121
Good Practice
Environment
Global Compact International Yearbook 2013
Furthermore, the EDF Group will pursue
the work started with the preparation
of the 6th World Water Forum on the
linkages between water, energy, and
food, in particular with the Consortium
of International Agricultural Research
Centers and International Wetlands, who
decided to join this last commitment
by pursuing the works on the nexus
between water, energy, and food.
Water valuation to optimize water use in the Durance Valley, France
EDF used water valuation to help the decision-making process for optimal water
management in the watershed along the 250 km Durance River, in southeast
France, with respect to competing multi-purpose uses of water. These include
agriculture, tourism (fishing, swimming, sailing, etc.), hydropower, drinking water,
and flood control. The overall aim was to optimize water allocation between energy
generation and irrigation and to develop appropriate incentives for water savings in
order to restore financial margins, and to answer future water demand from other
users. The value used for water was the energy cost (€/ kWh), based on current
and future prices in France, linked to energy productivity (m
3
 /
kWh) and the volume
of water used (m
3
)
by the hydropower plant. The main business argument for the
valuation study was to clearly demonstrate the benefits of optimizing water uses
for each party and to define the level of remuneration for this savings. The ap-
proach adopted was to implement a Water Saving Convention, signed by EDF and
the two main irrigators, for a six-year period with the possibility to adjust it if it
achieved better results than expected. To balance these efforts, EDF has made a
commitment to remunerate the partners for their savings. The deal was so effec-
tive that a first additional agreement was signed in 2003 and a second one in 2006
to increase the savings target from 44 to 65 and then to 90 million cubic meters –
showing a decrease in agricultural consumption from 310 million cubic meters
in 1997 to 201 million cubic meters in 2005. The results showed that, in addition
to the volume of water saved, a key benefit was the timing of the water savings
because the saved water could be used to generate more electricity during peak
periods of electricity demand when electricity prices are higher. Both parties come
out ahead, with a third winner being ecosystems, as around 84 percent of the water
savings are used for ecological purposes.
UTE Norte Fluminense: Keeping the planet blue
In Brazil, UTE Norte Fluminense (EDF 90%) has put in place a full program to
reduce the use of water in its Macaé CCGT power station, in Rio State. The project
started three years ago with the identification and reduction of all leaks and the
reduction of purges. This first stage also involved ensuring employees were aware
and involved. The results were impressive: a 30 percent reduction in water use.
In 2011 the station management went further and launched the construction of a
rainwater capture system, which allowed them to reduce by a further 5 percent
the water extracted from the Macaé River (100,000 - 150,000 m
3
of rainwater is
collected per year). Raising the bar further, 2012 saw the launch of a program to
collect all processed water in order to re-inject it into the plant’s water circuits.
The aim is to reduce water consumption by a further 15 percent. These large
investments (€3.8 million), with a payback over 18 years, would not have seen
the light of day without the support of the Board of Directors. But there were also
indirect benefits: employees who are even more proud of their power station, sub-
contractors who are more involved, and local groups and NGOs who are on board
with a thermal power plant whose operation is focused on respecting the environ-
ment. At the same time, UTE is collaborating with a university in Rio on research
into reducing water evaporation from cooling towers, which represents 80 percent
of water extractions from the river.
Corporate Responsibility –
EDF Group is engaged in preserving water
resources in all its activities
(
publication, starting in 2015, of the water footprint at Group level)