Endesa continues to install insulation measures on the supports of its electricity grids in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura in compliance with its agreement with the Government of the Canary Islands to avoid any incidents with specially protected birds, mainly the Egyptian vulture. The company's participation in the LIFE Egyptian Vulture environmental project has meant that to date a total of 130 electricity supports in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura have been modified to eliminate risks for both this species and other birds that perch on the electricity towers to use them as a lookout. Two years before the end of the LIFE project, Endesa has already acted, through its e-Distribution network subsidiary, on 59% of the 220 electricity supports that will be modified by 2022.
To determine the areas of action, e-Distribution works together with the Environment technicians of the Government of the Canary Islands who, depending on the level of risk and the displacement habits of the Egyptian vultures, establish the areas of greatest risk. To date, in Lanzarote the objective programmed for this year has been reached with 10 modified supports, while in Fuerteventura action has been taken on half of the electricity supports programmed for this 2020, and it is planned to adapt another 30 during the last quarter of the year.
In total, this LIFE project involves an investment of 5 million euros, 75% co-financed by the EU. In addition to the Government of the Canary Islands and e-Distribution, the company e-Distribuzione, of the Enel group, is participating, responsible for coordinating the actions to protect the avifauna within the framework of the LIFE project, which is also being developed in the Italian regions of Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily, where the Egyptian vulture is present.
Apart from the actions on electricity lines, the initiative includes the breeding and release of specimens born in captivity, the protection of nesting sites, the creation of feeding points and the fight against the use of poisoned baits. The collaboration between e-Distribution and e-Distribuzione allows the sharing of good practices and the creation of synergies that result in greater environmental protection and, in this specific case, of the avifauna.
