Health impacts: In 2018, a report by Europe Beyond Coal found EPH to be the second most harmful coal company to health in Europe. EPH operates a major share of the lignite power plants in Germany, which have negative health impacts on communities living in close proximity to the plants. The report links an estimated 1,460 premature deaths to EPH’s operations in 2016, along with other respiratory and cardiovascular diseases caused by the company’s activities.

In 2012, EPH’s subsidiary Biomasse Crotone, which operates two biomass power plants in Southern Italy, was sued by local farmers for lack of compliance with air pollution monitoring policies. They also reported a high incidence of tumours and lung diseases in the area, later confirmed by the regional healthcare agency.

In October 2022, Biomasse Crotone among other energy companies was accused of illegal waste trafficking, association with criminal groups and fraud against the Italian National Energy Service Manager (Gse). Until 2017, their plants were allegedly burning wood chip biomass mixed with rubbish and waste, such as tar, asphalt and tires, releasing toxic substances and harming the health of nearby communities.

Carbon emissions: EPH is Europe’s third most polluting power utility, with annual coal CO2 emissions of about 62.5 million tonnes CO2 in 2021 – nearly as much as Italy’s entire power sector. In 2019, EPH was estimated to be responsible for about 11% of all coal-related CO2 emissions in the EU. According to the 2022 Global Coal Exit List, EPH’s annual thermal coal production is 37.5MT. Of the power it produces, 32% is generated by coal.

EPH claims to be a leader in decarbonisation, and it has committed to reduce its CO2 emissions from existing power plants by 60% by 2030, as well as to reaching net zero emissions by 2050. However, it has been consistently acquiring coal plants and prolonging their lifespan. EPH acquired Vattenfall's lignite German power plants in 2016, among the top CO2 polluters in the EU. Between 2019 and 2022 the group acquired coal assets in Germany and France, gas-fired plants in the Netherlands, thermal power plants in Ireland, and biomass power plants in Italy. While such deals are often justified by the seller as efforts to reduce their own exposure to CO2 emissions, they routinely result in plants staying operational for longer. Companies should rather take responsibility for closing down their coal and biomass projects, while engaging in site rehabilitation.

Coal to biomass conversion: EPH operates a significant number of biomass-fired plants and is converting more coal-powered plants to biomass. The IPCC has said that biomass emits more carbon emissions than almost any other fuels. According to a recent report by Fern, EPH is projected to burn about 4.2 million tons of wood in its biomass and coal power plants in 2022 alone, corresponding to 6.2 million tons of CO2. Burning this amount of wood will, however, only produce around 4.5 GWh of electricity which is only 5.3% of Czechia’s estimated power consumption.

Converting coal plants to biomass is among EPH’s main “decarbonisation” strategies. One example is the reopening of the Gardanne plant in France in February 2022, after an investment of 300 million euros.

Forest destruction: Burning wood for energy not only exacerbates climate change through increased carbon emissions, it also drives forest destruction around the world. EPH holds all or a majority of the shares of 11 biomass plants in Czech Republic, UK, Italy, France and Slovakia, which burn wood chips or pellets from various logging companies in Central Europe. EPH claims to source wood from local and national suppliers, as well as from wood remainders of local forests, but its biomass supply chains lack transparency. Biomass power plants operated by EPH in the UK and Italy have been linked to unsustainable forestry practices. The huge demand for biomass has been boosting the growth of the European logging sector, dominated by companies such as Graanul Invest, the largest European pellet producer which is also involved in unsustainable forestry practices including logging in protected forests.

A 2022 Italian investigation found that about 1 million tons of wood is burned every year by EPH’s two biomass power plants in Calabria, Italy: the Crotone and Strongoli plants operated by EPH subsidiary Biomasse Crotone. Although detailed information is not made available by Biomasse Crotone, over half of the ships of wood chips that arrive in the harbour which serves these plants arrive from Tuscany, central Italy. Wood biomass producers in this region are routinely accused of causing biodiversity loss, soil degradation and preventing forest regeneration through irresponsible logging practices. In 2022, illegal logging was also reported near the EPH plants in Calabria and attributed to biomass sourcing, leading to a series of arrests and ongoing investigations.

In 2016, EPH acquired the Lynemouth power station in the UK, the second biggest biomass plant in the UK after Drax. Around 1.6 million tonnes of wood pellets are burned in Lynemouth a year. These wood pellets are supplied by Pinnacle Renewable Energy (that was recently acquired by Drax) and Enviva. Both of these wood pellet suppliers use unsustainable forestry practices, including clear-cutting forests, using whole trees to make pellets and damaging protected forest areas.

Wood biomass is associated with high rates of deforestation as well as monocultures of various crops. There is a growing body of evidence that shows the connection between deforestation and an increased risk for disease outbreaks and pandemics. For example, monocultures like eucalyptus plantations reduce biodiversity leaving species like rats and mosquitoes, which are more likely to spread dangerous pathogens, to thrive. This biodiversity decline results in a loss of natural disease regulation and poses a risk for human, animal and environmental health.