The energy transmission service provided by Terna does not require a significant amount of materials or the handling of a considerable amount of waste.
The service includes, however, the building and maintenance of a certain amount of assets, whose principal components are:
- Power lines: pylons, conductors, insulators;
- Transforming stations: transformers, switches, other equipment;
- Control systems.
In the case of Terna, both the use of materials as well as the management of waste materials relate predominantly to the building and maintenance of electricity and computer infrastructures.
Three are the areas of interest to Terna:
Terna does not use
raw materials but electrical equipment and other elements that are combined to operate with the transmission service. The following table indicates the main raw materials present in the supplies used by Terna.
The increase in the use of raw materials, particularly aluminum and steel, registered in 2010 with respect to the 12 previous months, is due to the
progress of work in the building sites for building the new 380 kV electricity connections provided for in the Development Plan.
| PREDOMINANT RAW MATERIALS IN SUPPLIES - TONS |
2010 |
2009 |
| Porcelain |
663 |
494 |
| Polymeric |
350 |
244 |
| Copper |
3,853 |
2,628 |
| Alluminum |
4,927 |
2,224 |
| Steel |
17,114 |
6,496 |
| Glass |
1,523 |
1,191 |
In office activities, the principal material consumed is
paper. The increase in consumption (+57.6%) registered in 2010 with respect to 2009 is mainly due to the fact that the survey takes into account
all of Terna’s offices, including the Rome headoffice where all typical office and staff activities are concentrated.
From the end of 2009, all of the paper purchased by Terna is made with a TCF paste, chlorine free, and provided with a
FSC - Forest Stewardship Council certification , to ensure that the forests from which&it is; taken are managed in compliance with both environmental and human rights.
| PAPER CONSUMPTION - TONS |
2010 |
2009 |
2008(1) |
| FSC PAPER |
83 |
53 |
53 |
| Coverage of the data(2) |
100% |
81% |
82% |
(1) The 2008 values were calculated only for offices in Italy.
(2) The coverage of the data regarding paper consumption is expressed as a percentage of the total number of executives and white-collar workers.
Water is not involved in the production cycle for electricity transmission and dispatching. Usually the water used – for hygienic uses, for cleaning the premises and for the air conditioning – comes from domestic water supply connections. The increase in consumption registered in 2010 is mainly due to the leak of two pipelines in two territorial offices. The data included in the table below was collected through the water meters and supplier invoices throughout the surveyed areas.
| WATER CONSUMPTION - CUBIC METERS |
2010 |
2009 |
2008(1) |
| Water withdrawal |
184,979 |
158,942 |
131,736 |
(1) The 2008 number for water consumption in this document is different from the one reported in the preceding publications (105,851 m3 for the Group and 98,041 m3 for Italy). The values reported are the result of an estimate that adds the assumed consumption of the sites recorded from 2009 on to the consumption recorded in 2008. The year 2008 also includes the consumption of Terna Partecipacoes. The consumption regarding the Italy boundary for 2008 was estimated to amount to 123,926 cubic meters.
Most of Terna’s
waste is recovered and intended for recycling. Only a small part of the waste is sent to landfill with a resulting environmental impact. The percentage of
recovered waste in 2010 was equal to 89%, an increase of 6% with respect to 2009. The reduction (2010 vs. 2009) of waste produced- equal to approximately 20% - is principally due to the closing of important building sites after the plant’s completion.
As in the case of used resources, also the waste comes mainly from activities of modernization and maintenance of the electricity infrastructures.
| WASTE BY CATEGORY (1) - TONS |
2010 |
2009 |
2008 (2) |
| Waste produced |
5,515.9 |
7,053.3 |
8,023.7 |
| Hazardous |
3,013.3 |
3,995.7 |
4,011.4 |
| Non-hazardous |
2,502.6 |
3,057.5 |
4,012.3 |
| |
|
|
|
| Recycled waste |
4,912.8 |
5,856.3 |
7,272.6 |
| Hazardous |
2,849.5 |
3,322.0 |
3,618.6 |
| Non-hazardous |
2,063.3 |
2,534.4 |
3,654.0 |
| |
|
|
|
| Waste delivered to dump (3) |
626.4 |
1,043.1 |
751.1 |
| Hazardous |
191.5 |
630.9 |
392.8 |
| Non-hazardous |
435.0 |
768.7 |
358.3 |
(1) Only waste stemming from the production process is included. Waste produced by service activities (urban waste) is excluded. Also excluded is waste belonging to the “excavated earth and rocks” and “sewage” categories, because – especially in the case of significant quantities – it has an exceptional aspect connected with the construction of particular work in stations and would make the data series non-homogeneous. The figures for the excavated earth and rocks and for the sewage amounted to 1,541 tons in 2010, 16,053 tons in 2009, and 69,023 tons in 2008.
(2) The 2008 values include the waste of Terna Partecipações. For the Italy boundary alone, the total waste for 2008 amounted to 8,010.7 tons.
(3) Since 2009 the values regarding waste delivered to dumps are the result of a precise collection of data and may differ from the simple difference between waste produced and waste recycled (a calculation criterion that was used in 2008 as well) because of the temporary storage of waste straddling two years (part of the waste recycled or delivered to dumps in 2010 may have been produced in 2009).
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) are used throughout the world as insulators in transformers and other electronic equipment: they represent a valid alternative to flammable mineral oils. However, subsequent studies have shown that PCB have an extraordinary
bio resistance, making them dangerous for living organisms.
Legislative Decree no. 209/99, CEI regulation no. 10-38 , the guidelines of the
Ministry of Environment and
Community Law no. 62/05 have introduced the obligation of declaring the amount of oils contaminated by PCB in one’s possession and have established methods and timing for their disposal.
In compliance with this provision, Terna has implemented a
disposal plan, setting the goal of advancing the statutory deadlines. Ever since 2009, any equipment containing oils with PCB levels higher than 500 ppm has been eliminated; the quantity of oils contaminated with PCB having concentrations between 50 and 500 ppm was reduced in 2010 to little more than 8.000 kilograms.
Terna’s commitment to reduce equipment containing oils with PCB is illustrated in an article in the magazine published by
PEN - PCB Elimination Network: this initiative, promoted by
UNEP - United Nations Environmental Program , intends to promote the elimination of PCB all over the world.
| DISPOSAL OF EQUIPMENT CONTAINING OIL WITH PCB |
|
kg of olio |
|
| |
2010 |
2009 |
2008 (1) |
| Concentrazione di PCB |
|
|
|
| PCB > 500 ppm |
- |
- |
4,461 |
| PCB > 50 ppm < 500 ppm |
8,266 |
131,852 |
131,520 |
(1) The 2008 values were calculated only for the Italian assets.