COVID-19 pandemic management

5.8.4 Natural resources

GRI 306-5, SDG14

5.8.4.1 Water and soil

Elia is committed to an effective water and soil conservation. Since the company’s business activities do not result in significant water consumption or regular releases of process-linked effluents, our corporate responsibility is not so much to reduce water consumption, but rather to pay special attention to water retention in the ground in grid and substation projects and to prevent water and soil pollution by hazardous substances. Elia has installed special safety systems in installations containing oil. Containment systems equipped with coalescence filters are installed beneath transformers in substations to prevent drips from leaking into the ground.Installations are regularly checked by maintenance staff and renovated or renewed if necessary. In the accidental event of a leakage of hazardous substances, Elia has developed processes to immediately cope with the potential impacts on the environment and the employees are trained to detect early signs of this types of events.

A significant part of the Belgian soils is historically polluted as a direct result of nearby or in situ (prior use) industrial activities or backfilling with polluted soil.

Elia has mapped the soil condition of its own land in order to schedule intervention priorities. Several remediation actions have been launched on our sites. In 2020, EUR 1,4 million has been paid for surveys, follow up and the realization of remediation works.

5.8.4.2 Waste

GRI 306-2

When dealing with waste that cannot be avoided, the motto is reuse - recycle - recover - dispose. Maintenance work and infrastructure projects are our core activities that generate most waste flows. If facilities are newly built, converted or dismantled, specific elements (e.g. transformers that have a very long lifetime) are stored in order to be reused either in refurbished stations or in newly built ones. Those parts that are no longer needed are disposed of in a resource-conserving manner and specific elements are recycled (e.g. metals from the cables and oil).

Elia has established a waste management policy for collecting, sorting and handling its waste in our local technical sites (service centres).

All types of waste generated during the maintenance of assets in this geographical zone are stored in container parks guaranteeing optimal storage in dedicated locations. They are eventually removed periodically or upon request by authorised collectors specialised in the collection, transport and recycling of hazardous and non-hazardous waste. On our construction sites, contractors must comply with environmental legislation as well and organise the sorting of the construction site waste they produce during the execution of their contract.

For consistency’s sake, Elia has decided to standardise the sorting rules and procedures which are identical throughout Belgium, regardless of the site even if the regulations might differ slightly depending on the region where the site is located.

Waste is determined to be hazardous on the basis of its waste code from the European List of Waste.

The waste disposal contractor provides Elia with information on the waste disposal method (and certificates), as legally required in Belgium. Depending on the region, Elia is also required to report to the authorities the yearly quantities of specific waste types.

5.9 COVID19 pandemic management

The coronavirus pandemic has confronted society with fundamental changes and new challenges. For Elia as a transmission system operator in Belgium, this meant analysing comprehensively, adapting pandemic plans and acting prudently. This enables us to guarantee system stability and security of supply at all times. Thanks to a "COVID-19 Task Force" set up early on, Elia was able to react appropriately and flexibly to the new challenges. In a very short time, our colleagues on the task force developed a broad concept for measures for all Elia locations and communicated recommendations for action transparently and continuously to all employees. Thanks to continuous coordination and communication, both with internal and external partners, a flexible package of measures developed at an early stage, which could be adapted to the changing conditions again and again over the course of the months, Elia was able to maintain its efficiency even in this extreme situation, operate and maintain the grid safely and even expand it further for the energy transition. The impact on projects was reduced to an absolute minimum and Elia was able to guarantee security of supply at all times.

Amongst other things, this was possible due to the fact that Elia was already fully prepared for digital work before the pandemic.

The main objective of this still existing Task Force is to limit contamination on the work floor by providing effective and efficient security measures. This is done by providing effective and efficient preventive measures, resources, testing, tracing and preparation for vaccination. Within the framework of the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to the existing risk assessments, additional dedicated hygiene concepts and occupational safety regulations were implemented in the area of occupational health and