Universal Registration Document 2020

3.2.1.2vReducing the activities’ contribution to major pressure factors

Pressures on biodiversity are closely monitored. Most of these pressures are strictly regulated. The IPBES report in 2019 identifies five major pressure factors: change of land and sea use, overexploitation of resources, climate change, pollution and invasive alien species. EDF has developed its action programme to limit its impact on each of these factors.

3.2.1.2.1 Change of land and sea use

All segments included: Avoid, Reduce and Compensate

The Group applies the principles of the mitigation hierarchy⁽¹⁾ or the regulations of the country where it is located, if these are more stringent (particularly in Europe). The Group companies apply the mitigation hierarchy (Avoid, Reduce, Compensate)doctrine for all projects and facilities in operation. The French biodiversity law of 2016 requires companies to implement “offsetting measures designed to avoid a net loss, and, preferably, even make a net gain in biodiversity”.

Issues related to biodiversity are integrated throughout the engineering and operational process, from the design phase of projects to promoting prevention and reduction:

• projects: For new projects, the Group is optimising its site coverage and, in case of decommissioning of its facilities, works to restore the natural environment.Regarding investment decisions, 100% of the projects presented to the CECEG⁽²⁾ are screened for risks related to biodiversity;
• structures currently in operation: the same vigilance is applied to structures currently in operation, in particular nuclear sites. Their impacts on the environment and biodiversity are the subject of monitoring conducted by EDF specialised teams and public bodies such as Ifremer or IRSN. The results are published and are accessible on the website edf.fr ⓦ;
• assessment of ecological equivalence: EDF financed with Irstea⁽³⁾ and theNatural History Museum a PhD thesis defended in December 2017 and a post-doctorate in 2019 concerning the preparation of a method to verify the achievement of ecological equivalence. This involves measuring, using indicators, the losses related to the impacts and comparing the losses resulting from a development and potential gains resulting from the offsetting measure (see section 3.2.1.4.1 “Research and biodiversity”). EDF’s R&D Division continues its investigations in this field;
• offsetting proposal: the Company conducted an experiment in the Isère department on the offsetting proposals with the Initiative "Biodiversité Combe-Madame" non-profit organisation and the key community players. This experiment is part of the action initiated by the Ministry of Ecology, to test the relevance and feasibility of the offsetting proposals.

Wind and Solar sector

Wind and solar power plants contribute to the fight against global warming and the protection of the environment, even if their construction and operation have an impact on biodiversity. All of the Group’s renewable activities are thus part of a proactive approach aimed at limiting and controlling impacts and seeking and implementing the best technical and technological solutions to preserve the environment.

The EDF group, the "Union internationale pour la conservation de la nature" (UICN)(International Union for Conservation of Nature), EDP and Shell are working in partnership to develop guidelines to prioritise mitigation measures and the best available measures to reduce impacts on biodiversity from onshore and offshore wind projects and photovoltaic projects (to be published in 2021).

EDF Renewables is committed to implementing an environmental management plan in France for all its ground-mounted photovoltaic power plants with biodiversity implications. By 2020, 100% of the fleets with biodiversity implications will have this management plan in place.

Hydropower sector

Hydraulic generating facilities can affect ecological continuity in aquatic environments. In France, for the implementation of ecological continuity⁽⁴⁾ :

• between 2013 and 2020, the Group, through EDF Hydro and its hydroelectric activities, has implemented more than 50 schemes to facilitate fish migration on sites presenting ecological issues (classified as “List 2” under the “Water and Aquatic Environment Act”). This involves dam crossing equipment (such as “fish ladders”) and the dismantling of weirs in rivers. These operations are subsidised by the Water Agencies;
• at the Poutès site (Allier), after a long consultation process, an amendment to the concession was signed in 2018 by the Prefect of Haute-Loire department, authorising the start of reconfiguration work on the facility in 2019, work that continued in 2020. For an output equivalent to the initial project, this project offers a significant ecological advantage, which will allow access to 60% of the spawning grounds of the Allier salmon, a unique genetic branch of Atlantic salmon;
• the inauguration of the new Gavet power plant in September 2020 marks a key stage in the Romanche Valley hydroelectric reconfiguration project launched by EDF in 2010. This nearly 400 million euro project consists of replacing six old power plants and five old dams with a new dam and a new, more efficient power plant (+40%). The project integrates an important environmental and aquatic environment improvement component. Almost entirely underground, the power plant blends into the landscape and significantly improves the appearance of the valley;
• EDF took part in the smooth running of the levelling of the works in Vezins under the supervision of the French State. This is the first stage of a remarkable effort at the European level which should lead to the full restoration by 2023 of the river’s natural functions, opening it up to the return of diadromous migratory fish (salmon, eels, shad, lamprey).

In Belgium, Luminus and its partners (University of Liege and Namur, Profish, EDF R&D) have launched a programme to model the behaviour of migrating fish and reduce their mortality during the passage of hydroelectric facilities. The Life4Fish programme (2017-2023) is supported by the European Commission thanks to €2 million in funding as part of the European Life Programme and with an overall budget of €5 million. In 2019, two new very low impact turbines for migrating fish were installed at the Monsin hydroelectric site, as well as a behavioural barrier (eel deterrent) at the Grands-Malades site, and a bubble barrier at the Ivoz-Ramet site. A second electric barrier was installed in 2020 on the Grands-Malades site to guide young salmon to a new crossing structure that is being completed.