EDF_REGISTRATION_DOCUMENT_2017

3.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIETAL INFORMATION − HUMAN RESOURCES Optimising the use of natural resources and preserving the environment

Worldwide, 66% of the water withdrawn for cooling purposes by the Group comes from marine or estuary environments, where resource availability is not an issue.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 rises to almost 59% in France, over 99% in the United Kingdom and close to 92% in Italy.

This data on water abstraction is down by 4%, notably due to a reduction in nuclear thermal generation in France and the increase in generation from combined-cycle gas turbine power plants. Taking account of expected changes in the fleet, freshwater withdrawals and consumption, which were stable, will decrease in future years.

WATER WITHDRAWN AND RETURNED BY THE GROUP (in billions of cubic metres)

2017 47.6 16.0

2016 47.4 16.2

2015 49.3 18.3

Cooling water withdrawn

of which fresh water

of which brackish (or estuary) water

6.4

6.1

5.2

Cooling water returned of which fresh water

47.0 15.5

46.8 15.7

48.7 17.8

of which brackish (or estuary) water

6.4

6.1

5.2

Evaporated water (1) Water consumed. (1)

0.54

0.54

0.60

Please note that the quantity of freshwater sourced from groundwater is marginal, about 0.004% of the freshwater is obtained from the 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Almost 99% of water withdrawn is returned to the environment.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 discharge regulations, the Group’s companies take the necessary measures to comply with water quality and temperature requirements, and take immediate corrective action in the event of non-compliance. Specific consumption of evaporated water per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated by the Group’s fossil fuel-fired, gas and nuclear power plants is 1.03 l/kWh. The use of open circuits and the use of seawater in certain power plants means that these values are well below the average for the sector, as shown in the scientific literature, from 1.8 to 2.8 l/kWh according to the IAEA (1) .

2017 1.03

2016 1.03

2015 1.06

(in l/kWh)

Water consumed/thermal generation

By integrating renewable energy generation that does not consume any water, the specific ratio can even be reduced to 0.94 l/kWh. In terms of water quality, EDF reviews the results of the monitoring of various parameters concerning water on a monthly basis. This is done by EDF laboratories, all accredited by the ASN, specialising in the environment surrounding nuclear power plants. Each of them is able to stop the discharge or pumping of water at their own plant. Examples of water consumption reduction and withdrawal limitation measures 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 with cooling systems adapted to the geographical ■ area and the water resources available on site: thermal power plants with open circuit cooling: withdrawal of 150 to ■ 180 l/kWh and negligible water consumption (close to 0.1 l/kWh); thermal power plants with closed circuit cooling due to less abundant ■ water resources: lower water withdrawal (6 to 8 l/kWh) than an open circuit but with higher water consumption through evaporation via an air cooling tower (2 to 3 l/kWh); thermal power plants with cooling via dry air cooling systems with air ■ instead of water (leading to 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 (equivalent to the annual water consumption of a town

with approx. 10,000 inhabitants). 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; the contribution of research programmes, in-house R&D in particular. ■ In Belgium, EDF Luminus has modified the operating instructions for Seraing’s auxiliary water pumps during a certain period of the year (from April to October during the non-strategic reserve period) from 24/7 to 2x1h/day. This action led to a 90% decrease in the consumption of water from the river in 2017 and also a significant reduction in water taxes paid for this plant. The installation of a “chilled water” unit to cool the compressors of two climatic chambers on EDF’s TEGG site was tested in 2017. Previously, these climatic chambers were cooled by a filtered water network consuming about 100 m 3 /day. During the hot summer months of July 2017, the chilled water unit, commissioned in April 2017, saved 3,000 m 3 of water. 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 11m 3 per year. In France, EDF is committed to reducing its consumption of drinking water across its entire real estate portfolio and in its green spaces by 5% per year until 2020 for its 137 sites operating with automatic remote-read meters. Specific measures have been implemented and even if the volumes are much lower than those of the generation facilities, it shows our will, at all levels of the Company are contributing to the preservation of this essential resource. In 2017, the -5% reduction target was achieved and actually exceeded with a saving of 6% compared to 2016. Remote measurement was the main reason why the target was achieved in 2017, since it enabled action to be taken earlier on any leaks detected, leading to a significant reduction in consumption.

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

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EDF I Reference Document 2017