Eiffage Energía has just signed a new contract for bird life protection with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishing, Food and the Environment. The framework agreement is aimed at the provision of services for the correction of high voltage power lines, owned by the General State Administration and its Autonomous Agencies, or power lines which have benefited from the aid in kind that is established in Royal Decree 264/2017 of 17 March, to adapt them to the technical specifications of Royal Decree 1432/2018 through which are established the measures for the protection of bird life against collision with and electrocution by High Voltage power lines.
Once formalised, the term of the agreement shall be for two years and can be extended for up to a maximum of 4 years and its estimated value is 2,000,000 Euros. Commencement date of the works is scheduled for the beginning of the second half of September.
Power lines and substations interact with all the elements that form part of the environment, including wildlife and also birds, the interaction of these with transport and electricity distribution infrastructures being the main cause of birds’ non-natural mortality in developed countries.
Within the signed framework, it is set out that the high-voltage overhead lines with bare conductors located in the protection zone, which are listed in the inventory of dangerous lines, must be adapted according to the provisions of this Decree. This service is based on correcting high voltage power lines and measures for the protection of bird life against collision with and electrocution by high voltage power lines.
Eiffage Energía has had consolidated experience in protecting bird life for more than 20 years. Almost every day, the teams that are responsible for this service perform this type of work, closely linked with the High Voltage works, in order to protect the birds and that the impact on nature is as small as possible.
Eiffage Energía, faced with this challenge of protecting bird life on power lines, will make available within the contract a large volume of human and material resources, which will cover the large number of installations to be corrected throughout all the national territory, highlighting the live voltage work teams, which make it possible to carry out this work while keeping the lines in service.
Interventions will be carried out on the high-voltage lines constituted by bare conductors and second and third category lines with rated voltage higher than 1 KV and up to 66 KV, making insulation or structural corrections on the components of the support structures.
Eiffage Energía launches this maintenance service to correct defects in equipment or installations and prevent birds and all wildlife in the environment from becoming endangered. Caring for the environment is also one of the main commitments of the whole Eiffage Energía Group.