EDF / 2018 Reference document

3.

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

2018 0.97

2017 1.03

2016 1.03

(in l/kWh)

Water consumed/thermal generation

In some cases, the supply of part of the water from the heated cooling circuit of certain nuclear power plants for different uses (agricultural, industrial, etc.) is authorised within the framework of specific regulatory requirements. Desalinating water A desalination unit was installed on the Flamanville 3 EPR site in 2016 to complete the means of producing demineralised water for the process as well as for the other tranches. In southern Corsica, EDF has designed the cold water source for a thermal power plant by installing a sea water inlet, which reduces the consumption of fresh water significantly. In Guadeloupe, the TAC power plant in Jarry Sud also has a sea water desalination facility, which has made it possible to stop using tap water and save around 50,000m 3 of fresh water per year. Since the end of 2016, Edison has had one CCG plant (Simeri Crichi) in Italy with sea water desalination systems to replace freshwater withdrawals. Innovating for sustainable water use The new Group SD policy includes a water requirement: “Managing water in an integrated, inclusive and sustainable manner” and results in a specific indicator: “Each energy generation site shall plan, evaluate and report the sustainability of its water use using an internal EDF method (pending a recognised international method)”. Since existing methodologies for calculating a water footprint are not relevant to the energy sector, as part of the World Water Forum, the EDF group led (1) an international project to develop terminology and a methodological framework adapted to the energy sector. Afterwards, to meet its own requirements, the Group mobilised a working group so as to propose a range of indicators on the sustainability of water uses to feed the dialogue with local stakeholders. These indicators, can, depending on the context, reflect the relation to water of a development level or a set of developments in a river basin. Governance and water sharing 3.3.2.2.2 The optimisation of water used in EDF’s generation activities is vital to ensure management of water resources and, in particular, to honour the group's commitment to guarantee multi-purpose water resources (drinking water, water for irrigation, tourism, etc.) and the needs of local authorities. overnance Wherever it is present, EDF is part of a water management system for each river basin. In France, EDF is represented at meetings of each of the river basin authorities (the Water Agencies’ Reservoir Committees) by the UFE. EDF's actions are fully in line with the new master plans for water development and management (SDAGEs) for the 2016-2021 period. The water activity within the Group is coordinated for each basin by a Basin Coordinating Delegate and at the national level via a specific inter-business function (EDF's Water Coordination), set-up officially in 2007 following several intense weather events. It is led by Group Senior Executive Vice-President, Renewable Energies (member of the Executive Committee). The operational management of water is ensured at the national level by the Water Management Group (GGE) responsible for ensuring the regular, weekly or daily monitoring, if necessary, of water stocks in order to coordinate various production constraints and the management of the multiple uses of water. Water management and sharing 2018 was an unusual year in France, alternating hydro-meteorological extremes. The first half of the year was very wet, leading to exceptional snow cover on all the mountain ranges and strong generalised hydraulicity over the first half (one of the strongest hydropower generation periods in 40 years). A drastic change in weather conditions then occurred with the advent of weather that became dry and very hot during the summer, and even more so in the early fall, with a strong heat wave in the middle of summer but lower in intensity and lasting over a shorter period than those of 2003 and 2006. This deterioration led to severely low water levels in many streams and rivers in the fall, with a return period of 5 to 10 years on the Meuse, Vienne and a large part of the Massif Central, 10 to 20 years on the Jura-Saône region and over 20 years on the Rhone downstream of Lyon, and on the Moselle and the Rhine.

By integrating renewable energy generation that does not consume any water, the specific ratio can even be reduced to 0.86l/kWh. Taking account of expected changes in the fleet, overall freshwater withdrawals and consumption at Group level will decrease in future years. Optimising water usage Thermal power plants use water as a cold source to optimise their output. The EDF group works in a number of ways to optimise its water usage and to reduce pressure on the environment: research into the most efficient way to use water across regions and major river ■ basins; reducing water consumption by choosing cooling systems adapted to the ■ geographical area and the water resources available on site: open circuit cooling (case of large rivers): major withdrawal of 150 to ■ 180l/kWh, return to the river and negligible water consumption (close to 0.1 to 0.7l/kWh), closed circuit cooling due to less abundant water resources: lower water ■ withdrawal (6 to 8l/kWh) than an open circuit but with higher water consumption through evaporation via an air cooling tower (2 to 3l/kWh), cooling via dry air cooling systems. Cooling now uses air instead of water ■ (with deteriorated efficiency of the facility). In French overseas departments, where EDF is investing in new thermal power stations, R&D teams have designed dry air cooling systems for engine cooling, which reduce water withdrawal by 700,000 cubic metres per year per power plant. Now, EDF PEI’s power plants are no longer cooled with saltwater, limiting withdrawals of freshwater by recycling the water as part of the ■ process or by desalinating sea water. Examples of water consumption reduction and withdrawal limitation measures At Framatome, a programme to detect and repair leaks in its drinking water systems has been launched and is being staggered over several years. In Belgium, EDF Luminus changed the cooling system of its Seraing CCG power plant in October 2018 by replacing the cooling system with a cooling tower. This action will lead to a decrease in the withdrawal of water from the river, and also to a significant reduction in water taxes paid for this plant. In China, the implementation of a new river water intake (Yellow River water station) for the Shiheng thermal power plant reduced the consumption of water previously pumped from the water table by 11hm 3 per year. In France, EDF reduced its consumption of drinking water across its entire real estate portfolio and in its green spaces by c.5% per year until 2017. Reuse and recycle water The recycling of process and cooling water is growing throughout the Group, where appropriate. In China, the Ultra-supercritical power plant of Fuzhou reuses all its process water sequentially and depending on the quality of water (from cooling to watering ash to gardens). In Dalkia's large biomass combustion facilities, process wastewater is used to cool bottom ash to limit the volume of liquid effluent to be treated. In Brazil, the EDF thermal power plant, Norte Fluminense, installed a system for the recovery and use of rainwater a few years ago, enabling it to reduce its annual withdrawals from rivers by 2%. In France, EDF’s thermal power plants in Cordemais and Martigues recover rainwater or recycle their effluents so as to reduce their consumption of tap water, resulting in a saving of 150,000 cubic metres of water out of the 300,000 cubic metres previously consumed. In Guadeloupe, rainwater recovery tanks were installed to reduce water withdrawals. The new R&D centre in Saclay uses rainwater recovery to supply 50% of toilet water.

Between 2012 and 2015. (1)

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EDF I Reference Document 2018