and for 26 on the agenda regarding the renewal of the financial delegations; and Resolution 27 and 28 for the share ownership of employees; and Resolutions 29, 30 and 31 concerning the statutory changes regarding the sense of purpose of the reason for being for this company and other statutory issues.

Now before -- now let's move on to the next part of our Annual General Meeting. This is the question-and-answer session. Now that we've received 41 written questions from our shareholders. The answers were looked at -- the Board of Directors have looked at them and reviewed them. They put online on the company's website. And I also provide a more simple system for written questions as the form of a platform, which is online, which enable us to receive some questions, the strategy, the business lines, social and corporate responsibility, the health crisis. There's some natural answers which occurred in the presentations, which occurred during this AGM. I'd like to thank those shareholders for expressing interest and taking the time for interacting with us given the current context. Now we've selected 6 questions, which we think represent the -- or represented the concerns of our shareholders today. And I've asked François to pronounce the first question as it were.

After canceling the dividend for 2019, what prospects are for the years to come for next year? Do you think the payment of the dividend will take place in 2021? And to what stage will you get to the current levels of dividend distribution?

I beg your pardon? I think, in my introduction -- but I think Judith touched upon it. I presented it. But I think this is, of course, an important point, and I'll seek to clarify it. Now we took, in the beginning of April, to cancel the payment of the dividend which should have followed this AGM. This has been -- we want to demonstrate our solidarity with regard to the French socioeconomic environment, where ENGIE plays a very important role, but a degree of prudence given this unprecedented health crisis. Now we didn't take this decision lightly, but it requires a significant effort and sacrifice for our institutional and small shareholders and the like. And of course, this is probably -- decision is weighed upon the value of our shares. It's important to state this clearly that the dividend distribution policy that we've established last year remains applicable. And that our attention is to reinstate the payment of dividends or reinstitute the payment of dividends. And we'll see this pursuant to the policy at the closing of the financial year in 2020. Now, François, could you read out the second question that Claire will answer, I believe.

Could you come back to the digital strategy of the group? Is there a reorientation of the priorities of the company in this regard?

The digital, of course, is at the very heart of the group strategy with 2 major areas, the software and the data. The first one is the software. For years now, we have been developing software, which is a way to diversify our offers in our main areas, such as Darwin for renewables; NEMO, for the hot and cold networks and -- among others. These have been deployed on a large scale. We have had 2 more platforms added since later, everRun, which is the software for infrastructure management and electric charging; and Smart Institution, which is used to manage large size -- particularly large university campuses. Second area, when it comes to digital technology, the data -- using data makes it possible to improve the performance of our assets, and, for example, to, of course, prevent the risks and incidents, which is what we use for the wind farms. In terms of data, our connected vision is to better use data internally and externally. One last word to say that digital technologies are of the utmost importance when you have the health crisis like the one we have with COVID-19. The digital technology can make it possible for our staff to continue to work very efficiently. 65,000 staff members are now connected every day. Digital technology is also more than ever -- were useful to our customers. For example, it made it possible for our customers to monitor, at a distance, their critical facility. And with digital technology, we could meet a specific need such as the companies that were able to provide protective equipment in local municipalities. We have developed, therefore, a project of that kind in a matter of 6 days for the Île-de-France region. Lastly, digital technology make it possible to, of course, see us today. Thank you.

François, I think you have another question to read out to us, and I think Judith will answer this.

And indeed, I have. What commitments -- tangible commitments are taken as regards to carbon coal neutrality, given ENGIE's raison d'etre or sense of purpose?

The purpose of the company that we have -- submit to you today is to show our ambition to become a de -- or carbon-free society. We've been engaged in the climate change for a long time. Energy accounts for 2/3 of the human activity emissions as early as 2015. Before COP21, we have decided to stop investing in a coal-fired electricity generation, and we divested from it. The coal only accounts for 4% of our electric power generation capacity. We've taken it one step further. We have reviewed our CO2 emissions policy to make it in line with the Paris Agreement. This policy was recently certified by a coalition of actors, recognized at the international level, and it is called Science Based Targets. This certification makes it possible for ENGIE to be the first utility to be recognized by Science Based Targets. This is an important step towards the carbon neutrality that we aim for at the long term. It has to do with the direct and indirect missions altogether. More specifically, it translates into a reduction of 52% of the emission rate per kilowatt of the generation of electricity between 2016 and 2030, a reduction of 34% of emissions due to the use of products sold by the group during the same amount of time. It is a very ambitious reduction that will require a rapid development of the greenfields -- or green gases.

