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Meet Ameko Zhang, Power & Gas Trader, ENGIE Global Energy Management & Sales

Women In Sustainability

Creating A Greener World

Driven by her goals to make the world a better place, Ameko Zhang works in ENGIE as a Power & Gas Trader, often has to look at government policies and at lobbying pitches about how energy is going to be fine-tuned for a greener future.

“Alongside my job, trading power means that I look at all the underlying fuel as well as the actual impact when it comes to health, the economy, and energy quantity when it comes to current business activity.”

In 2020, Ameko was part of the ENGIE trading team that made the first trade with Tohoku EPCO Energy Trading Co., Inc on European Energy Exchange’s (EEX) Japanese Power Futures.

It was a significant moment for her as this first trade contributes to ENGIE commitment to bringing liquidity to all energy markets.

Growth In The Workplace And Beyond

Compared to day one, Ameko feels like she has gained confidence, gotten closer to her goals, and grown professionally.

“I get a lot of freedom to work in my own style and make decisions,” she says. “Previously, my goal has always been to become a cross-commodity trader, and in my past job experiences I’ve always been doing either gas or power, but never the two combined.”

Ameko believes that her role in ENGIE enables her to fully tap into her expertise to do both gas and power trading concurrently, empowering her to take the necessary steps to get closer to what she wants to achieve.

She goes on to explain that ENGIE’s management gives the staff full responsibility to take initiative and do things the way they feel is best to reach their goals.

When staff hit a certain milestone or achieve some success, there is recognition from the top management and they are highlighted during platform meetings.

It’s very encouraging to see the team celebrate these successes,” she adds. “I thoroughly enjoy my time at the desk and trading around the positions or communicating with my colleagues.

Towards Greater Sustainability

To Ameko, sustainability means having the responsibility to make the right choices, even if it means sacrificing some immediate benefits in order to fulfill a long-term goal.

Throughout her career, she has constantly chosen sustainability over short-term profitably. Despite having to spend late nights at a power scheduling desk when she was working as an analyst, she put in the work in order to eventually become a trader and get to where she is today.

Sustainability is super important to me and I would like to get more involved in the energy aspect of the foreign discussion market feedback on a larger scale,” she shares. “I hope to be able to have a voice from a market participant’s point of view to the actual policymaker and bring my impact to the wider community.

Making Progress Towards Equality

Apart from sustainability, gender equality is something Ameko holds close to her heart.

Beyond the workplace, she hopes to see society take the necessary steps to move forward and embrace equality.

“I’ve always been a supporter of men taking paternity leave,” she reveals. “When employers look through the lens of maternity leave, hiring a woman seems like a burden at face value.”

She explains that enabling men to have the same amount of paternity leave as women would reduce gender bias, especially during the hiring process.