The HSE Group follows the main strategic guidelines of the state and the European Union in the field of sustainable development. Our activities are directed towards the implementation of economically viable investments in new production facilities which enable the exploitation of renewable sources and considerably reduce CO2 emissions per unit of produced electricity, while increasing the added value of the HSE Group.
In the field of sustainable development of energy, the HSE Group has been pursuing since its very beginnings the planned environmental policy, which can be summarised in the following basic points:
- respecting all legal norms and recommendations,
- reducing the environmental impact of production and consumption of energy,
- increasing the share of production from renewable sources of energy,
- introducing best available technologies in order to minimise the environmental impact,
- saving energy and using it efficiently and managing cost-effective methods for storing energy,
- preserving and upgrading an optimal structure of production sources,
- maintaining optimal utilisation of domestic energy sources,
- sustainable siting of large power production facilities while taking into account the NATURA 2000 network of nature protection areas,
- reliability of supply,
- building partner relationships with local communities and jointly solving environmental problems, and planning sustainable development of production of electricity,
- achieving sustainable operation and development of energy capacities,
- regular monitoring of environmental parameters,
- regular maintenance of reservoirs (removal of driftwood and deposits),
- sustainable management of water infrastructure and
- planned protection and rescue in the case of high waters (care for minimisation of the environmental impact of the production of electricity and protecting the population living near waters from floods).
All companies in the HSE Group which produce electricity, as well as the parent company, have the international quality certificate ISO 9001 and the international environmental certificate ISO 14001. The consistent respect of the certificates ensures the safe and environmentally friendly production of electricity in all hydro power facilities. With environmental rehabilitation, upgrades and the new, modern generator 6, the Šoštanj Thermal Power Plant (TEŠ) has also achieved a more environmentally friendly level, while the nearby Premogovnik Velenje, which supplies the TEŠ, was among the first coal mines in the world to have comprehensive and responsible environmental management under the requirements of this standard.