Network operators responding well to severe weather

SSEN remains on Yellow Alert for its north of Scotland region. This is due to forecasted levels of snow accumulation, potential for ‘line icing’ and risk of lightning.

Looking ahead, SSEN has moved to Yellow Alert for its central southern England region, where wind gusts of up to 45mph and significant snowfall is forecast. 

In a statement, SSEN said: “SSEN would like to reassure its customers it is well prepared and resourced to respond promptly to any damage to its network, where it is safe to do so. It has also activated its well-established resilience plans and is in regular contact with local resilience partners.  This includes liaison with local authority emergency planning officers to provide a coordinated response to assist any impacted communities and provide reciprocal support to alleviate any access issues.

The company has around 2,000 frontline and support staff available across the regions to assist efforts and respond promptly to damage.

Northern Powergrid, the company responsible for the network that delivers electricity to 3.9 million homes and businesses across the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire, is using specialist resources to help keep its network operating effectively.

Rod Gardner, head of network operations at Northern Powergrid, said: “Across our network fault numbers are similar to those we’d see on a normal day which shows our network is currently performing well, despite the weather conditions. Where our customers have had a power cut our teams were ready to respond, accessing sites in challenging conditions and working to restore electricity supplies as soon as possible. 

“Travel and access remains challenging but we’re doing everything we can to be there for our customers. Our fleet of 4x4s and specialist access vehicles continue to play an essential role – both in terms of getting to faults to carry repairs, wherever we can, and safely transporting our people to and from work to carry out essential roles.”

Through the use of 4x4s and specialist access vehicles, teams from across the business have been able to mobilise and carry out work on the region’s electricity network restoring power as soon as possible for any customers affected by a power cut.

The company has a helicopter available that is being deployed, weather dependant, to monitor the network and locate faults, allowing staff on the ground to commence any required repair work faster.

The electricity distribution company manages a network of 63,000 substations and more than 60,000 miles of overhead power lines and underground cables.

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