Since 2008, the Company has been annually implementing the Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP) as a part of its Investment Program and in accordance with the Policy of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with regard to projects financed by the EBRD.

Environmental and Social Action Plan is a public document which provides information of the actions aimed at improvement of environmental performance of the Company and labor protection at the enterprises of “PAVLODARENERGO” JSC. Within the frameworks of the ESAP the Company annually provides a public report on the implemented activities.

All the Company’s enterprises operate on the basis of legally approved limits of maximum permissible emissions. “PAVLODARNERGO” JSC was one of the first companies in Kazakhstan that obtained a certificate on its compliance with international environmental standards of ISO 14000 series.

In the near future it is planned to carry out the recertification to confirm the Company’s compliance with ISO 14000 standard (the Environmental Management System) and to prepare to ISO 9001 (the Quality Management System), OHSAS 18001 (the Occupational Health and Safety Management System) and ISO/1EC17025:2005 (General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories) certification.

Environmental pollution prevention is a determinant for all decisions made in respect of business activities during heat and electricity production. When introducing new technologies, their environmental impact and the efficiency of energy and natural resources utilization are evaluated.

Environmental Policy of the Company is developed and implemented in compliance with the Environmental Safety Conception of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2004-2015, Environmental Code and ISO 14000 standards on the basis of the objectives set forth in the consolidated Environmental and Social Action Plan that has been developed within the Group of the companies of “Central-Asian Electric Power Corporation” JSC.

• During 2009–2013, reconstruction of dust extraction plants (DEPs) with installation of the battery emulsifiers of the 2nd generation at all stations was completed. At CHP-2 DEPs were installed at four boiler units (№2, №3, №4 and №5), at CHP-3 there were six boiler units equipped with DEPs (№1, №2, №3, №4, №5 and №6), and at Ekibastuz CHP DEPs were installed at four boilers (№5, №7, №8 and №9).The implemented actions allowed reduction of air emissions, increasing of purification level, and, as a result, cost saving. Based on the reported data for 2009, the purification rate reached 97.6%. After the installation of battery emulsifiers at all boiler units the purification rate will be increased up to 99.5%.
• The Company completed construction of new ash dumps for Pavlodar CHP-2 and CHP-3with the aim to ensure a continuous technological cycle of the station and ash and slag wastes storage. Implementing the projects will allow in future to build up the dams of the ash dumps, which will increase storage capacity of the ash dumps and their future use for storage of ash and slag wastes. Upon completion of the ash dump exploitation the area is to be recultivated. The scope of works for soil recultivation is carried out in two steps, or stages: the first one is technical recultivation, and the second one is biological recultivation.  The first stage includes covering the restored area with inorganic soil, the layer of which is 20 cm thick,  followed by a layer of vegetable soil up to 15 cm thick. The second stage is sowing of perennial grass. The grass cover facilitates to ash dump merging with the surrounding landscape, prevents erosion and contributes to top soil humification.

Consumption of the fuel for production of 1 Gigacalorie will decrease by 3 kg of standard fuel due to modernization of boiler and turbine equipment at the Company’s stations.

“PAVLODARENERGO” JSC has Environmental Management System which comply with the international standards and legally approved limits of maximum permissible emissions.

The Company obtained a certificate of compliance with ISO 14001:2004 international standard., the Environmental Management System   in compliance with ISO 14001 is a part of a general management system, which includes the organizational structure, planning of activities, assignment of responsibility, practical work, as well as procedures, processes and resources for development, introduction, and assessment of the achieved results of implementation and improvement of IMS policy, tasks and objectives. The Environmental Management System organized in compliance with the principles of ISO 14001:2004 international standards helps to improve management of environmental aspects of the enterprise, which allows signification reduction in expenses for energy and feedstock, processing and disposal of wastes. The probability of emergency risks and associated losses is decreased significantly thanks to the total control of the Company’s environmental activity.

• Mitigation of negative environmental impacts;
• Increasing environmental efficiency of the Company’s activities;
• Increasing economic efficiency of the Company’s activities;
• Reduction of waste generation and waste processing.

