Universal Registration Document 2022

3.2.2 Biodiversity and responsible land management

3.2.2.1 Group action

3.2.2.1.1 Reducing the activities’ contribution to major pressure factors

Most of the pressures applied to biodiversity are strictly governed by regulations. The IPBES report in 2019 identifies five major pressure factors: changing use of land and sea, overexploitation of resources, climate change, pollution and invasive alien species. EDF group has developed its action programme to limit its impact on each of these factors.

3.2.2.1.1.1 Changing land and sea uses

All segments included

PMO doctrine

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). Group companies apply the PMO (Prevent, Minimize, Offset) hierarchy for all projects and facilities in operation ⁽²⁾. The environmental and societal impact assessments are completed prior to projects, pursuant to the current regulations and best practices (such as IFC Performance Standards if they are more restrictive).

Projects

For its new projects, the Group optimises its footprint and positions new industrial developments preferably on sites that have been subject to soil artificialisation. Appraisal and site restoration operations are carried out by the Group’s internal engineering entities with the assistance of external service providers. Regarding investment decisions, 100% of the projects presented to the CECEG ⁽³⁾ are screened for risks related to biodiversity.

Structures currently in operation

Impacts of structures currently in operation, in particular nuclear structures, on the environment and biodiversity are the subject of monitoring conducted by EDF teams and scientific organisations such as IFREMER or IRSN.

Offsetting proposal

The EDF group conducted an experiment in the Isère department on the offsetting proposals with the “Initiative Biodiversité Combe-Madame”⁽⁴⁾ non-profit organisation and key community players. The experiment came to an end with the presentation of the project to the stakeholders in 2021. Dialogue on the actions that could be jointly carried out in the future on this site of both ecological and scientific interest is continuing.

In the field of centralised production systems

Nuclear and traditional thermal sector

Mapping and zoning of land areas for industrial use are systematically carried out on nuclear and thermal facilities in France. In the context of the post-Fukushima works, the built-up areas for the 56 buildings housing the emergency diesel generators are located on existing land take. The EPR under construction in Flamanville stands alongside the pre-existing Flamanville 1-2 facilities.

The land strategy put in place at the DPNT (Nuclear & Thermal Fleet Department) assists with the conversion of old thermal sites for new industrial uses. Two old thermal power plant sites were converted into EDF Renewables photovoltaic plants: the zone of the old plant block of the former Ambès plant (Gironde) and a damaged area of the old Artix plant (Pyrénées-Atlantiques). Construction on the Ottmarsheim PV Farm (Haut-Rhin) began in 2022.

Sobriety and recycling of rehabilitated land

To meet its industrial needs, EDF must have access to land without increasing soil artificialisation. This is why its land strategy is driven by the need for sobriety and recycling of rehabilitated land. Therefore, EDF is committed to monitoring the level of soil waterproofing during the conversion of former continental thermal sites in order to limit it in the long term.

Therefore, in 2020, a first assessment of waterproofed land was carried out based on waterproofing rate data from the Corine Land Cover database ⁽⁵⁾. Approximately 20% of this land is estimated to have a waterproofing rate of over 50%. In 2021, works continued to compare options to assess land takes on thermal land undergoing conversion. Studies were carried out on different decommissioning activities at old thermal plants to identify operations liable to have a positive impact on the level of soil waterproofing (removal of coverings, backfilling). Exploratory R&D works were begun in partnership with BRGM ⁽⁶⁾ to carry out an initial assessment on a site of soil functions after rehabilitation (rehabilitation based on a management plan approved by the administrative authorities).

In 2022, EDF continued to implement its commitment:

• taking into account the feedback from the decommissioning of several legacy thermal power plants, which led to the initiation of a process of capitalising on and banking data on the soils following these operations (in order to better qualify their impermeability in the context of new projects);
• R&D is undertaking thesis work in partnership with BRGM, the University of Lorraine and the Insa Centre Val de Loire (in order to develop a methodology for assessing soil functionality in different contexts).

Removal of waterproofing

Three sites can be considered to have had their waterproofing freshly removed in 2022: temporarily, 8ha of the old coal storage yard at Vitry sur Seine power plant (Seine-et-Marne); permanently, nearly 10ha of the old Ambès thermal power plant (Gironde) reconverted into a photovoltaic plant; and approximately 4ha at the old Artix thermal power plant (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) reconverted into a photovoltaic plant.

Hydropower sector

Hydropower facilities can affect ecological continuity in aquatic environments. The Group has implemented over 260 schemes to facilitate fish migration on sites with ecological implications (specifically on listed waterways). These include dam crossing facilities (such as “fish passes”), dismantling of trapping/transportation river weirs and targeted turbine shutdowns.

Poutès

This project allows access to spawning grounds upstream from the structure that are home to 47% of the Allier basin’s spawning salmon, i.e. the majority of the Loire basin’s spawning pool ⁽⁷⁾. Between 2020 and 2022, in addition to local press events and a visit for the national press, the project set up an environmental monitoring system shared with the partners. This monitoring is organised and set out in the concession’s water regulations, defined by decree in 2021 ⁽⁸⁾. This monitoring is discussed each year by the Scientific Committee for Fish. After the dam is commissioned at the beginning of 2022, the restoration of continuity, made possible in the spring by the structure’s transparency, will be monitored using innovative techniques previously defined and included in the concession’s water regulations: monitoring by acoustic camera, telemetry, genetic analysis, etc.