Environmental sustainability

Environmental policy (last update: March 2017)

Managing environmental issues, combating climate change, protecting the environment and sustainable environmental development are strategic factors in carrying out and developing the Enel Group’s activities and decisive in consolidating its leadership in energy markets.
Since 1996 Enel has had an environmental policy which is based on four fundamental principles:

• protecting the environment by preventing impacts on it and pursuing the efficient use of natural resources; 
• improving and promoting the environmental and sustainable features of products and services;
• creating value for the company;
• satisfying systematically the legal obligations of compliance and voluntary signed commitments, going beyond mere legislative conformity; 

and pursues, with a viewpoint to the development of the “circular economy”, ten strategic objectives.

1. Applying to the entire organization internationally acknowledged Environmental Management Systems inspired by the principle of continuous improvement and defining environmental indicators to measure the environmental performance of the entire organization

• Annual maintenance of ISO 14001 certifications 
• Rationalization and simplification of certifications present in the various organizational areas; search for synergies and sharing of environmental management experiences under the ISO 14001 certification of the Enel Group 

2. Achieving the ideal insertion of industrial plant and buildings in the local area, while protecting biodiversity

• Projects to protect biodiversity (conservation of the habitats of protected species, reintroduction of particular species, collaboration with research centers and nature observers, replanting of indigenous flora) 
• Bio-monitoring (land, seas, rivers) 
• Gradual replacement of bare cables on electricity power lines with buried power lines to protect birds 
• Works to mitigate the visual impact of generation and distribution plant and mines 
• Development and update of a Group Plan for Biodiversity 

3. Reducing environmental impact by applying the best available technologies and best practice in the stages of plant design, construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning

• Assessment of the environmental impact from the construction of plant or significant changes 
• Identification, assessment and sustainable use of BAT (Best Available Technologies) 
• Protection and monitoring of the quality of surface water, soil and subsoil in areas around the plants 
• Identification and development best practices inside and outside the Group and promotion of their application throughout the Group

4. Leadership in renewable sources and in low-emission electricity generation and efficient use of energy and water resources and raw materials

• Gradual expansion of plant for generation from renewable sources 
• Improvement of the efficiency of generation plant (use of higher yield components and/or processes, reduction in the consumption of auxiliary services)
• Reduction in grid losses associated with electricity distribution (optimal grid design, use of larger diameter cables and electric components with lower level of losses) 
• Mapping and monitoring of all generation plant in order to identify possible water stress and intervene, where necessary, through more efficient water resource management Optimization of in-house recycling of water for industrial use 
• Creation of value and reuse of process waste and residues, including ash and gypsum from coal and lignite as raw materials in other production processes, in conformity with the national context and the related legislation
• Interventions to promote energy efficiency and application of innovative technologies and digitalization (both inside the Group and for end users) 

5. Optimal waste and effluents management

• Reduction in waste production and increase in the percentage of its recovery and reuse 
• Improvement in water quality and optimization of its internal reuse
• Qualified selection of suppliers for waste transport, recovery or disposal services and use of IT systems to trace the waste 

6. Development of innovative technologies for the environment 

• Systems to increase efficiency and limit emissions 
• Smart grids 
• Innovative renewables 
• Multigeneration systems and storage systems 
• Electric transport

7. Communication to citizens, institutions and other internal and external stakeholders regarding the company’s environmental management and results

• Publication of the Sustainability Report and open data access to the Group’s main environmental parameters 
• Communication with analysts and participation in various sustainability indices 
• Initiatives to open plant to the public 
• Websites and intranet disseminating environmental initiatives 

8. Training and raising awareness of employees on environmental issues and laws also through the support of company media

• Periodic training on environmental issues 
• Intranet with analyses of issues 

9. Promotion of sustainable environmental practices at suppliers, contractors and customers 

• Use of qualification criteria for suppliers and contractors and their subsequent assessment based on environmental performance of the activities carried out 
• Information-giving meeting on significant environmental aspects in the work start stage through the transmission of the environmental policy and explanation of the means of managing impacts produced by the activities undertaken (waste, emissions, discharges, etc.)
• Promotion and awareness-raising on the issues of sustainability and the circular economy throughout the supply chain 

10. Satisfying legal compliance obligations and voluntary commitments Each company, within its scope, must: 

• Guarantee that operations are carried out in compliance with legal obligations and voluntary commitments 
• Assess the fulfillment of obligations and commitments entered into 
• Correct any cases of non-compliance in regard to the obligations and voluntary commitments entered into 

The Group policy is a guideline document, the implementation of which is entrusted to the various Group companies, on the basis of their specific activities.