Endesa installed new bird-saving beacons last week on a one-kilometer section of the medium-voltage line. An action carried out in coordination with experts from the Spanish Ornithological Society (SEO/BirdLife), with which Endesa maintains a collaboration agreement to evaluate the effectiveness of signaling measures and monitoring of points where greater bird mortality is detected in the vicinity of medium-voltage lines in the Canary Islands.
Recently, Endesa also installed beacons on a section of the Teseguite-Los Valles line. The novelty, on this occasion, is that this type of reflective beacons is the first time they have been installed in Spain and their objective is to signal the lines in hours of low light, so that birds can see them when they fly in their vicinity, avoiding collision.
Birds are more vulnerable to collisions with cables during sunrise and sunset hours, especially during bad weather.
This system uses the reflectance of sunlight during the day and the luminescent emission of light during hours of darkness. The material used refracts sunlight during the day, producing a "spark effect", so that it can be seen by birds, in a way that allows them to change their flight and avoid collisions. The band of the beacons also has luminescent materials, which glow in the dark, as they emit ultraviolet rays, which allows birds to see them in low natural light and in conditions of poor environmental visibility.
The conclusions drawn from the studies covered by the agreement signed by Endesa in the Canary Islands and SEO/BridLife will include the assessment, before and after implementation, of the corrective measures aimed at minimizing the impact on the avifauna of the medium-voltage power lines of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura in which there is evidence of bird mortality.
