REN donates vehicle to the municipality of Loulé to strengthen the forest’s defence

REN - Redes Energéticas Nacionais, delivered a vehicle to the Municipal Council of Loulé, district of Faro, as part of its policy to support local communities, reinforcing the company's commitment to prevention and to fighting wildfires. The vehicle will strengthen the municipality's civil protection teams.

According to Loulé Municipal Council's officials, 'this initiative will enable reinforcing the municipal fleet of wildfire-fighting surveillance and protection means, strengthening the existing system and the response as regards prevention. REN is another important partner in the field so that we can work together to preserve our natural heritage, marked by a great diversity of habitats and a wealth of fauna and flora, geological heritage, and other resources that must be protected from various threats, especially the scourge of fires.

This vehicle will thus help the operational and technical teams of the Loulé Municipal Civil Protection Service in the development of prevention, planning, preparation, awareness raising / training, surveillance, and first intervention / aftermath tasks, supporting the 'Aldeia Segura Pessoas Seguras' (Safe Village, Safe People) programme and the 'Condomínio da Aldeia' (Village Condominium) project, among other actions within the scope of the Protection of the Forest Against Fire'.

For João Gaspar, head for Sustainable Networks and Easements, this vehicle's donation shows 'the importance of working closely with the municipality's civil protection teams, especially in a municipality where there are REN infrastructures'. 'This work is not carried out just in the critical season: REN has a prevention plan coordinated with the competent authorities throughout the year. This plan includes cleaning the energy transmission corridors, increasing the resilience to wildfires of our infrastructures and of the territories where they are located, thus creating opportunities for the Fire Brigades and Civil Protection Teams to fight wildfires', he further states.

In 2022, in the municipality of Loulé, REN cleared 147.70 hectares around its energy transmission corridors.

Since 2009, in close partnership with ANEPC - Autoridade Nacional de Emergência e Proteção Civil (the Portuguese National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority), with ICNF - Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas (the Portuguese Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation), and with the municipalities, in the defence of forests against wildfires, REN has donated 89 vehicles to multiple institutions, including fire brigades and municipal fire prevention teams.

At the national level, REN has almost 10,000 kilometres (around 35,000 hectares) of power line and gas pipeline easement corridors, with more than 66% of them (23,000 hectares) in forest areas. In the last five years, REN has managed the vegetation of over 38,000 hectares (9,000 hectares in 2021), having reforested more than 3,600 hectares in the easement areas since 2010. 

In 2022, and throughout the entire wildfire season, REN had in operation six prevention and surveillance teams, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These teams are equipped with first intervention equipment, which enables them to carry out a first intervention to combat wildfire outbreaks.