In the fight against massive fraud in Seville 983 supplies have been inspected and in 54% there was fraud

So far this year, Endesa has taken 15 actions against massive fraud in Seville in collaboration with the State security forces, all because of the risk that this type of action entails for the electricity company's technicians.

Endesa's network subsidiary, e-distribución, has a specific department in the fight against fraud that takes this type. This is a human team that works every day to ensure that customers with a contract in force are not affected by the consequences of massive fraud. This fraudulent practice causes the networks to become saturated and there are power cuts as a result of the electricity being cut off in order to avoid fires.

This team of technicians works in collaboration with the Security Forces, since every day they receive threats because of their work. This year there have already been 15 actions involving the analysis of 983 supply points. The latest massive intervention was on 11 July and in 529 cases (53%) fraud was detected.

These actions are being taken in the neighbourhoods in the city of Seville most affected by the overloads to the network that cause power cuts. These include La Plata where there have been 218 inspections of supply points with fraud detected in 61 of them, Polígono Sur with 533 inspections and 404 cases of fraud, and Palmete with 232 supply points inspected with 64 cases of fraud.

As a result of these actions, there is a decrease in electricity consumption of up to 60%, which means the installations can then operate normally. Endesa's technicians collaborate with the Security Forces when they take action against illegal marijuana plantations by providing them with the technical knowledge required to deal with these manipulated electrical installations. So far this year, there have been 72 interventions of this type in collaboration with the security forces, resulting in the detection of 25 marijuana plantations in Seville.

In the fight against fraud, Endesa is also applying the latest technology by installing power detectors in transformers and using big data to make fraud detection more accurate. These measures are essential since fraud is becoming more sophisticated every day which makes detection more complicated.

These measures taken by Endesa's network subsidiary, e-distribución, are in addition to the specific reinforcement actions that have been implemented in the last year. These include the installation of 9 new transformers in these neighbourhoods, which have doubled the power available in these areas that already had sufficient installations given their size with regard to population.

With the aim of alleviating the problems experienced by residents with a contract in force in these areas where the distribution networks are saturated by fraud, in the last month the company has undertaken reinforcement actions in the Amate neighbourhood with the installation of 1,600 metres of new low-voltage wiring, in the La Plata area in the Calle Ingeniero La Cierva with 800 metres of new wiring that benefits the surrounding Luis Vives and Joaquín Sorolla districts, in the Calle Azorín and Calle Carlos Martel with 400 metres of new wiring to strengthen the installations and distribute power within the area, in the Calle Ortega y Gasset and Calle Cicerón where power sharing actions have been completed, in the Calle Tres Forca where 720 metres of new low-voltage wiring have been installed, in the Calle Diagonal and Calle Tocina with 680 metres of new wiring for the same purpose, in Padre Pío with the installation of 240 metres of new low-voltage wiring, in the district of Palmete between the Calle Afecto, Calle Felicidad and Calle Sinceridad where they have installed 640 metres of low-voltage wiring, in the Calle Candelaria where an entire transformer affected by overloading has been replaced, in the Murillo neighbourhood with the installation of 5,000 metres of new wiring in an area where only a year ago 8,000 metres of wiring that had been installed melted due to overloading, and in the Plaza Salvador Valderde where a transformer has been installed with the latest remote control and network forecast technology.

In addition to these measures and to combat the heat wave, Endesa has activated a contingency plan which involves suspending all scheduled works and doubling the staff to deal with any incidents that occur as quickly as possible.