i-DE renews Onda's electricity network and includes measures to protect birdlife

• Iberdrola España's distribution company has renovated 60 kilometres of overhead network in the area around the town and has adapted more than 450 pylons.
• The company has taken advantage of the work to protect part of the tower infrastructure with insulating material, which increases the safety distance for birds.

Iberdrola España's distribution company, i-DE,Enlace externo, se abre en ventana nueva.  has carried out improvements to approximately 60 kilometres of overhead power lines located in the area around Onda, which have also included elements to protect birdlife.

The councillor for the Environment, Water, Infrastructures and Territory, Salomé Pradas, visited the work being carried out in the municipality, accompanied by the director of i-DE in the Eastern Region, Ana Lafuente, and the head of the Castellón Zone, José Miguel Martínez.

The company continues to work actively to reduce the risk of electrocution and collision of birds while enabling the coexistence of power lines and birdlife, with its Aerial Network Improvement Project, in accordance with the BiodiversityEnlace externo, se abre en ventana nueva.  Action Plan.

The work related to the protection of birdlife consisted of modifying the existing pylons in Onda (more than 450 electricity pylons), and their corresponding elements that support the wiring, as well as the installation of anti-collision devices and the lining with insulating material of the section of the lines as they pass through the pylons, which makes it possible to increase the distance from the live infrastructure in order to avoid bird electrocutions.

To carry out these actions, it has been necessary at different stages to mobilise vehicles with baskets to carry out the work at height and specialised equipment for live work, which has allowed the electricity supply to be maintained in those operations in which it has been possible. This entire plan is valued at more than one million euros.

The company is focusing a significant part of this type of work on electricity grids in Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPAs), catalogued by the European Union as natural spaces of singular relevance for the conservation of birdlife, as well as in priority areas.

These actions are part of the Iberdrola group's commitment to promote the coexistence of all its facilities with the different ecosystems and to develop an energy model that makes the supply of competitive, clean, and sustainable energy fully compatible with environmental balance.