Long-standing partners TotalEnergies and Veolia have signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance cooperation in several key areas related to energy transition and the circular economy, in line with their respective strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water footprint. This collaboration will benefit the entire industry by scaling up innovative processes and advancing research into future-oriented challenges.
The two companies will pool their industrial competencies: Veolia will contribute its expertise in water resource management and the recovery of resources from new waste streams, while TotalEnergies will provide its expertise in measuring and reducing methane emissions and producing and supplying low-carbon energies.
Reducing Methane Emissions from Landfills
Veolia is studying the deployment of TotalEnergies’ AUSEA, a pioneering technology that uses drones to measure methane emissions, to conduct measurement campaigns at its landfills. Initial tests at sites have demonstrated the technology’s ability to provide reliable and replicable measurements, detect leaks, and identify areas with the highest emissions, adding a powerful and rapid solution for reducing emissions to Veolia’s existing arsenal.
This deployment will contribute to Veolia’s strategy of maximizing the capture of methane emissions in landfills, with a target of 80% capture by 2032, while also using the innovative technology beyond the oil and gas industry.
Reducing the Industrial Sector’s Water Footprint
Veolia will support TotalEnergies in implementing its ambition to reduce freshwater withdrawals by 20% by 2030 compared to 2021 at sites located in areas of water stress, and to improve discharge quality.
Just a few weeks after signing a major agreement between Veolia and SATORP (co-owned by Saudi Aramco and TotalEnergies) in Saudi Arabia, the two companies will work to develop wastewater reuse projects at TotalEnergies sites, reuse municipal wastewater for the company’s industrial processes, and deploy Veolia technologies to improve water treatment.
Making Desalination More Sustainable with Low-Carbon Energy
TotalEnergies will support Veolia in accelerating the deployment of low-carbon energy solutions at desalination plants built or operated by Veolia. The partners have already jointly built the largest solar power plant for a seawater desalination facility in Oman.
This project reflects Veolia’s ambition to double its desalination capacity by 2030, while continuing to reduce the energy footprint of a technology that already uses ten times less energy than before.
Recovering Strategic Resources from Waste
Finally, Veolia and TotalEnergies will also pool their research and innovation capabilities to explore the industrialization of new processes for recovering strategic chemical elements contained in waste that remain under-utilized, such as rare earths found in the permanent magnets used in wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, and batteries.
“I am very pleased with the agreement signed today with TotalEnergies: by combining our expertise, whether in sustainable water management, the circular economy, or the reduction of methane emissions, we are putting our innovation capabilities at the service of ecological transformation and the competitiveness of our industries,” commented Estelle Brachlianoff, Veolia’s Chief Executive Officer.
“We are delighted with this partnership with Veolia. TotalEnergies has cutting-edge solutions and technologies to offer Veolia and vice versa. Together, we can make a concrete contribution to the energy transition and the circular economy. We are convinced that cooperations like those we are developing with Veolia are very useful to make tangible progress and sustainably limit the environmental footprint of our companies,” said Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies.
Source: TotalEnergies
