Decreasing environmental impacts

Emissions into air

Flue-gas emissions causing local environmental impacts are generated from incineration at energy production plants. The EU has set very strict limits for flue-gas emissions, which necessitates the use of best available technology (BAT). Our nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide and particle emissions have decreased significantly in our European production over the past decades through fuel selections and various flue-gas cleaning technologies.

All our plants operate in compliance with the terms of their environmental permits. Our plants, for the most part, meet the new emission requirements. In addition, we have a world-class know-how in combustion technology. At Russian power plants, all emissions are limited in accordance with Russian legislation.

Water use

We use large volumes of water at various types of power plants and in district heating networks. In most cases, our power plants do not consume water, but water is discharged back to the same water system from where it was sourced. Only in some cases, water is transferred for example through evaporation into the air from cooling towers, by leakages into the ground from district heat piping, or through the discharge of wastewater to a municipal sewage system.

In hydropower production, water flowing in a river is conducted through a turbine to generate electricity, but water is not consumed or altered. The water system is often regulated for hydropower production and the regulation changes the water flow and level patterns compared to their natural state.

We withdrew a total of 2,090 million m³ of water in 2019. Seawater accounted for about 70% of this amount. We used the majority of the withdrawn water, 1,960 million m³, as cooling water.

Biodiversity

Our impact on biodiversity is mainly linked to our hydropower production in Finland and Sweden. Hydropower construction and the related water regulation alter the conditions in the water systems, and thus impact the diversity of the aquatic habitat and the fish population.

Emissions from fossil fuel-based energy production plants may decrease local biodiversity, especially during new capacity construction projects. In addition, our fuel procurement may have a negative impact on biodiversity.

On the other hand, our production of CO₂-free energy replaces fossil fuel-based energy production and thus mitigates climate change, which is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity globally. We continuously aim to minimise our negative impact on biodiversity with environmental compensation and mitigation projects, and we continuously assess the impacts of our new projects.