EPR North continues the activities of its project in the protection of birds with the installation of diverters in the area of Cape Kaliakra

Within a project “Safe sky for birds in North-East Bulgaria”implemented jointly by EPR North and Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB), employees of the power distribution company began with the installation of diverters in pre-selected sections of the network in the area of Cape Kaliakra.

Diverters are special movable plates with a reflective coating and serve as signal signs for birds. Their placement is intended to avoid lethal contact with air conductors in flight. The diverters are hung on the power lines and thus the possibility of these devices being noticed by birds and, accordingly, bypassed at a safe distance from them increases.

At this stage of the project, it is planned to place 700 inverters on medium-voltage power lines with a length of 7 kilometers. So far, the teams of ERP North have installed 250 units on the Balgarevo wind turbine, and the secured section is 2.5 km long and falls entirely within the territory of Natura 2000. The total number of diverters that will be installed during the implementation of the project is 2,000 in 28 Natura 2000 project areas and in key corridors between the special protected areas.

The LIFE Programme project of the European Union “Safe sky for birds in North-East Bulgaria”was launched two years ago, during which the actual activities for its realization began. Field studies were carried out to assess dangerous power lines, nesting boxes for endangered species of birds were installed, bird protection devices were installed on poles of the air network. The main goal is to prevent mortality among globally endangered bird species caused by electric shock and collision with overhead power lines. The project targets 16 target bird species, 15 of which are included in Annex I of the EU Birds Directive, and 10 species are part of the Red List of the International Union for the Protection of Nature (IUCN). 14 of the included bird species are priority for conservation on the European continent.