• Planning of environmental activity which makes it possible to arrange in order and classify actions aimed at achievement of environmental goals.
• Organization of internal and external environmental activity. This means implementation of scheduled and unscheduled (additional) actions aimed at minimization of material and energy resources consumption and pollutants discharge (emissions, wastes, the use of extremely hazardous substances and materials, etc.).
• Personnel incentives, which allow involving the Company’s personnel into activities in respect of environmental protection and sustainable use of natural resources.
• Internal environmental monitoring and ecological control  aimed at upfront detection of improper operation of the Company and its deviation from the targeted performance indicators.
• The analysis and evaluation of environmental performance. Ensuring managerial decisions referred to the enterprise’s environmental performance through selection of indicators, data collection and analysis, assessment of information with respect to environmental efficiency, reporting and information sharing, as well as revision and improvement of this procedure on a periodic basis.

In order to meet the requirements of Technical Regulations and minimize impact of the enterprise’s operations on the environment and health the “PAVLODARENERGO” JSC Group developed environmental protection measures for maximum possible environmental emission reduction. An improved flue gas purification system with the installation of Panarin battery emulsifiers of the 2^nd generation was developed and implemented at CHPs, which allows reaching 99.5% of purification instead of earlier achieved 97%.

Modernization of fly ash collectors made it possible to decrease coal ash concentration down to 250-300 mg/m3 and to reduce the volume of sulfur dioxides without any additive components by 5% to 15%. In order to minimize the environmental and health impact of the enterprise’s production activity, the environmental protection measures were developed and agreed with the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan regarding environmental protection for the period of validity of a permit for environmental emissions.

In 2015, the construction of protective dams of CHP-2 and CHP-3 ash dumps (the 2nd section) was completed. The construction of a new ash-disposal pit with the use of a special film, geomembrane, allows achieving 100% waterproofing. This is a reliable and durable impervious screen ensuring protection of surface and ground water against contamination due to chemical components contained in the used water. Technical effect from this measure is the production load-carrying ability of the Company as soon as it would not be possible to produce electric energy and provide heat energy without an ash dump.

In 2016, works were continued at the mentioned ash dumps in respect of the following project designs: construction of access roads, lighting, drilling of monitoring wells, construction and finishing works at drain water pumping stations, reconstruction of clarified water pumping stations by replacing electrical and technological equipment, commencement of construction of drain pavilions.

In 2016, the Company continued construction of the 2^nd section of Ekibastuz CHP ash dump at Ekibastuz CHP on the floor of Tuz Lake under one of the major investment projects, which is the construction of new ash dumps for “PAVLODARENERGO” JSC, which was started in 2009. Works on building-up the dams of the 2^nd section of CHP-3 ash dump were started since it is necessary for increasing  the storage capacity of the existing ash dump before the construction of the 3^rd section of CHP-3 ash dump for storing ash and slag wastes generated during the production operation.

Reconstruction of turbine unit №6 of Т-100/120-130-3 type of CHP-3 with the replacement of the high pressure cylinder, the medium pressure cylinder and the generator) was commenced in order to increase the electric and heat output from the CHP-3 energy source to meet the needs of the current and projected consumers, as well as to enhance reliability if electricity, steam and heat supply to consumers.     

The installed capacity of turbine unit №6 after the reconstruction will increase from 110 MW up to 125 MW. The capacity gain after the reconstruction will make 15 MW.

The additional electric energy generation will reach 97.5 mln kWh on an annual basis with the total operating time of 6,500 hours per year. The reconstruction of turbine unit №6 of Т-100/120-130-3 type will allow decreasing gross heat rate by 500-900 rWh per 1 Gcal depending on the mode of operation of the turbine unit, which, in its turn, will reduce specific standard fuel consumption down to 3-5 g/kWh. Ultimately, it will help to reduce emissions of hazardous substances in the air of the city.

With putting into operation of the turbine unit №6, the electric load of CHP-3 will increase by 15 MW and make 555 MW. This measure is to be accomplished in 2018. The project provides for the consumption of fresh industrial water for makeup of the existing recirculated water system during operation of the designed facility. Circulating water is used for cooling of a turbine’s condensers and  auxiliary equipment of turbine unit №6, while the volume of water needed for cooling purposes shall be decreased at the cost of the  installation of an air-cooled generator. 

In 2016, the 1st section of CHP-2 ash dump was recultivated. In order to prevent dusting from the surface of the used ash dump section works were carried out according to the project on creation of a protective layer consisting of clay sand and grass seeds; the access to the area was organized. The filled-in section was covered with the protective layer of native sandy-loam soil 0.5 m thick and the regrassing of the area was implemented.  During recultivation the Company carried out a series of actions to minimize the environmental impact of CHP-2 ash dump recultivation: usage of the developed land sources, moistening of the territory and the roads, covering the dump truck bodies while transporting granular or dusty materials.