Eco-certificate for Kaprun

Today, Monday, VERBUND, Austria’s biggest power producer, was awarded the eco-certificate for the Glockner-Kaprun storage power station group for carrying out the eco-audit successfully and introducing an environmental management system.

In recent years, VERBUND, Austria’s biggest producer of renewable energy, introduced internationally valid environmental management systems (EMS) that are audited by independent experts. Since 1995, pilot projects, so-called type audits, have been carried out for different types of plants. For the storage power stations it was the pilot project " Glockner-Kaprun Eco-Audit". A special feature of this audit was the assessment of the complex environmental aspects of this power station located in an ecologically sensitive alpine region.

The eco-audits, which are carried out on a voluntary basis and on one’s own authority, are carried out simultaneously under the internationally valid environmental standard, ISO 14001, and the EMAS regulation, which is valid in the whole European economic area (EEA).

The Council’s EMAS regulation (Environmental Management and Audit Scheme; EEC No. 1836/93 for voluntary participation of business enterprises in a common system for environmental management and eco-audits) is a guide ensuring that a standard recognized in all EU countries is reached when an environmental management system is introduced. A company’s environmental commitment is appraised and improved continuously thereafter, including a more intensive involvement of the employees.