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Dozens of fire brigades from the districts of Braga, Bragança, Porto, Viana do Castelo and Vila Real gathered in Póvoa de Lanhoso for a session on forest fires and electrical infrastructure safety organised by REN and the Portuguese Firefighters League. The approaching critical fire season was the reason behind the organisation of the session, which also included a practical fire prevention exercise at the REN substation in Pedralva.
Attended by the Mayor of Póvoa de Lanhoso, Frederico Castro, the event was also attended by Domingos Xavier Viegas, from the Centre for Forest Fire Studies at the University of Coimbra, one of the country's leading experts on the subject, who gave a presentation on the interaction between fire and the atmosphere. The session also included presentations by REN experts on forest management and safety and firefighting in substations in the vicinity of power lines.
António Nunes, President of the Portuguese Firefighters League, closed the session, not without warning of the ‘indispensability of training and instruction for firefighters, particularly for highly complex specific risks’.
According to Frederico Castro, Mayor of Póvoa de Lanhoso, "over the last three years, the municipality has made a major investment in municipal civil protection, not only supporting municipal services but also the volunteer fire brigade. However, to maximise the protection of our territory, we have invested in a series of partnerships with various organisations and entities. I would like to highlight REN in this field, which, with its fuel management and right-of-way cleaning work, has contributed decisively to the safety of our territory," he concluded.
In the afternoon, a fire drill was held at REN's Pedralva Substation with the participation of the Braga Fire Brigade and Volunteer Firefighters, with the aim of testing the effectiveness of emergency plans, training coordination between teams and assessing response capacity in real risk situations.
With 66% of its power lines and gas pipelines located in rural areas, REN has managed and cleared more than 50,000 hectares over the last five years. This work is carried out on land that does not belong to REN, which means that the owners must be contacted before any intervention. In 2024 alone, more than 36,000 landowners were contacted as part of this preventive work.
In 2024, REN managed and cleared vegetation in an area of around 10,200 hectares nationwide, contacting more than 36,000 landowners for this purpose. Also in 2024, taking into account the adaptation of land use in the line protection strips, 461 hectares were (re)forested, involving 1,900 landowners.
Through its programme to reforest easement strips, between 2010 and 2024 REN has already (re)planted 4,553 hectares, planting more than 1.5 million trees. More than 24,000 landowners were involved in this process, with the most commonly planted species being arbutus and oak, increasing biodiversity and resilience to forest fires in the areas where work was carried out.
Since 2020, and throughout the fire season, REN has had six prevention and surveillance teams in operation, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These teams are equipped with first response equipment, enabling them to take initial action to combat fire outbreaks.
Since 2009, REN has donated 95 vehicles for forest fire prevention. 65 vehicles were donated to volunteer fire brigades and 30 to municipal civil protection fire prevention teams.
REN - Transformamos desafios em energia
