EDF / 2018 Reference document

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIETAL INFORMATION – HUMAN RESOURCES Other areas of the sustainable development policy

Water 3.3.2.2

In metropolitan France, EDF manages 7.5 billion cubic metres of water stored in its reservoirs (representing approximately 75% of the country's artificial reserves). At Group level, around 50 billion cubic metres of water (including sea water) are used for cooling thermal power facilities, of which 99% is returned virtually instantaneously to the natural environment. As such, EDF is a significant user, but negligible consumer, of water. Controlling the use and consumption of water The Group is committed to continuing to improve performance in terms of water withdrawal and consumption at existing power plants and to researching the most efficient way to use water across regions and major river basins. Exposure of the Group’s generation resources to water stress has been assessed and is managed. Most of the water withdrawal from its facilities is carried out in France 81% and the UK 17% in areas where there is no permanent water stress; the nuclear and thermal facilities are mainly established in coastal locations (and therefore do not use fresh water). Moreover, in situations where a specific, potential risk has been identified, suitable measures have been taken either during design or operation. Therefore, the Lunax reservoir was constructed from the outset upstream of the Golfech nuclear plant to prevent a possible shortage of water from the Garonne used for cooling in periods of serious drought. Accessibility to water for generation needs is therefore ensured even under special, or even extreme conditions. Particular attention is paid to water stress when screening any new project presented to the Group Executive Committee's Commitments Committee (CECEG). Worldwide, 67% of the water withdrawn for cooling purposes by the Group comes from marine or estuary environments, where resource availability is not an issue. This percentage is almost 60% in France, over 99% in the United Kingdom and close to 93% in Italy. Water withdrawals are stable (slightly lower) than in previous years and freshwater withdrawals are down by about 4% mainly due to the sharp drop in coal-fired generation.

Global demand for energy and water is increasing against a backdrop of climate change, which modifies the pattern of precipitation. The energy sector, from primary energy extraction to electricity generation, is entirely dependent on water. Water is a cooling source for thermal generation, and of course the raw material for hydropower generation. This raises the issue of sharing water between various uses, even if we recover a very large part of it. Beyond these quantitative aspects, water quality is also an issue identified in the materiality matrix as a major issue. This refers to the management of pollution and contamination risks that are likely to cause biological, physical and chemical changes (and to their effects on health) in land and aquatic environment. As a manager and major user of water, EDF must protect, manage and share water throughout the regions in which it operates by fully integrating the highly local dimension of water management. The EDF group has included “water” risk in its risk management policy. Each investment decision undergoes a detailed risk analysis, as well as advanced impact assessment studies. A resource for energy production 3.3.2.2.1 Water is a fundamental element in energy production. Water power is the raw material for hydropower generation. Water is also required for cooling thermal power plants and for the extraction and refinement of oil and gas products. Hydroelectricity, and therefore water, also plays an important role in electricity systems. Large dams and pumped-storage hydro-power plants provide storage capacity for water which can be quickly transformed into electrical power. As such, large reservoirs still serve as the only form of large-scale electricity storage today (14GW can be made available in around 10 minutes in France), which is indispensable during peak demand periods, for the development of intermittent renewable energy sources, and to cope with emergency situations in order to prevent blackouts. The “Storage Plan” launched by EDF in 2018 includes this technology with 2GW (out of the 6 planned) of new STEP by 2035 (mainly in France).

3.

WATER WITHDRAWN AND RETURNED BY THE GROUP

2018 47.2 15.4

2017 47.6 16.0

2016 47.4 16.2

(in billions of cubic metres) Cooling water withdrawn (1)

of which fresh water

of which brackish (or estuary) water

6.2

6.4

6.1

Cooling water returned of which fresh water

46.7 14.9

47.0 15.5

46.8 15.7

of which brackish (or estuary) water

6.2

6.4

6.1

Evaporated water (2)

0.50

0.54

0.54

Of which 38 billion cubic metres in France and 8 in the UK in 2018 (1) Water consumed, of which 0.48 in France and 0.01 in the UK in 2018 (2)

Please note that the quantity of freshwater sourced from groundwater is marginal, about 0.01% of the freshwater surface. France is witnessing a fall in the temperature sensitivity of its thermal plants as old coal- or oil-fired plants near rivers are shut down (such as the Aramon plant which was closed in 2016). New thermal power stations are now built by the sea (Martigues CCGT plant), or equipped with air cooling (Blénod 5 and industrial commissioning of the high performance Bouchain CCGT plant), which reduces their dependence on water. Almost 99% of water withdrawn is returned to the environment. In accordance with local intake and discharge regulations, the Group's companies take the necessary measures to comply with water quantity and quality requirements. They have implemented, in tandem with stakeholders, measures tailored to exceptional

weather conditions. EDF monitors the indicator parameters for the quality of the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems around the sites. The results of this monitoring are provided to local authorities and used in documents or other media available to the public. The volume of evaporated water in absolute terms (500hm 3 ) is down by almost 10%. The bulk of this volume is in France (96.3%) and in the United Kingdom (2.4%). Specific consumption of evaporated water per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated by the Group’s fossil fuel-fired, gas and nuclear power plants was 0.97l/kWh versus 1.03l/kWh in 2017 and 2016. The use of open circuits and the use of seawater in certain power plants means that these values are well below the current average for the sector: from 1.8 to 2.8 l/kWh according to the IAEA (1) .

Efficient water management in water cooled reactors, International Atomic Energy Agency, 2012. (1)

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I Reference Document 2018