Environment and climate

It is our ambition to meet the global demand for sustainable development towards 2030. In our efforts to deliver on this ambition, we are inspired by the principles of the UN Global Compact and the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals with a special focus on goal no. 6 ‘Clean water and sanitation’, goal no. 7 ‘Affordable and clean energy’ and goal no. 13 ‘Climate action’. Sustainable energy is our key focus area. It is at the heart of Verdo and therefore a natural part of our activities. We create solutions which focus on efficiency and the lowest possible price for green energy.

Policy

Goal no. 7 ‘Affordable and clean energy’ is about ensuring access to reliable and sustainable energy at affordable prices by the year 2030. As an energy company, we work every year to reduce our CO2 and NOX emissions by firing biomass such as wood chips and alternative biofuels and minimising our coal consumption as much as possible. In this way, we are also working towards goal no. 13 ‘Climate action’, which focuses on a fast response to the threat of climate change by reducing the effect of greenhouse gases. Moreover, we insist on the sustainable and lawful sourcing of wood-based fuels, while striving to ensure reasonable district heating prices for our customers.

Every year, we replace an increasing number of street lights with LED technology in order to reduce electricity consumption and thereby CO2 emissions caused by lighting.

As a water utility, we are inspired by UN goal no. 6 ‘Clean water and sanitation’. In Denmark, we all have access to clean drinking water – a resource many people take for granted. However, as is the case in the rest of the world, our drinking water is unfortunately also under threat. We are therefore continuously stepping up activities aimed at protecting our groundwater resources and thereby guaranteeing clean drinking water for our customers. In 2018, one such activity was woodland protection.

Efforts and results

In 2018, our consumption of biomass totalled 216,472 tonnes, while coal accounted for only 1,983 tonnes or 0.9 % of our total fuel consumption. This reduced CO2 emissions from 39,977 tonnes in 2017 to 7,028 tonnes in 2018, equating to a reduction of 32,949 tonnes of CO2 – or 82 % – in a single year.

The primary reason for the significant decrease is our divestment on 1 January 2018 of Grenaa Kraftvarmeværk, for which reason the CHP’s fuel consumption and emissions are not included in the figures for 2018.

However, looking at the fuel consumption and emission figures for Randers Kraftvarmeværk in isolation, no significant change was seen from 2017 to 2018, except for a slight increase in coal consumption and CO2 emissions equivalent to four hours of full-load operation.

This was due to the malfunctioning of the wood chip conveying system, which meant that we had to use coal so as not to risk interrupting the supply of district heating for customers.

With reference to UN goal no. 7 on ‘affordable energy’, in 2018 we reduced the district heating price for our customers for the third consecutive year. In order to ensure sustainable sourcing of our fuels, we have been granted FSC® CoC certification as well as SBP CoC certification, and in 2018 we worked towards implementing the PEFC standard in 2019.

In 2018, we replaced 6,500 street lights with LED technology. This will result in an annual reduction of 1,600 MWh and 800 tonnes of CO2. In addition, we changed the lighting at our head office to LED, saving 43,853 kWh and just over 20 tonnes of CO2 a year.

Stepping up our efforts aimed at ensuring clean drinking water, in 2018 we entered into an agreement on the acquisition of the woodlands Randers Sønderskov, which cover a total of

Importance of certifications for Verdo

FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council®)

License code: FSC® C125676

39 hectares. This is to protect the source area around our waterworks in Vilstrup. The source area at Randers Sønderskov is situated in a semi-urban area and close to a gravel pit and is therefore at risk of contamination if the woodlands are not protected.

According to ‘Energiselskabernes energispareindsats’, as an energy company within electricity and heating distribution we are obliged to find and realise a number of annual energy savings, which must be reported to the Danish Energy Agency. Verdo’s target for 2018 was 34,860 MWh, and having realised savings of 38,600 MWh, the target was met.

Conclusion

Based on our environmental and climate-related efforts in 2018 within CO2 reduction, the sourcing of fuels, the protection of our source area and reducing the price of district heating, results were satisfactory, and we complied with our policy.

SBP (Sustainable Biomass Program)

PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification)

Certification of forest area and forest products

• Social and environmental responsibility

• Documentation for lawfulness and compliance with EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) Ensures procurement of sustainable wood-based biomass and adherence to industry agreement

Certification of producer and products

• Ensures that biomass is produced and transported responsibly

• Ensures detailed documentation and CO2 accounts

Ensures procurement of sustainable wood-based biomass and adherence to industry agreement

Certification of forest area and forest products

• Builds on social and environmental responsibility

• Ensures access to wider market of certified products

Recognises existing national certification systems

• Ensures procurement of sustainable wood-based biomass and adherence to industry agreement