The purpose of the programme is to provide professionals with knowledge on electricity transmission facilities located in forests and on the safety protocols to be followed in the event of a fire in the vicinity of these infrastructures
Today, 15 April, Red Eléctrica has initiated training sessions on coordination and action in the event of a fire affecting high-voltage power lines, aimed at forestry technicians and environmental agents.
The workshops, which are held as part of the collaboration that Red Eléctrica has maintained with the Regional Government of the Balearic Islands on fire prevention since 2013, were inaugurated by Eduardo Maynau, the representative of Redeia, parent company of Red Eléctrica, in the Balearic Islands, and the Head of the Forestry Management and Land Protection Service, Joan Antoni Santana.
The first session was held today in Mallorca at the IBANAT facilities in Son Tous, with a conference aimed at environmental agents, and a session for forestry technicians is scheduled for 19 April. A joint training session for forestry and environmental agents will be held on 23 April in Eivissa, followed by a session in Menorca in the last week of April.
The purpose of these sessions is to provide professionals with information on the electricity transmission facilities located in forests and the elements that make them up, as well as the precautions to adopt when intervening in an area near or adjacent to these infrastructures in the event of a fire breaking out.
In addition, the workshop will provide in-depth knowledge on the protocols for action and communication between the firefighting teams and the Red Eléctrica Control Centre in the Balearic Islands in the event of a possible fire, in addition to providing information on the existing protocol between Red Eléctrica and the Regional Government of the Balearic Islands, in accordance with the agreement signed in 2013, which sets out the guidelines to be followed in the event of a fire requiring the shutdown of power lines in the transmission grid.
In addition to theoretical training, the workshop includes practical fieldwork, where the components of a power line and all the safety concepts are explained on site. A fire warning protocol drill is also carried out in the field, so technicians can identify the specific line at risk and its voltage rating, in order to then issue a request for shutdown of the line to the system operator in accordance with the protocol, to extinguish the hypothetical fire in safe conditions.