Comprehensive water management

We take care of water, a resource that must be preserved

At Endesa, we work to preserve the quality of water and protect this critical strategic resource.

99%

of the water captured by our facilities is returned to the environment to be reused

CDP

Management qualification from CDP Water Disclosure.

107,400

m3 of recycled wastewater as part of processes

Aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation

Accessible version

Water is at the heart of sustainable development, which is fundamental for socio-economic development, energy and food production, ecosystems and human survival. With this in mind, at Endesa we have identified water as a strategic and critical resource, aware that it represents a crucial part of adapting to climate change as well as a decisive link between society and the environment.

The sixth of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. However, according to forecasts by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), if new policies are not adopted as soon as possible, by the year 2050, almost half of the world's population will live in areas under severe water stress.

In order to conserve this resource, we have incorporated the United Nations-approved Sustainable Development Goals into our business strategy and governance system; and in accordance with our current environmental policy, we regularly revise our corporate strategy concerning water, aiming to promote efficient and sustainable utilization of water resources, in alignment with the pledge we made in our environmental policy.

In the execution of all our operations, whether in hydroelectric power stations harnessing water for renewable energy or in those utilising alternative technologies such as thermal and nuclear power:

We seek efficiency and sustainability in the use of water.
We control its consumption and ensure the optimal management of water thanks to our environmental management systems.
We promote its reuse and return it to the environment in adequate conditions to guarantee its subsequent uses.
We avoid contamination.

We also focus on continuously improving waste water control and preserving the ecological status of reservoirs and associated regulated river sections. Through cooperation with basin organisations, more water is available for other purposes such as irrigation, water supply or conservation of ecosystems and caring for natural capital.

We are aware of the impact that our activities can have on the water environment. Which is why we strive to preserve water quality and maintain continuous improvement in its interaction with this resource, performing water abstractions efficiently and responsibly, always complying with the regulations in force and in accordance with the principles of the environmental management system implemented in all facilities. When it comes to discharges, we have a series of procedures in place to control and reduce water discharges, as well as to improve their quality, mainly through wastewater treatment facilities.

Through our environmental management system we carry out an impact identification process to reduce the effects as much as possible, following a policy of low water consumption and preservation of its quality.

Endesa participated in the CDP Water Disclosure project for the fifteenth year running. This initiative requires companies to analyse the current and future risks of their water resources, reporting information related to water strategy and use, including use reduction objectives, and does so in accordance with the requirements of institutional investors and companies with great purchasing power. Endesa has achieved this year's Management category.

Use of water to generate electricity

The main way in which we use water is in the process of generating electricity under conventional techniques.

This is why at Endesa, we work towards:

Replacing less efficient technologies with renewable and more sustainable ones.
Controlling abstraction and discharge.
Limiting the volume of abstraction and consumption of inland waters across all technologies.
Avoiding water abstraction in water-stressed areas.
Ensuring the quality of the water in discharges made.
Reusing and recycling water in our facilities.
Continuously improving facility processes for lower consumption and impact.
Establishing and controlling surface limit levels and ecological flows in hydroelectric generation reservoirs.

Respect for this resource also implies the preservation of biodiversity, which is why it is so important to control water abstraction so as not to alter water ecosystems or reduce the risk of spillage and, therefore, avoid pollution.

Endesa proposes annual improvement targets related to the use of water in its interactions, as part of its environmental management system. To address these objectives, we exhaustively and continuously analyse each impact and objective, implementing different solutions:

Water consumption control systems
Reuse of rainwater for irrigation
Continuous improvement of water quality by controlling discharges and wastewater
Preservation of the ecological status of reservoirs and associated regulated river sections.

Water use in offices

We perform awareness campaigns to achieve a more efficient and responsible use of hot water at offices by employees.

We set targets that we measure, such as the reduction of water consumption at offices (% annual reduction) and implement continuous improvement actions.

We have established a set of controls and monitoring using key indicators, such as the reduction of water consumption in the offices (0.5% annual reduction). This includes setting goals to decrease water usage in the offices and evaluating success by calculating the percentage decrease compared to the previous year.

Principal sustainable water management projects

Within this improvement process, the WAVE project is worth particular mention, an ambition project that seeks to find and implement improvements for reducing the consumption of fresh process water, especially in those geographical areas affected by greater water stress.

In this regard, the action we have taken at the Mahón thermal power plant is worth particular mention, to reuse the water from the sewage treatment plant as a contribution to the plant, as does the project to detect and repair leaks in the system of underground water pipes of the fire protection system that is supplied with water from the public network at the Alcudia thermal power plant.

Likewise, we continue to pursue improvements aimed at reducing specific consumption of process water, especially in those plants that make use of fresh water, as is the case of the Besós combined cycle thermal power plant, where an improvement has been implemented to replace mains water with demineralised water in the desalinated water generation process. This improvement not only reduces the consumption of drinking water from the mains, but also improves the energy efficiency of the process by reducing energy consumption for the generation of desalinated water.

Through this enhancement process, over 250,000 m3 of process water have been successfully reclaimed in 2023, representing 3% of the overall process water usage in thermal power plants.