With this initiative, the company opened the debate on the effectiveness of vegetation management strips and the need for revision of existing legislation. “Hopefully this conference will be a seed that can germinate and lead to the development of significant improvements in the way we manage the forest. EDP Distribuição, as a network operator, wants to be part of an even more effective solution for managing and preserving the forest, ”said Ângelo Sarmento, administrator of EDP Distribuição.
“It is very important to contribute to dispel the national scourge of rural fires and, therefore, we do everything in the planning phase, having a careful management of vegetation so that there is no approach of vegetation to the power lines, and contributing to changes, including legislative. Our legislation has to adapt to the best practices of science, ”said João Marques da Cruz, executive director of EDP.
By the end of 2019, EDP Distribuição will invest 11 million euros nationwide in inspection and intervention actions in the protection zones and fuel management bands along the electricity distribution lines. Of this amount, 8.8 million euros are related to the management and cleaning of vegetation around electricity lines and 2.2 million euros in inspections. The increase in investment compared to 2018 (around 33%) is associated with the increase in the number of approved Municipal Forest Fire Defense Plans, as well as the increase in prices of these services since the 2017 fires. Since 2008, the company has already invested a total of € 72 million in infrastructure security, with a direct impact on the defense and protection of forest heritage.
