Global Reporting Initiative

Environmental Performance Indicators

Degree of compliance with GRI standard disclosures

entièrement couvert Standard disclosure fully covered partiellement couvert Standard disclosure partially covered non couvert Standard disclosure not covered
GRI no. Standard disclosures References and notes
Management approach
fully coveredEnergy

At Hydro-Québec, all activities that have a significant impact on the environment are covered by ISO 14001-certified environmental management systems. These systems apply various guidance tools: operational procedures, training and environmental management programs, and objectives and targets. The most senior manager of each business unit involved is responsible for ensuring EMS compliance.
fully coveredWater

At Hydro-Québec, all activities that have a significant impact on the environment are covered by ISO 14001–certified environmental management systems. These systems apply various guidance tools: operational procedures, training and environmental management programs, and objectives and targets. The most senior manager of each business unit involved is responsible for ensuring EMS compliance.
fully coveredBiodiversity

At Hydro-Québec, all activities that have a significant impact on the environment are covered by ISO 14001–certified environmental management systems. These systems apply various guidance tools: operational procedures, training and environmental management programs, and objectives and targets. The most senior manager of each business unit involved is responsible for ensuring EMS compliance.
fully coveredEmissions, effluents and waste

At Hydro-Québec, all activities that have a significant impact on the environment are covered by ISO 14001–certified environmental management systems. These systems apply various guidance tools: operational procedures, training and environmental management programs, and objectives and targets. The most senior manager of each business unit involved is responsible for ensuring EMS compliance.
fully coveredProducts and services

At Hydro-Québec, all activities that have a significant impact on the environment are covered by ISO 14001–certified environmental management systems. These systems apply various guidance tools: operational procedures, training and environmental management programs, and objectives and targets. The most senior manager of each business unit involved is responsible for ensuring EMS compliance.
fully coveredCompliance

At Hydro-Québec, all activities that have a significant impact on the environment are covered by ISO 14001–certified environmental management systems. These systems apply various guidance tools: operational procedures, training and environmental management programs, and objectives and targets. The most senior manager of each business unit involved is responsible for ensuring EMS compliance.
fully coveredTransport

At Hydro-Québec, all activities that have a significant impact on the environment are covered by ISO 14001–certified environmental management systems. These systems apply various guidance tools: operational procedures, training and environmental management programs, and objectives and targets. The most senior manager of each business unit involved is responsible for ensuring EMS compliance.
not coveredOverall (environmental expenditure) Confidential information
Materials
partialy covered EN1 Materials used by weight or volume.
partialy covered EN2 Percentage of materials used that are recycled input materials.
Energy
fully covered EN3 Direct energy consumption by primary energy source. Water is the main primary energy source used by Hydro-Québec to generate electricity. According to this indicator's calculation method, Hydro-Québec would have a negative consumption of several billion GJ. In fact, most of the electricity sold by Hydro-Québec does not require any GJ consumption. The only portion of the company's electricity that does involve GJ consumption comes from fossil fuel combustion in Hydro-Québec's facilities or from our purchases of fossil-fuel-based electricity from Canadian or American producers.
not covered EN4 Indirect energy consumption by primary source. This indicator does not apply to Hydro-Québec since the electricity the company purchases is entirely intended for resale and not to meet the company's needs. However, Hydro-Québec can provide customers with information to allow them to calculate the atmospheric emissions linked to their purchases.
partialy covered EN5 Energy saved due to conservation and efficiency improvements.
fully covered EN6 Initiatives to provide energy-efficient or renewable energy based products and services, and reductions in energy requirements as a result of these initiatives.
partialy covered EN7 Initiatives to reduce indirect energy consumption and reductions achieved.
Water
not covered EN8 Total water withdrawal by source.

Hydroelectric power generation does not necessitate the withdrawal of water, and thus there is no discharge, either. Hydro-Québec has only two generating stations whose operations involve the withdrawal of water: Tracy thermal generating station and Gentilly-2 nuclear generating station.

Hydro-Québec does not release any information regarding this indicator, since it considers such information to be confidential.
not covered EN9 Water sources significantly affected by withdrawal of water. Indicator does not apply to Hydro-Québec.
not covered EN10 Percentage and total volume of water recycled and reused.