Could you kindly share with us the fourth question? Which Paulo will answer.

Yes. It's concerned to biogas, biogas produced by ENGIE, how many kilowatts per hour or terawatts per hour?

Biogas plants in operation, capable of injecting 0.3 terawatt hours per year. We expect to increase this capacity to 5 terawatt hours per year by 2030.

François, could you kindly read out the fifth question? Which Claire will be good to answer this.

Yes. What interest it is of ENGIE to conserve a B2C portfolio? Whereas utilities seem fragilized or weakened in the segment?

ENGIE, today, has a very robust position in the B2C in several countries, and it accounts for more than 20 million contracts and positions that we will continue to optimize. Of course, the competition is fierce in this segment, but, at ENGIE, we have a very peculiar positioning because we are doing a lot for energy transition. Therefore, we can differentiate ourselves and not have only the sale of electricity and gas. We do it by offering customers renewables and also by inviting our customers to consume less. This may sound paradoxical for a company selling energy, but we have launched loyalty programs based on the recognition of proper initiatives to invite our customers to better control their consumption, which, in France, was a program called my program to add, Mon Programme pour Agir; Belgium with Stay Home Save UP; or in Italy with the program entitled Pulse. I'd like to add, finally, and this is of interest that the sale of energy to households were not very much impacted by the health crisis.

François, could you read out the last question to us? Which I will ask...

Of course. The model of renewable energies in -- based in France on the DBSO. Don't you think this model prevents us optimizing our energy production, which, in the long term, could destroy value?

Of course, this question was asked as somebody who knows our approach very well, the DBSO model, the acronym means developing and design and constructing a project, and then partially disposing it to financial investment once it's attached to the network. And then we remain the operator and the entity responsible for its maintenance. Now the partial disposal enables to speed up the growth of our portfolio-rotating assets, which releases additional resources to invest in new projects, and to play a full role as industrial group. And we remain responsible for the growth and the construction as well as for operations and maintenance to look ahead and think ahead to -- part of the value creation. When this has taken place, when we dispose of the assets to financial investors and to share with financial investors the risks of exposure to market prices after the period covered by the long-term purchase contracts. Now this model is not exclusive. We're putting it -- implementing it jointly with the people who can serve all of ENGIE's assets. We only can serve these assets in Brazil today, in Peru and in Chile, and, to some extent, some of our fleets in France. Now the choice of this one depends on the specific attributes of the market and the regulatory context. Now in this respect, all players of renewable energy sector use, to varying degrees, these 2 models. That said, we need to constantly question ourself regarding the advantages and the drawbacks of each of these 2 options where we have a toehold. And it's true, today, we're thinking in some geographical regions about the possible rebalancing, the relative weight of these 2 models towards a greater consolidation in our balance sheet. And that's subject to, I think, where the question wanted the challenges on this. So I think this question-and-answer session is now coming to end. And I would kindly invite you to go to the website to see the written answers to the question put to us. I hope these answers and the different speakers have met with your expectations, and this will enable you to better grasp what the business lines of the group are, the challenges that we are facing. And generally speaking -- and specifically, given the crisis that we're going through, as I announced in my message, individual message to shareholders sent out at the beginning of April, once the situation eases, and I'm better able to travel, I'd be very happy to meet you in Paris and Brussels. We have an important bases of -- investor base in Belgium, and it is important to exchange directly with you. And I hope we'll be capable next year to hold a more normal AGM under more classical conditions with the same physical attendance that we've been used to in the past. And it's very important to have contact with our shareholders, and it's a source of inspiration for the Board of Directors and senior management. So let's now move on to the last part of our Annual General Meeting, and we're going to present you the different results of the vote to the various resolutions. So I'm now going to give the floor to François or the Legal Affairs Director of the group.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm going to give the results of the vote for each resolution. First resolution, approval of the annual accounts for the year 2019, it was adopted. Second resolution, the approval of the consolidated accounts of the financial year 2019, resolution adopted. Third resolution, allocation of the results for 2019, resolution adopted. Fourth resolution approval, pursuant to Article 225-38 between -- a transactional draft agreement between the company and Madam Isabelle Kocher through the 24th of February 2020, adopted this resolution. Approval of the regulated agreements, already approved, and which took place during the prior year, adopted. Sixth resolution, renewal of the authorization to operate on the shares of the company. Resolution adopted. Sixth (sic) [ seventh ] resolution, renewal of the term of Mr. Fabrice Brégier. This resolution has been adopted. Eighth renewal of the term of Lord Ricketts of Shortlands as Board Director, resolution adopted. Renewal of the mandate for the court of orders, Ernst & Young and others This resolution was adopted. Eighth (sic) [ 10th ] resolution, renewal of the auditing mandate of Deloitte & Associés, adopted. 11th resolution, approval of the information regarding the remuneration of Board of Directors during -- paid during 2019 attributed during the same financial year, this resolution is adopted. 12th resolution, approval of the total remuneration and advantages in kind paid to Mr. Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, the Chairman of the Board, resolution adopted. 13th resolution approval of the total remuneration and advantages in kind paid to Mrs. Isabelle Kocher as Chief Executive, this resolution is adopted. 14th resolution, approval of the remuneration policy of the Board members, this resolution is adopted. 15th resolution, approval of the remuneration policy of the Chairman of the Board, resolution adopted. 16th resolution, approval of the remuneration policy of the Chief Executive Officer for the period from the 1st of January to the 24th of February, resolution adopted. Approval of the remuneration policy of the chief executive appointed on the 24th of February for a transition period the time to seek out, appoint a new chief executive, resolution adopted. 18th resolution approval, the remuneration policy of the chief executive officer, who will be appointed after the executive search person, resolution adopted. Now let's move on to the extraordinary part of this Annual General Meeting. The renewal of the authorization committed to the Board to issue securities whilst maintaining preferential subscription rights, resolution adopted. 20th resolution, renewal of the authority given to the Board members to issue securities with removal of the preferential subscription rights, this resolution is adopted. 21st resolution. Renewal of the authorization given to the Board to issue securities, the removal of the preferential subscription right as part of a private investment for qualifying investors or for limited circle investors outside public offerings, resolution adopted. Renewal of the authority given to the Board to increase the amount of increasing capital. This is a decree to outside public offering periods. So resolution adopted. 23rd resolution, renewal of the authorization given to the Board to issue ordinary shares or diverse securities as a form of remuneration, resolution adopted. 24th resolution, limiting the overall threshold of the delegations to increase capital in the immediately or in the longer term, resolution adopted. 25th resolution, delegation of the competence of the Board to decide upon the increase of equity capital, resolution adopted. 26th resolution, renewing the authorization of the Board to reduce the equity capital, resolution adopted. 27th resolution, delegating responsibility to the Board of Directors to decide upon the increase of the equity capital for the employees' share ownership scheme, resolution adopted. 28th resolution, delegating the competence of the Board to decide on any increase in capital for the international shareholdership of the group, resolution adopted. 29th resolution, amending Article 2 of the statutes to updating the reason for being or purpose of the company, resolution adopted. 30th resolution, introducing the reason for being or the sense of purpose of the company, Article 2 of the statutes, and this resolution is adopted. 31st resolution, statutory amendments to harmonize the statements with the current legislative and regulatory provisions in force, resolution adopted 32nd resolution, the powers for executing these resolutions of the Annual General Meeting and the formalities, this resolution is also adopted. So those were the votes of the resolution.

