Interview

"Our distinct contribution is integration at scale: connecting clean generation, flexibility, networks and customers."

We interviewed Miya Paolucci,CEO of ENGIE UK and ExCom Member of Energy Management, who brings over 20 years of experience in the energy industry across multiple geographies. She shared her insights on ENGIE's role in the UK's energy transition, the landmark acquisition of UK Power Networks, and how operating across France, Romania and the UK has shaped her pragmatic, integration-first vision for a reliable and affordable net zero future.

1. You’ve led energy businesses across France, Romania and now the UK — three very different markets. How have those experiences shaped your vision as CEO of ENGIE UK?

Energy is always strategic. Across France, Romania and the UK, the same three objectives apply: security of supply, affordability and decarbonisation. What differs is the starting point: each country’s resources, infrastructure and market design.

That experience shaped a pragmatic conviction: there is no single model. The right energy mix must reflect local realities, and success depends on consistency in policy and visibility to attract investments. It also reinforced something very European: cooperation makes us stronger, through shared infrastructures and integrated markets.

2.France is betting on nuclear, the UK on offshore wind and grid investment. As a senior leader in a Group operating in both markets, can you explain how ENGIE is supporting each government’s net zero ambitions, and where could they learn from each other?

ENGIE is a private company, but we are proud to be a utility in its purest sense: providing an essential service and being useful to society. Our ambition is to be the best energy transition utility. We believe the transition must be reliable and affordable; projects that do not make sense economically or socially will not endure.

Both France and the UK have legally binding net zero targets for 2050, with different pathways. Nuclear remains important in France indeed, but the latest energy roadmap also scales renewables, electrification and low carbon molecules such as biomethane and hydrogen. The UK relies more on offshore and onshore renewables, flexibility, some nuclear and other firm low carbon power. Electrification is central in both, which is why grids matter.

Operating in both markets, we see the same lesson: a balanced transition works best. Electrification must accelerate, alongside the decarbonisation of molecules for hard-to-abate sectors, that cannot electrify quickly.

In the UK, that balance is tangible in our diversified portfolio: renewables (onshore and offshore wind), long-duration and grid-scale flexibility via pumped storage hydro and batteries, biomethane, gas storage and future hydrogen storage, and supply of gas and power to 17,000 business customers - all optimised by our expert energy management teams. And now, with the addition of UK Power Networks, we are further strengthening this model! 

3. The acquisition of UK Power Networks makes the UK your second largest market overnight. How does this fit ENGIE’s strategy, and what’s the real scale of investment required to make that network fit for a net zero grid?

UK Power Networks is an electricity distribution network operator, owning and operating the local cables and substations delivering power across London, the South East and the East of England. It distributes around 71 TWh each year to 8.5 million customers through a 192,000 km network, much of it underground, and is widely recognised as best in class for safety, customer service and innovation.

The acquisition fits our strategy on two fronts. Electrification is the growth engine of the energy transition, and networks are its backbone. At the same time, the UK offers a stable and mature regulatory framework, enabling predictable long-term revenues.

For the current regulatory period 2023-2028, around £22bn of investment is planned across all UK DNOs. Beyond 2028, electrification will require an even greater step change: reinforcing assets, digitising and automating operations, and accelerating connections for renewables, EVs and heat.

4. From Ukraine to the Middle East, energy and geopolitics are increasingly entangled. How is ENGIE navigating that uncertainty, and has it changed your thinking about the long -term role of gas in your UK portfolio?

Energy and geopolitics have always been linked, but recent shocks have sharpened the focus on security and resilience.

For ENGIE, navigating uncertainty means disciplined risk management, diversification and operational resilience. Our energy management teams hedge and optimise exposures, while our operators prioritise safety and continuity of supply.

In the UK, gas still plays a visible role because it often sits at the margin of the power system, influencing wholesale electricity prices. Even as the share of gas fired generation has fallen, gas still sets GB electricity prices around 70% of the time.

This has not changed our UK strategy. If anything, it confirms it: build more locally produced clean electricity supported by flexibility, electrify demand, invest in the networks that enable it, and scale homegrown low carbon molecules such as biomethane, backed by appropriate storage.

5. Given your unique combination of offshore wind, grid ownership, pumped hydro and storage, what is the one contribution that will be distinctly ENGIE’s in shaping the UK’s energy future?

Our distinct contribution is integration at scale: connecting clean generation, flexibility, networks and customers.

A clear example is long duration flexibility in Wales. Through First Hydro, we are the majority owner of Dinorwig (1.8 GW) and Ffestiniog (360 MW) plants, representing around 74% of the UK’s pumped storage capacity. We have an investment programme of up to £1bn to extend their life for decades and have recently committed £300m to refurbish the first two units at Dinorwig. Combined with our renewables pipeline and our role in power networks, this is how we turn clean megawatts into reliable, affordable energy for households and businesses.

ENGIE is a global energy transition utility strongly committed to delivering reliable, affordable and low-carbon energy. ENGIE develops tomorrow's energy infrastructure: innovative, responsible & value-creating solutions benefitting its customers, businesses, the regions where it operates and the planet.