Environmental Management

High voltage transmission lines are the subject of increasing public opposition. Environmental issues have become an important factor for utility companies, governments, standardisation organisations and local authorities. In this situation environmental management and more active public communication will have to play a significant role. The realisation of environmental management systems (EMS) for overhead power lines is the main emphasis of this project with regard to system boundaries and operation conditions. If the specific environmental and interdisciplinary aspects of high-voltage grids are considered, the application of environmental management techniques is expedient. Based on EN ISO 14001 recommendations an environmental management system manual for a high-voltage grid company have been developed. An exemplary life cycle assessment for a 380 kV overhead power line have been realised with the so-called ABC method. Environmental information systems, environmental index values and the importance of EMS for rights-of-way management are discussed and solutions are proposed.