Thank you very much, Françoise. So you need a bit of -- to get your breath back for that, I think. So those are the results of the voting of the 32 resolutions, which means that all our resolutions are very unanimously adopted. We've got at least 80% was the approval for the departure conditions of Isabelle and about 78% of votes all put the reasons unknown for this. I'm -- I alluded to this earlier on. Some of our shareholders regretted that we incorporated into this agreement a noncompetition clause, which is not part of the remuneration policy. I think the Board of Directors felt that it was the right approach that it was well founded. It was in interest of the group. Now at this stage, I'd like to thank you very warmly for taking part, for listening, for the attentiveness to this Annual General Meeting. I know that more -- there are a lot of you following us today, and the recording of this Annual General Meeting will remain available on our website. And those of you who weren't able to follow it today, we'll be able to come back to it later. Should you so wish, I also would like to warmly thank Claire and Judith and Paulo and Françoise, who have been around the table with me today during this Annual General Meeting, but also all the teams responsible preparing this significant event of the life of our company, in particular, the secretary general and the division of communication. I'd like to thank my fellow Board members, in particular, the chair persons of the committees, who, during the selection of videos, that you saw contribute to explain the role and the modus operandis of the Board of Directors. I'd like to say let's meet at our AGM next year. Let's hope we meet in a more user-friendly format. Until then, I hope to come and meet you in person once the situation allows for it. I'd like to wish you all a very pleasant evening. And I know this is an expression you frequently here during this time. Please take care of yourselves, and take care of those -- your nearest and dearest. Thank you very much.