Biodiversity and rehabilitation of natural habitats

Keen to adopt a cost-effective, sustainable method for managing our pylons while strengthening ecological networks located next to our infrastructure, in 2016 we asked the non-profit organisation Faune & Biotopes to implement biodiversity enhancement measures along the high-voltage line between Gramme and Achêne.
The chosen section covers the agricultural lands of the municipalities of Huy, Vierset, Tinlot, Marchin, Jallet, Ohey, Havelange, Hamois and Ciney.

The landscaping measures around each pylon base were determined by considering different elements such as biodiversity, the landscape involved and the cost.
Enhancements are not appropriate for all pylons. In fact, the location of some pylons means that it is not always possible or necessary to develop plant coverage to boost biodiversity. This was the case with pylons located along a boundary or hedge and those in meadows used for grazing.

The landscaping carried out in 2016 included the planting of 32 native shrubs and 7 fields of flowers. Later on, Elia checked that the seedlings and flowers were growing. That autumn, we performed maintenance on the pylons where landscaping had been carried out and mowed the fields.

We are learning from these pilot projects to develop a more nature-friendly way to keep managing the areas around our pylons in the years to come.

When planning projects, not only are economic efficiency, the concerns of local residents and the technology taken into account during the approval procedures, but so are the protection of flora and fauna. 

In the run-up to such procedures, environmental impact assessments or town-planning permissions application are carried out to minimize nature conservation conflicts at an early stage. A corridor is then identified for the exact route of the electrical line and defined in a subsequent step. 

At the same time, protection and compensation measures are identified. All these investigations are carried out together with external environmental planners, routing experts and, if necessary, other science and nature conservation experts. Nature requirements are included in the contractual requirements of the infrastructure projects. To discover these measures, go see the following page.

Indigenous hedges are planted each year around our high-voltage substations to both help our facilities to merge into the surrounding landscape and provide a habitat for local fauna. We also use thorny shrubs to deter intruders. Due to more stringent regulations concerning the security of substations, these hedges are now being combined with low growing meadow stripes along fences.

The ground near our substations and some plots of land within them have been redeveloped to support biodiversity. For example, flowering meadows, bushes and grass verges have been planted in different places, in accordance with the surrounding landscape.

We also implemented several punctual actions to enhance or restore habitats around our assets or administrative sites.  

Over the past few years several beehives have been installed at our Monnoyer and Crealys sites in Brussels and Gembloux respectively. The installation in Brussels, which was led by BeeOdiversity in cooperation with a number of Brussels-based environmental protection organizations, fits perfectly with our commitment to corporate social responsibility. The installation in Crealys was undertaken together with Belgium. Once a year, the honey harvested from the hives is sold to staff and the proceeds are donated to a charitable organization.

The Mercator substation in the municipality of Kruibeke has become the home of a rare species of salamander: the great crested newt. In late 2004, we collaborated with one of our members of staff who volunteers at Natuurpunt, tried to develop the land in order to rehabilitate this rare species, building two ponds. 

Now, almost 20 year later, a population of great crested newts has taken up residence under the Mercator substation. Flushed with this success, we installed four more ponds with the help of the environmental association Regionaal Landschap Schelde-Durme. In May 2017, the Kruibeke pond protection group carried out a census of the substation's ponds. Many species of aquatic insect were identified as living in the ponds, alongside three different species of amphibian, including the rare great crested newt.

Although we are planning to carry out a large extension project around the substation which will affect one of the ponds, we are also planning out a way  to replace it  with a new pond, so redeveloping the overwintering site of this rare species.