Water management

Introduction

Water is a scarce resource in many areas of the world and becoming increasingly threatened by unsustainable use combined with climate change.

Water usage is an important aspect of our environmental management. We optimise usage of water during operations and have a focus on limiting water use in areas with high water stress. We avoid impacting natural aquafers or developing near wetland areas where possible.

Management approach

Scatec’s main use of water is in the construction phase for dust suppression and for module cleaning in the operations phase of our projects. Various water sources are used in different locations including groundwater and potable water from municipal water networks.

Read more about GRI 303-1: Interactions with water as a shared resource and GRI 303-2: Management of water-discharge-related impacts.

GRI 303-3

Water withdrawal from all areas with water stress

The water usage for 2021 reached 11 million litres, which includes full operation of three new power plants grid connected in South Africa during 2020.

The source of water in South Africa is ground water and in Jordan municipal water (see illustration below).

GRI 303-3: water withdrawal from all areas with water stress

Water withdrawal (water-stressed areas)

Accounting Policy

We report on water extraction by source and volume for our operational projects located in water-stressed areas. Our projects in South Africa and Jordan are located in areas of medium or high-water risk as defined by the World Resources Institute’s “Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas” and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Water Risk Filter.