What is vegetation management in electrical systems?

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Pruning and cutting trees is often necessary for our safety and also for the maintenance of energy grids. One of the biggest causes of interruptions in power supply occurs when trees or parts of them grow too big or fall on electricity distribution and transmission grids.  

These interferences also contribute to reducing the quality of service provided, violating quality indicators, bringing dissatisfaction to consumers, increasing maintenance costs and representing potential sources of accidents with third parties. On the other hand, the need for interference in the development of trees and forest formations can lead to damage to the natural public patrimony.  

We at Cemig actively work to reduce these problems through vegetation management programs, which include

• pruning and tree removal activities;    
• vegetation control near towers, poles and substations;
• manual, mechanical and chemical control of vegetation along transmission lines;
• risk assessment on trees;  
• planting;
• research and development projects; 
• environmental education programs;    
• inventories;  
• systems for activity management and also through network engineering innovations.  

All these activities are carried out following internal procedures, national and international technical standards. In addition, we have a highly qualified technical staff to perform these activities efficiently for the electrical system and with the least possible damage to the environment.