Endesa is adapting 4,200 overhead line supports to protect avifauna

Workers modify a support to protect birds.
  • e-distribución, a subsidiary of Redes de Endesa, installed bird-saving beacons on 35 kilometres of lines last year.
  • Endesa has signed bird protection agreements with the Regional Governments of Aragón, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Andalusia and Catalonia to reduce the risk of electrocution and birds colliding with power lines.

Last year, e-distribución, Endesa's network subsidiary, undertook the reform and insulation of more than 4,200 supports on overhead lines to minimise the risk of electrocution for birds and installed bird-saving beacons on 35 kilometres of lines to reduce the risk of birds colliding with them. These actions enable e-distribución to make progress in the reduction of risk from the electricity grid for birds in Andalusia, Extremadura, Catalonia, Aragón, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, areas where it operates as a distribution company.

Actions to protect avifauna include both preventive and corrective measures. The new lines have been designed taking into account the flight corridors of birds, with new components and designs that will reduce the impact of the network on local species, minimising the risk of birds colliding with the cables and eliminating the risk of electrocution in the towers to which these cables are attached. With regard to the existing network, each year the lines where corrections are a priority are analysed, taking into account the preferential actions established by each Autonomous Community.

These adjustments consist firstly of the installation of anti-collision beacons that are placed on the lines to make them more visible and enable the birds to modify their flight path to avoid colliding with the lines. Endesa has implemented an innovative system for placing beacons on power lines using drones, which enables the operation to be performed in complete safety and in most cases also avoids cutting off the power while the devices are being installed

In addition to the measures to prevent birds from colliding with the lines during flight, the protection actions seek to minimise the risk of electrocution when the birds land on the power line supports. The adaptation of the supports for the lines enables a safe distance between the bird and the elements carrying current to be kept so as to prevent birds from touching two "live" elements (such as the tower and a cable) simultaneously. The actions developed to minimise the risk of electrocution include lining the cables and insulating the High and Medium Voltage towers.

Collaboration with the Autonomous Communities.

Endesa's subsidiary has signed collaboration agreements for the protection of avifauna with the Regional Governments of Andalusia, Aragón, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and Catalonia, which will enable the planning and execution the adaptation of priority lines and support consensually with the competent bodies.

In Andalusia, there is an Agreement in force with the Ministry of Environment and Territorial Planning of the Regional Government of Andalusia for the protection of sensitive avifauna which during the past year has enabled work to continue on the adaptation of the supports for power lines and the placement of beacons to prevent birds from colliding with them. Supports were also adapted within the framework of the red kite reintroduction project in the provinces of Huelva and Badajoz and two nest boxes for bats were placed in the Aracena y Picos de Aroche Nature Reserve.

In Aragón, an Avifauna Protection Agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Environment is in force. Endesa is also participating in the LIFE project "Iberian corridors for the bearded vulture (2022-2026)", for the reintroduction of the bearded vulture in the Maestrazgo Area.

In the Balearic Islands, a Collaboration Agreement is in force with the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Territory of the Balearic Island Regional Government. E-distribución has also collaborated with the European Project Aquila a-LIFE for the recovery of Bonelli's eagle, and with other recovery projects for a number of species of raptors in the islands, focussing on the modification and adaptation of those supports considered to be dangerous for birds of prey.

In the Canary Islands, last year saw the completion of the corrections to the supports envisaged in the LIFE Egyptian Vulture project for the protection of the Egyptian vulture in the Canary Islands and in Italy that began in 2017, in which Enel's subsidiary, e-Distribuzione, is also participating together with a number of Canary Island and Italian administrations.

In 2022, corrections were also made in support of a number of medium-voltage power lines in Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Lanzarote, as part of an Agreement signed in 2018 with the Ministry of Territorial Policy, Sustainability and Security of the Regional Government of the Canary Islands, whose validity was extended until 31 December 2024. Bird-saving beacons were also placed to prevent birds colliding with power lines, distributed between the islands of Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Tenerife, La Gomera and El Hierro.

In Catalonia, the Collaboration Agreement with the Regional Government of Catalonia remains in force to protect threatened bird species by adapting network supports under a criterion of sustainability.

Within the scope of the Endesa Group's Biodiversity Conservation Plan in Catalonia, outstanding actions were undertaken to signal lines in the Pallars Sobirà region, and in the Garraf Nature Reserve. During the past year, there have been two other outstanding actions: Signalling on the Rocablanca line (Pallars Sobirà) that is part of a project being developed with the entity Paisatges Vius for the protection of the capercaillie in the Pyrenees, and the tagging of 12 specimens of eagle owl in different parts of the territory. This project is being developed with the entity Birding Natura and aims to analyse the behaviour of this species and its relationship with power lines, by using radio tracking information for a number of specimens.

 

About Endesa

Endesa is the largest electricity company in Spain and the second largest in Portugal. The company is also the second largest gas operator in the Spanish market. Endesa operates an end-to-end generation, distribution and marketing business. Through Endesa X it also offers value-added services aimed at the electrification of energy usage in homes, companies, industries and Public Administrations. A new business line has also been created, Endesa X Way, fully dedicated to electric mobility. Endesa is firmly committed to the United Nations SDGs and strongly supports the development of renewable energies through Enel Green Power España, the digitalisation of grids through e-distribution, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The Endesa Foundation is also active in CSR-related matters. Our workforce numbers around 9,260 employees. Endesa is a division of Enel, the largest electricity group in Europe.

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