In 2024, EP North secured more than 1,600 electric poles and installed 250 diverters to protect birds on its licensed territory
The activities are part of an EU LIFE project “Safe sky for birds in North-East Bulgaria”
In the past 2024, ERP North started with the actual work on the project “Safe sky for birds in North-East Bulgaria”which the company implements in cooperation with its partner Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB). The project proposal was approved at the end of 2022, when an agreement was concluded with the European Commission for the implementation of the activities set out in the project. In 2023, the organization and procedures for requesting the necessary materials, as well as marking the areas for the implementation of the planned work, began. The main objective of the project “Safe Sky for Birds in North-East Bulgaria” is to prevent mortality among globally endangered bird species caused by electric shock and collision with overhead power lines by applying best practices among modern solutions for their protection.
Within 2024, after starting to receive the bird protection materials for the implementation of the project, ERP North started their phased introduction into the electricity distribution network in North-East Bulgaria. In the spring months, electricians of ERP North in cooperation with experts from BSPB installed a total of 150 nesting boxes for birds in 40 separate locations in the regions of Veliko Tarnovo, Dobrich, Ruse and Silistra. The aim was to provide safe nesting conditions for two of the endangered feathered species included in the project list — red-footed kestrels and bluebirds. Already with the warming of the weather at the end of April, a large part of the installed birdhouses were settled.
Another key activity of the project is securing the pillars from the aerial network. It is carried out with the placement of special insulating materials or so-called bird protection devices (PSUs). These activities began immediately after the end of the summer season and the harvest from the fields, since a large part of the poles and power lines included in the installation list are located precisely in such sections. A total of 1633 pillars were secured in dozens of municipalities in North-Eastern Bulgaria, in which Natura 2000 areas are located. In addition to securing the facilities with PPE, the specialists of ERP North also installed 250 diverters in the area of the village of Bulgarevo, Kavarna municipality. Marking devices are intended to make the air wires more visible to birds and thus limit the possibility of a possible collision of the feathered in them.
Securing facilities from the power grid is important both for preserving the life and population of endangered bird species and for its trouble-free operation. With a project “Safe sky for birds in North-East Bulgaria”EPR North will contribute to the protection of biodiversity among feathered animals, while preventing unplanned power outages due to bird collisions with overhead power lines, which will increase the security of electricity supply to customers.
