CHAPTER 5
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

5.4 Safety and environmental protection

2016 events

• The Board of Directors of PJSC RusHydro approved a new version of the
• Environmental Policy of PJSC RusHydro
• The number of accidents at branches of PJSC RusHydro decreased by 24.22 %
• The total amount of water withdrawn reduced by 9.7 %
• The total amount of water disposal reduced by 14.1 %

5.4.1 Industrial security

5.4.2 Environmental safety²⁹

The Company fulfills Russian legislative requirements in the field of environmental protection, participates in the performance of Russia’s obligations that arise from international conventions within the environmental protection sphere, as ratified by the Russian Federation, and aims to continually reduce its negative influence on the environment and to prevent environmental pollution.

The introduction of new techniques and technologies under the Comprehensive HPPs Modernization Program is carried out subject to the Company’s Environmental Policy objectives and principles which reduces the production’s environmental impact.

Environmental policy.

The Company supports the industry and international initiatives to reduce industrial load on the environment and the population, and to promote and to establish environmental responsibility standards. The Company carries out compulsory compensatory measures to reduce the environmental load in zones impacted by the Company’s facilities:

• reconstruction of existing equipment and new treatment facilities within the framework of the comprehensive reconstruction of HPP;
• replacement of hydraulic units of hydropower plants for the modernized ones, allowing to minimize the impact on aquatic biological resources, as they pass through hydraulic turbines tract; to eliminate the leakage of oil into the environment in the process of operation of turbine equipment;
• replacement of oil-filled electrical equipment for equipment not containing oil (vacuum and gas-insulated);
• reconstruction of gas-cleaning equipment;
• implementation of the program of heat facilities on the use of gaseous fuel;
• fish protective equipment installations on the HPPS being under construction;
  reconstruction and repair of hydraulic structures to maintain the proper condition of water protection zones, conducting shore protection works;
• reproduction of aquatic biological resources at the expense of compensation of harm;
• voluntary action on the stocking of water bodies with fish and improvement of natural areas and protected areas;
• voluntary environmental programs aimed at promotion of careful attitude to the nature (cooperation with nature reserves, national parks and other protected natural areas, as well as educational institutions and environmental organizations).

Water usage

The decrease in water consumption was mainly due to reduction of water consumption for household needs.

Foto: the Bureya River is blocked on the Nizhne-Bureyskaya HPP construction.

Water disposal

Discharges

The main cause of changes in the mass of pollutants discharge with waste (drainage) water in 2016 in comparison with the discharges in 2015 is a decrease in the water disposal volume.

Hazardous air pollutants

The volumes of hazardous air pollutants decreased mainly due to:

• the introduction of new Emission limit values (ELV) in several branches and clarification of the emissions source;
• the reduction in the amount of repair works carried out according to the operational program;
• the reduction of the produced coolant in JSC “Geoterm” subsidiary.

Waste

The change in production and consumption waste volumes in 2016 compared with the volumes in 2015 occurred mainly due to:

• the decrease in volume of works under the operational program atPJSC RusHydro branches and subsidiaries;
• the reduction of works to restore the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP after the accident in 2009;
• the reduction in the scope of work on the repair and reconstruction of equipment.