Enel SpA services

Water resource management is increasingly important and Enel is constantly monitoring its generation sites that are located in areas where there’s  risk of water scarcity, in order to manage water resources with greater efficiency. The Enel Group draws water from water sources mainly for industrial purposes, such as cooling, desulphurisation, abatement of nitrogen oxides, etc.

The emissions of some substances into the atmosphere have a polluting effect, while those of other substances contribute to the greenhouse effect. The emissions into the atmosphere, which are quantitatively most significant and typical of Enel’s industrial activities, are as follows: in the first category, sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOX) and particulates; and, in the second category, carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and methane (CH4).

Enel constantly monitors its impacts on the areas affected by its activities, paying considerable attention to quality and quantity of liquid releases. Enel’s efforts to protect the basin are focused on reduced consumption of water and on chemical and biological purification of releases. In thermal power generation, biomonitoring surveys conducted in various sites of different countries indicate that the impacts (thermal and physical changes) of water releases from open-cycle cooling circuits and cooling towers are negligible.

The optimized management of waste releases is a priority for Enel, which aims at the decrease of waste production, the increase of waste recovery (also by better sorting), the qualification of suppliers of waste disposal services and the use of information systems for waste traceability. Waste management in Italy has achieved excellent results. Thanks to consistent improvements compared to previous years, Enel was able to almost totally recover its waste.