ISO 14001 certification confirmed for all of Enel Green Power’s plants around the globe – Enel's business line dedicated to the production of renewable energy
Being sustainable doesn’t just mean producing electricity with renewable sources: it means designing advanced plants that use natural resources wisely and responsibly, protecting the ecosystem and creating economic and social value for local communities.
Like all plants, green energy plants are industrial facilities that have an impact on the environment, including hydropower dams, wind farms, photovoltaic power stations, and geothermal plants. ‘Our commitment,’ explained Pierluigi Ferrari, Head of Safety and Certification at Enel Green Power, ‘is to limit our plants’ impact on the environment and on local communities,’ thus demonstrating an attention to the environment that is based on the adoption of an Environmental Management System with high quality standards – one that has once again earned all of Enel Green Power’s manufacturing plants worldwide an ISO 14001 Environmental Certification.
‘Our mission is to develop the production of electricity from renewable sources, by protecting resources and using them in the best way possible, while protecting the ecosystem. We have launched several biodiversity projects, for example, in wind farms to protect birdlife or in the search for non-polluting substances, such as biodegradable oils, to produce hydroelectric power. Our commitment is not limited to these activities,’ Ferrari stressed ‘we listen closely to local communities in order to understand how to value these natural resources in such a way that creates value both for the Group and for the communities that live near the plants.’
The Environmental Management System adopted by EGP, which was assessed in the new ISO 14001 certification, places sustainability at the centre of environmental management, evaluating not only the actions that aim to protect the ecosystem, but a company’s attention to the interests and needs of administrators, stakeholders and local authorities with respect to production sites.
Enel’s Renewables business line applies quality standards, from the very stage in which a new facility is designed, analysing environmental data and integrating it with data concerning the safety and quality of materials and processes. ‘All of this data,’ Ferrari stated ‘is used by our engineers to bring about the best result in the areas in which we operate. The goal is to export our best environmental practices around the world, because we operate in countries that have different problems and different levels of sensitivity to these issues. We apply high standards in these contexts, bringing about an impact on a cultural level. And the results we have obtained thus far have been positive.’
‘The confirmation of the ISO 14001 Certification for Enel Green Power’s plants, as well as the Enel Group as a whole, highlights our commitment,’ concluded Ferrari, adding, ‘the certification represents our openness to the world outside our company: it is a tool that allows us to share our best practices and assess our own capabilities, because all of the management system’s requirements are challenging and must be steadily pursued. We have been implementing this integrated system in all of the countries in which we operate since 2011, and, year after year, our efforts have allowed us to renew our commitment and to continue to hone our expertise and increasingly raise the bar in order to continue to protect the environment more efficiently.’
Today, we integrate the creation of value and environmental protection into all areas of our business. According to Giulio Peruzzi, Management Representative, this strategy can be implemented for the Group's environmental management, ‘only through the involvement of all stakeholders, starting from local communities. We ask them to share their ideas and notify us about critical issues by sending us an email at emsinternet@enel.com.’