Environmental and Social Assessment and Management System:
Existing power generation assets in the UNIT portfolio have E&S management system (including policies and procedures, assigned E&S officers, monitoring and reporting scheme) generally in line with IFC Performance Standards.
UNIT’s operation to develop power generation projects and to manage their performance is conducted by a small group of project development professionals. At UNIT corporate level, senior management officers responsible for compliance and operations management are also assigned to cover E&S performance monitoring, but this is not clearly documented in UNIT’s Project Development Procedure. At each project company, a board member representing UNIT receives and reviews regular operational performance reports which include E&S aspects, and where significant E&S issues are identified, those are brought to UNIT senior management’s attention. As per ESAP Action No. 1, UNIT will include E&S impact identification and management elements into UNIT’s Project Development Procedure.
Policy:
The corporate level environmental policy of UNIT was published in 2008. With this policy, UNIT guarantees compliance with local laws and regulations, clear identification of direct and indirect risks and impacts and reduction of these impacts and risks. To achieve these objectives, the company is committed (i) to continuously improve its environmental performance and integrate applicable best practice into their business operations, (ii) to reduce their consumption of resources and improve efficiency in the use of those resources, (iii) to manage waste generated from their business operations according to the principles of reduction, reuse and recycling, (iv) to ensure environmental criteria are taken into account into the procurement of goods and services, and (v) to ensure that environmental considerations form part of their business planning and decision-making processes. Implementation of the policy objectives is the responsibility of all group employees, contractors, suppliers and vendors. As per ESAP Action No. 2, UNIT will strengthen their existing corporate environmental policy to include requirements of PS 1 (i.e. defining health and safety, and social principles and objectives of the company).
Identification of Risks and Impacts:
UNIT retains external consultancy companies for (i) identification of risks and impacts of its individual projects mostly in the form of environmental impact assessment (EIA) or environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA), (ii) monitoring of E&S performance during construction and operational phases of the projects and (iii) conducting E&S audits for compliance with local laws and regulations at the project level.
All operational and under construction projects have obtained governmental approval through EIA procedure except Boyabat HEPP, which was exempted from environmental assessment as the project was introduced before the
relevant EIA regulation was published. Nevertheless, an environmental assessment report (“Boyabat Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant, Environmental Assessment Report, 1998) was prepared by a local consultancy company so as to evaluate the environmental and social impacts of dam site and powerhouse of Boyabat HEPP and submitted to regulatory authorities for their information (before UNIT was involved in the project). Various feasibility studies were prepared for Boyabat HEPP project, including the first set of feasibility studies prepared in 1958, followed by updated technical and financial feasibility studies conducted by DSI (State Hydraulic Works) in 1979. DSI further updated the feasibility studies in 1986, and the project was subsequently transformed into a BOT project by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (MENR). The final design documents were submitted to EIGM (General Directorate of Energy Affairs) of the MENR in 2008 to proceed with the construction activities. In addition to DSI who was involved in the technical design of the project (including seismic risk and dam safety review), additional review was conducted by the owners’ engineer (Su Yapi – Yapi Teknik, and Hidrodizayn plus Lahmeyer) and the lenders’ engineer (Poyry plus Dolsar).
The above mentioned Environmental Assessment Report of 1998 for Boyabat Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant was prepared in line with the World Bank Operational Directive 4.01 and IFC’s Guidance for Preparation of Environmental Assessment, available at that time in 1990s.
The biomass cogeneration plant in Croatia and the wind power plant in Bulgaria were also exempt from local EIA procedures. However, for the biomass cogeneration plant in Croatia, UNIT conducted an environmental impact assessment, covering air, wastewater, and solid waste. As per ESAP Action No. 3, UNIT will review the latest E&S performance reports of these two companies to confirm that the E&S risks are managed in line with IFC Performance Standards or describing additional mitigation measures if needed.
For the Uni-Mar CCGT plant, UNIT retained Istanbul Technical University (Faculty of Civil Engineering) to carry out an environmental impact assessment (“Uni-MAR Enerji Yatirimlari A.S., Environmental Impact Assessment, Final Report, August 1994”). This EIA was approved by the Ministry of Environment on August 11, 1994. Uni-Mar is considering an option to increase the generation capacity of the plant as the period of BOT phase finishes in 2019. Uni-Mar will prepare and submit an EIA report if the capacity increase is above the limits defined in the local EIA regulation.
For Yeni Elektrik CCGT plant, UNIT retained a local consultant to carry out an environmental impact assessment (“900 MWe (1,580 MWt) Yeni Natural Gas Combined Cycle Power Plant Project, EIA Report, June 2010”). This EIA was approved by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization on July 16, 2010. A separate EIA for the associated transmission li
ne was prepared by TEIAS (Turkish Electricity Transmissions Company) and this was also approved on December 22, 2011.
Furthermore, UNIT will establish an EHS due diligence procedure for all new assets against national requirements, IFC Performance Standards and the IFC/World Bank Group Environmental Health and Safety Guideline requirements, as per the ESAP Action No. 4.
Management Programs:
UNIT has obtained certification for ISO 9001 quality management system at its operations at the corporate level. The projects that UNIT owns or has shares in are certified against ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 as described below:
Uni-Mar’s ESMS has been certified with ISO 14001:2004 (valid until 2015) and OHSAS 18001:2007 (valid until 2017) by NSF International Strategic Registrations. During the appraisal visit, it was observed that the ESMS is fully in place for the operations of Uni-Mar. Uni-Mar had an external audit by National Power Enerji for its Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) management systems certified with ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 in 2013, no major or minor non-conformities were identified.
