Reducing Bird Strikes to Support Avian Conservation

The Opportunity
The objective of this Opportunity is to shortlist the submissions that best answer the brief, with the aim of attending a presentation day with the EIC Industry Partners, where it can be discussed in greater detail with a technical panel.
The EIC welcomes submissions from individual companies or companies working in collaboration with each other.
What is the Problem?
Transmission networks have a long-standing challenge with migrating birds colliding with roughly 50km of their transmission overhead lines, leading to both asset damage and high mortality rates among such wildlife. When birds strike these lines, they can cause:
- Short circuits leading to power outages
- Equipment damage leading to costly repairs
- Injury or death for the birds involved
A variety of methods have been explored to a reduce these incidents however many of these options are not considered viable. The options considered included:
- Burying the cables or wires
- Removal of overhead shield wires
- Alternative placement of power lines
- Line markers
- Increasing the visibility of power lines
A study published by Avian Conservation and Ecology showed that using UV illumination of power lines increased their visibility to migrating birds, while remaining invisible to the human eye. This research demonstrated a reduction in up to 88% of collisions in the location its was installed.
Preferred Output
SSEN Transmission aims to build upon the research completed by Avian Conservation and Ecology by exploring the option of using UV illumination on power lines, whilst remaining invisible to the human eye. This research will need to focus on the following:
- The effectiveness of UV illumination depending on the powerline height, span, and design.
- The feasibility and impact of installing on the variety of overhead shield wires (earth wires) at different heights and on varying tower designs.
- The feasibility of using UV light on both conductors and shield wires.
- The effectiveness of UV illumination on power lines both with and without the line markings currently used to prevent avian collisions, such as the BIRD-FLIGHT Diverter (BFD) and the Hawk Eye.
- The impacts of UV illumination on power lines at night.
- The impact and feasibility of UV illumination on power lines that run parallel or have spatial constraints.
SSEN-T requires this research to culminate in the development of a self-powered prototype installation across an appropriate span of their network, accompanied by a monitoring scheme to assess its effectiveness.