Data not available
Biodiversity
partially covered EN11 Location and size of land owned, leased or managed in or adjacent to protected areas and areas of high biodiversity value outside protected areas. 
 Hydro-Québec operates 33,000 km of high-voltage lines and 112,000 km of distribution lines that cross farmland, forests, residential districts and urban areas. To control vegetation in these line corridors, we have adopted a number of environmental strategies that take into account the type of land involved. To supply its hydroelectric fleet, Hydro-Québec operates 26 large reservoirs, having a total area of 23,000 km2. »
fully covered EN12 Description of significant impacts of activities, products, and services on biodiversity in protected areas and areas of high biodiversity value outside protected areas.
partialy covered EN13 Habitats protected or restored.
fully covered EN14 Strategies, current actions, and future plans for managing impacts on biodiversity.
partialy covered EN15 Number of IUCN Red List species and national conservation list species with habitats in areas affected by operations, by level of extinction risk. 
 Hydro-Québec closely monitors species at risk as part of its infrastructure projects and operating activities. In Québec, 38 animal species and 68 plant species have been designated as threatened or vulnerable according to the Act respecting threatened or vulnerable species. Species are designated at risk by federal and provincial government authorities and such designations are based on scientific evaluations that take IUCN designations into consideration. Hydro-Québec is participating in eight provincial restoration teams that are working on protecting 12 threatened or at-risk wildlife species.
Emissions, effluents and waste
fully covered EN16 Total direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by weight.

GHG emissions other than CO2–HFC, SF6 and PFC (including CF4)–released by the company represent only a small percentage of overall emissions.

Two HFC spills were reported in 2010, for a total of 236 kg.
partialy covered EN17 Other relevant indirect greenhouse gas emissions by weight.
fully covered EN18 Initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reductions achieved.
  • Sustainability Report 2010, p. 14 (energy efficiency of Hydro-Québec's facilities), p. 20-21 (emissions from vehicle fleet), 39-40 (transportation electrification)
partialy covered EN19 Emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) by weight.

Hydro-Québec does not measure ODS emissions resulting from normal operations. However, with the gradual replacement, at the end of its service life, of equipment that contains CFCs and HCFCs, ODS consumption by Hydro-Québec goes down every year. Thirteen CFC and HCFC spills were reported in 2010, for a total of 701 kg.

The halon inventory stands at 10,088 kg, down 82% from 2002.

fully covered EN20 NO, SO, and other significant air emissions by type and weight.

The 2009 data on criteria air contaminant (CAC) emissions from Hydro-Québec's thermal generating stations have been made public in the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) on the Environment Canada Web site.
not covered EN21 Total water discharge by quality and destination.

Hydroelectric power generation does not necessitate the withdrawal of water, and thus there is no discharge, either. Hydro-Québec has only two generating stations whose operations involve the withdrawal of water: Tracy thermal generating station and Gentilly-2 nuclear generating station.

Hydro-Québec does not release any information regarding this indicator, since it considers such information to be confidential.
partialy covered EN22 Total weight of waste by type and disposal method.
fully covered EN23 Total number and volume of significant spills.
partialy covered EN24 Weight of transported, imported, exported, or treated waste deemed hazardous under the terms of the Basel Convention Annex I, II, III, and VIII, and percentage of transported waste shipped internationally. Residual hazardous materials (RHMs) produced by Hydro-Québec are sent to authorized transfer centres in Québec. Any transfer centres that then export a portion of these materials do so as RHM export sites. The following materials are processed outside Québec: PCB (shipped by SANEXEN to Ontario and Alberta) and SF6 gas (shipped by AREVA T&D CANADA Inc. to Tennessee, U.S.A.).
partialy covered EN25 Identity, size, protected status, and biodiversity value of water bodies and related habitats significantly affected by the reporting organization's discharges of water and runoff. Hydroelectric power generation does not necessitate the withdrawal of water, and thus there is no discharge, either.

Hydro-Québec has only two generating stations whose operations involve the withdrawal of water: Tracy thermal generating station and Gentilly-2 nuclear generating station.

Products and services
fully covered EN26 Initiatives to mitigate environmental impacts of products and services, and extent of impact mitigation.
not covered EN27 Percentage of products sold and their packaging materials that are reclaimed by category. Indicator does not apply to Hydro-Québec's type of business.
Compliance
fully covered EN28 Monetary value of significant fines and total number of nonmonetary sanctions for noncompliance with environmental laws and regulations. Hydro-Québec was not subject to any sanctions for noncompliance with environmental legislation nor any significant fines for environmental violations in 2010.
Transport
partialy covered EN29 Significant environmental impacts of transporting products and other goods and materials used for the organization's operations, and transporting members of the workforce.
Overall
not covered EN30 Total environmental protection expenditures and investments by type. Hydro-Québec takes part in Statistics Canada's biennial Survey of Environmental Protection Expenditures (SEPE). Information reported to Statistics Canada is confidential.

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