In Yeni Elektrik, studies for establishment of the ESMS have been started in 2013 and necessary applications for certification with ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001 are being made. Full certification is expected in late 2014 or early 2015. According to the findings of the appraisal, many plans and procedures are developed to ensure implementation of an appropriate ESMS except that more concentration on environmental issues is required in risk identification matrix.
Boyabat HEPP’s ESMS has been recently certified with ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, OHSAS 18001:2007 and ISO 50001:2011 in April 2014 by TUV International Certification. A detailed risk assessment study has been done in October 2014 by an external consultant (AON Danismanlik Hizmetleri A.S.) for Boyabat HEPP operations. The study conducted an assessment of the power plant in terms of technical, occupational health and safety, fire safety and environmental risks. No major risks were identified by the study. The study provided recommendations mainly to further improve performance by continuing the current practice adopted at the plant.
Operations of Bagistas II are also recently certified with ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, OHSAS 18001:2007 and ISO 50001:2001 in August 2014 by TUV International Certification. The certificates are valid until 2017.
At the time of the appraisal, there was no information received regarding the management system at Prolez WPP. UNIT will ensure that the operations of Prolez are undertaken in compliance with IFC’s PSs requirements as well as IFC/WBG EHS Guidelines as per ESAP Action No. 3 described above. Similarly, UNIT will ensure that the ESMS for the operations of Babina Greda be established as soon as the operation is started and ensure that the system is in compliance with the requirements of IFC’s PSs and WBG
EHS Guidelines as per ESAP Action No. 5.
Additionally, UNIT’s corporate level ESMS will be strengthened significantly as part of this investment so that a more systematic approach can be integrated into UNIT’s operations to ensure full compliance with the requirements of IFC’s PSs and WBG EHS Guidelines through above mentioned ESAP Actions No. 1, No. 2 and No.4.
Organizational Capacity and Competency:
There are no dedicated corporate level environmental, health and safety (EHS) officers at UNIT. At each plant there are either dedicated personnel with sufficient experience and education for managing environment and OHS issues or an external consultancy mobilized for this purpose, depending on the type and scale of the operations in place. Relevant issues are raised to the Technical Director and senior management at the project level. All EHS issues are forwarded to the Internal Audit and Risk Management department and raised in the board meetings or steering committee meetings if anything significant occurs.
As per ESAP item No. 6, UNIT will appoint or contract a dedicated (i) Quality, Environmental, Health and Safety Coordinator at corporate level, with relevant expertise and experience in managing E&S issues of company assets and (ii) Social Development Specialist for managing the social impacts and stakeholder engagement of the projects UNIT invests in and the overall corporate level social performance / stakeholder engagement / disclosure of information (e.g. corporate website, sustainability reports) of the portfolio projects.
UNIT will strengthen the coordination of environmental, health and safety training programs between at each of the invested projects and at corporate level and ensure that the contents and frequency are relevant to the type and scale of the project and in compliance with IFC’s PS requirements as per the attached ESAP Action No. 7.
Emergency Preparedness and Response:
Based on the appraisal information provided by UNIT, most of the company’s projects have emergency preparedness and response plans in various forms depending on the type and scale of the project risks. For example, at Boyabat HEPP, an Emergency Procedure was developed to cover the dam and HEPP project site and the central office in Istanbul. This procedure is supported by the list of emergency teams and equipment, and the evacuation plan prepared for the HEPP. The procedure includes the emergency situations such as fire, natural disaster (i.e. earthquake and flood), chemical spill and sabotage. The procedure defines the responsibilities of the emergency chief, control team, fire-fighting team, site security team, first aid team and rescue team. The procedure includes communication systems, emergency response methods, training needs and reporting requirements. The procedure also describes how internal and external communication will be provided during the emergency cases.
Similarly at Bagistas II HEPP, an Emergency Response Pl
an was developed in January 2014 by the plant management officers covering emergency cases such as fire, natural disasters and sabotage. In addition, as part of the OHS Risk Analysis conducted by Aksiyon Consultancy, an additional Emergency Response Plan was developed covering emergency situations including fire, occupational accidents and incidents, earthquake, sabotage, food poisoning, flood, chemical spills, working at height, collapse and demolition, machinery and equipment failure, explosion and flame, storm, and lighting and thunderbolt. Integration of these two plans is being conducted at Bagistas II HEPP.
UNIT will ensure that all the emergency preparedness and response plans are in place at UNIT invested projects in accordance with the requirements of IFC’s PSs as per ESAP Action No. 8.
Monitoring and Review:
Periodic and unplanned external and internal monitoring activities are conducted at each of UNIT’s plant operations. The findings are forwarded to senior management, mostly in the annual management review meetings. The consolidated results collected by the Internal Auditing and Risk Management department at the corporate level are discussed at board or steering committee meetings. UNIT will establish a corporate level E&S monitoring and review procedure covering definition of the flow of information from project level to corporate level, identification of key performance indicators (KPIs) to be followed up, targets and objectives set and review frequency of information etc in accordance with the requirements of IFC’s PSs as per ESAP Action No. 9.