The first technical works are scheduled to start in autumn 2022
On 19 July 2022 EVN Bulgaria organized a press conference in Burgas to present the current status of the "LIFE Safe Grid for Burgas" project. On the part of the company took part engineer Zdravko Bratoev, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Elektrorazpredelenie Yug, Petar Kostadinov, head of Communications department, Krum Kosev, Communications department, as well as the heads of the customer energy centres (KEZ) on the southern Black Sea coast.
The main parameters of the project, implemented by Elektrorazpredelenie Yug in partnership with the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) in the period 2021-2026, were presented. Among its main objectives is to protect birds from collision and electric shock with overhead power lines in the region of the Burgas lakes and to improve power supply. Eng. Zdravko Bratoev focused on the envisaged technical measures under the project:
- - 52 km of overhead power lines will be installed underground;
- - Installation of protective insulation on 2,000 poles of the electricity grid;
- - Installation of 2000 diverters;
- Construction of 18 new transformer stations and 1 switching station.
Technical designs, approval procedures with institutions, etc. are still under preparation. It is planned that part of the first technical measures - installation of protective insulation on poles will start in the area of Banevo and Vetren neighbourhoods (Burgas) from autumn 2022. It was noted that in the course of these activities temporary planned power cuts would be required to secure a particular section of the line on which the installation works are carried out. The schedule of temporary cut offs will be announced in advance.
In addition, representatives of Elektrorazpredelenie Yug demonstrated before the media the works in the field carried out by the BSPB in May 2022, when representatives of the environmental organization walked down 135 km power lines in the areas of the Burgas lakes in order to study the mortality of birds following a collision with overhead power lines, as well as identification of priority areas to be secured under the project. The total number of identified birds killed in contact with the grid in May 2022 was 18. For 16 of these, the cause is electric shock. The most popular species is a white stork (11).
The media also became aware of information materials on the project – brochure, banner, stickers.

