SCH2017_DRF_EN_Livre.indb

2 Sustainable development

Schneider Electric, an eco-citizen company

Collective electrification: Schneider Electric originally developed Villaya Villasol, a micro solar power plant dedicated to the electrification of remote villages to meet collective needs, both domestic and entrepreneurial. In 2012, its range was extended with Villaya Villasmart, a micro hybrid power plant for optimized management of an energy source derived from an engine-generator through a combination of photovoltaic cells. The Group’s facility in Africa and in Asia has boosted our production and assembly capacity to develop customized decentralized rural electrification solutions closer to our customers and partners. More recently, the semi-standardized Villaya Microgrid offer brings modular, pre-wired and pre-tested bricks that adapt to all types of energy needs. The collaborative MiCROSOL research project, which began in November 2011, aimed to develop a unique and modular standard technology for the simultaneous production of electricity, potable water and heat, primarily for the benefit of micro-industries located in rural areas in countries with strong sunlight and direct radiation, with Africa as the top priority. The project, led by Schneider Electric, brought together 9 public and industrial partners and is supported by ADEME. Based on solar thermal technology, this type of micro power plant has the advantage of being environmentally friendly. In November 2013, the MiCROSOL project consortium opened the CEA (Atomic Energy Center) in Cadarache, the demonstrator of its energy access solution. In September 2016, Schneider Electric signed a contract with the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) Commission and the African Biofuel and Renewable Energy Company (ABREC), the African renewable energy hub. The Villaya Agri-Business solar micro-power solution, inspired by the MiCROSOL project, has been selected for the supply of 8 solar micro-units in the 8 member states of the WAEMU. The aim is to test the use of a “multi-energy” unit, providing heat and electricity, to operate equipment used in irrigation, fish farming, and the transformation and preservation of agricultural crops. Through this initiative, the 3 partners hope to gradually give 100,000 people access to the energy needed for irrigation, lighting, fish farming, agricultural transformation and the supply of drinking water, without emitting CO 2 . Community energy services: The development of energy services helps bring added value to the users in a community. The Villaya Water solution, launched in 2012, is an automatic solar water pumping system designed to provide water at a reasonable price to people with limited or no access to electricity. It uses an advanced ATV312 Solar variable speed drive to regulate the speed of a three-phase motor depending on the energy supplied by the solar panels. Adaptable to all types of pumps, surface or submerged, using the Villaya Water solution ensures greater system reliability, simplified plumbing and reduced maintenance. Between 2012 and 2016, several solutions were installed in India as well as in several African countries as part of collective electrification projects. Villaya Lighting solutions have been marketed since 2014 to provide public lighting with standalone LEDs in isolated locations. Based on an intelligent energy management system, the streetlights guarantee uninterrupted lighting, even in cases of low levels of sunlight. Their Plug and Play design with resistant NiMH batteries is particularly suited to the tropical environment and can withstand high temperatures.

These integrated street lighting solutions boost personal safety and support social and economic activities. Training offering: For Schneider Electric, professionals must be supported by training in energy management from educational institutions through to vocational and continuing education worldwide. In partnership with the Access to Energy Training & Entrepreneurship teams, an affordable range of Access to Energy Education teaching models and teaching tools has been developed to meet the needs of training organizations, particularly in emerging countries. The training offering covers the management of high and low voltage electrical distribution, building management, global energy management and process and machine management. Last mile distribution: Our past experiences have shown that large-scale distribution of solar products in rural areas is limited by 3 factors: product availability, cost, and end-user awareness. Individual and residential products are deployed through our distribution networks, subsidiaries, and a number of NGOs and businesses in the sector of developing access to electricity. This new system is available practically everywhere in the world. Partnerships have been set up with local institutions and organizations to optimize deployment of the product and to target the poorest communities. In 2015, Schneider Electric worked in collaboration with La Poste du Bénin (Benin postal service) to retail the Mobiya TS120S and then TS170S portable lamp through over a hundred post offices while benefiting from a microcredit to facilitate acquisition and allow a refund adapted to the payment capabilities of end users. This partnership was part of the Poste Verte (Green Post Office) initiative aimed at bringing essential energy, health, transport and Internet services to Benin and Togo in an initial phase, before rolling the initiative out to all of West Africa. Since 2013, Schneider Electric has partnered with PAMIGA and the microfinance institutions members of their network to deploy a microfinance offer for the acquisition of individual and domestic solar systems such as Mobiya TS170S and Mobiya SHS. The two structures have teamed up with actors in the distribution sector, such as SOREPCO in Cameroon. His knowledge of local habits and communities has led to the development of a network of local resellers as well as a marketing and communication campaign that should increase the distribution of our 2 products. Schneider Electric has trained nearly 150 “Energy Entrepreneurs” who have enabled the distribution of several thousand products in 2017. Micro-entrepreneurship: In India, Schneider Electric deploys an energy service sales model through the creation of a network of battery-charging entrepreneurs for the low-consumption lighting system In-Diya. In 2012, the network of more than 120 selected volunteer entrepreneurs at the start of a basic electrician training program offered this rental service to more than 1,000 households. In 2013, the project partnered with Indian associations focused on the “Village Level Entrepreneurs” model to allow its entrepreneurs to add a solar product distribution service to improve their income. The program guarantees them a logistics network necessary for their activity and provides them with technical and entrepreneurial training throughout the subcontinent. Based on this success, in 2014, Schneider Electric partnered with Golden Key Company (GKC) in Myanmar to form “Village Electrification Consultants”, which establish Ensure that the sustainable economic models are adapted to local contexts

2017 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC

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