Ecological corridor management in overhead line corridors

E.ON already started the implementation of ecological vegetation management in their high-voltage grid corridors a few decades ago, having realised that intensive clear cutting is not the only and not always the most effective way to prevent vegetation interference with power lines. Instead, by selectively removing only fast-growing species of trees and bushes and foster slower-growing ones, they preserve valuable biotopes, promote biodiversity, reduce maintenance costs in the long run, and boost public acceptance for corridor maintenance.

Highlights

• Developed in collaboration with local authorities, NGOs, forest administrations, landowners, and universities.
• Creates more resilient, interconnected ecosystems, better able to withstand extreme weather events, thus furthering improving supply reliability. E
• stablished ecological corridors have seen the return of several red-listed species.
• Improved conditions regarding vegetation, ensuring the safety of power lines and gradually reducing the cost of maintaining vegetation

About the practice

In the early 1990s, E.ON began collaboratively developing an alternative model to conventional vegetation management in grid corridors – ‘Ecological Corridor Management’ (ECM). Thirty years of ECM implementation by some subsidiaries, such as German DSO, Westnetz, have proven diverse benefits of ECM in terms of biodiversity, lower costs, and better stakeholder relationships.

The goal of ECM is to facilitate a more sensitive vegetation management – as opposed to clear-cutting - by obtaining a heterogeneous stock of slow-growing plants, which in the end (after approx. 5-7 years, depending on the location and the prevailing vegetation) can be extensively and cost-effectively maintained. Slowly but surely, a corresponding "Pro-ECM" mindset grew among those responsible at the DSO and among the service providers (e.g. forestry companies). The newly developed maintenance concept was very helpful in this regard, as it described the required measures in greater detail and identified a desired development goal.

The ECM approach at E.ON requires a mapping of each distinct biotope and a locally adapted vegetation maintenance concept for the identified biotope. These maintenance plans are created digitally based on maps, technical line data, and geographic data by trained biologists. The different types of flora and, in exceptional cases, the fauna in the corridors are recorded; protected areas are marked; and overall results shared with the nature conservation/forest authorities, some large property owners, and NGOs.

E.ON is now rolling-out ECM across all 110 kV high-voltage grids of their DSOs in 6 EU countries, across 13,000 km of varied geographies and vegetation types. E.ON also promotes ECM internationally, including through brochure and external events.