EPDs for Green Electricity

29th May 2018

With the publication of the first solar power EPD in February, the International EPD® System has now published robust, quantified reports on the environmental impacts of all the key forms of “green” electricity.

Chilean firm Acciona Energia prepared the first solar power EPD, covering electricity generated in photovoltaic power plant El Romero Solar, located in the Atacama Desert.

Swedish firm Vattenfall AB published the first EPD for hydro as far back as 2005, and since then EPDs have also been published for hydropower facilities in Norway and Switzerland.

Collectively, Vattenfall AB, Iberdrola SA of Space and Siemens Gamesa have published eleven EPDs for onshore wind farm facilities throughout Europe and the UK in the last decade.

Swiss company Axpo AG published the first EPD for a nuclear power plant in 2008. Vattenfall AB followed in 2016 with an EPD for their Nordic Nuclear Power Plants.

Even less common forms of “green” energy have now had EPDs published, with Axpo AG publishing EPDs for wood-fired, gas turbine and biowaste treatment power plants.

Each of these EPDs provides a robustly quantified, full life cycle measure of the environmental impacts of 1kWh of electricity generated. With the impacts of construction, acquisition, operation and end-of-life all considered, EPD holders are able to compare their impacts to other forms of energy, make informed decisions and provide credible information to the world about their own environmental advantages.