Belgorod power engineers help storks secure their nests

Together with warming, storks returned to their homelands. Employees of “Rosseti Centre Belgorodenergo” protect birds from the dangers associated with electricity.

During the reconstruction of grids, power engineers leave poles with nests untouched, adjusting routes of new power lines. In autumn and winter they participate in installation of racks for nests, in spring they carefully monitor how many birds settled in a new place.

Storks always settle in the immediate vicinity of people, most often choosing power lines for their nests. If the nests do not pose a threat to power equipment, power engineers try not to disturb them until the birds fly away for the winter. In autumn, staff of Distribution Zones, together with district administrations, participate in the preparation of new nesting sites.

Belgorodenergo pays special attention to environmental issues. In order to protect birds from electrical injury, special bird protection structures are installed on 35-110 kV overhead lines. When reconstructing a 0.4 kV power line, self-supporting insulated wire is used, which is safe for birds. About 300 km of power lines have already been equipped with such wire in the region.