How is GETEC
Growing with the challenges?

© Patrick Desbrosses

Pierre-Alain Graf, YOU BECAME CEO OF GETEC THIS YEAR AND HAVE BEEN ABLE TO VIEW THE STATUS QUO WITH A FRESH PAIR OF EYES. HOW IS OUR COMPANY PERFORMING WHEN IT COMES TO SUSTAINABILITY?

This year, we took a large step toward fulfilling our sustainability ambitions. One way this is demonstrated is that we now report in line with a number of different standards, not just one. We achieved this by improving the way we record data. We also delivered convincing results in our industrial operations. The intensity of our carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions has declined since last year, an indication that we are consistently pursuing our role as a leading decarbonizer of society.

THE MOTTO OF THIS YEAR’S REPORT IS “IMPACT CHALLENGE.” COULD YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN WHAT YOU MEAN BY THIS?

I’ve got two perspectives. Viewed from the bird’s eye perspective, there is a green world and an industrial world that have traditionally existed alongside each other. Regulatory and social changes mean that these two worlds must now merge. All of a sudden, all stakeholders are realizing that this really isn’t that easy. I cannot simply superimpose the green world onto the industrial world – or vice versa. We therefore need time to harmonize both systems. Viewed from the close-up perspective, these challenges are currently very evident from the example of fuels. There is a need for change here. We are looking to introduce many new and more sustainable fuels, but it won’t happen overnight. It is understandable that many people are eager to go green. Equally understandable is GETEC’s clear ambition – also on behalf of our customers – to work as fast as possible to achieve the energy transition in our sphere of influence. However, we need to keep our sense of reality and have the time for implementation. We need to familiarize ourselves with the latest technologies and fuels and test them out. And that is what we are doing. For example, we are active in the field of hydrogen, where we are seeking to identify the solutions that work for our industrial plants. An increasingly relevant issue is how we use the waste heat from industrial processes. Here, industry needs to look toward uses in real estate and districts. That is the GETEC way: working quickly and pragmatically to find and implement one solution after the other.

AND WHAT CHALLENGES ARE CURRENTLY AT THE TOP OF YOUR AGENDA?

As already mentioned, the first challenge is deciding which fuels to use when and where. The second is deploying more efficient and environmentally friendly technologies whenever we build new plants. This would enable us to cut CO2 emissions massively and save money. And the third challenge is learning to think in terms of ever-growing value chains. One example: We are responsible for supplying heat and steam to real estate customers. Yet wouldn’t it also make sense for us to think about the building shell as well? Surely avoiding heat consumption is just as smart as efficient energy production. We now aim to address this challenge specifically and are thinking about how to implement this approach for our customers.

WHAT CHALLENGES ARE YOU EXPECTING IN THE YEARS AHEAD?

We have recently been feeling the shock effects resulting from various megatrends such as political ecology and global networking as well as from geopolitical crises. I believe we need to be prepared for further disruptive developments on the markets. Unfortunately, it is hard to predict shocks like these. For us, this means creating a more autonomous organization – something our industrial customers agree with. In this way, we will be in a better position to deal with these challenges. One of the ways I can achieve this autonomy is by deploying new and sustainable technologies. We are also preparing ourselves for more “regulatory unrest.” It isn’t always pleasant when the political agenda changes so dramatically. I’ll be perfectly honest when I say that we’ve sometimes suffered both organizationally and financially from rapid political decision-making. However, we have to accept this new reality and deal with it pragmatically. Generally speaking, what might have seemed crazy yesterday will be perfectly normal tomorrow. And I also mean that in a positive way. For example, we are hoping that we will soon see a breakthrough for hydrogen as well. We are therefore taking a positive approach to crazy things so that we can identify trends and deploy them in industrial applications. After all, what GETEC does and what has always set us apart is our flexibility for our customers.