Standard content for Members only
To continue reading this article, please login to your Utility Week account, Start 14 day trial or Become a member.
If your organisation already has a corporate membership and you haven’t activated it simply follow the register link below. Check here.
Engineers from Electricity North West are using boats to try and access the flooded substations in Cumbria which are preventing the last 1,000 homes from being reconnected.
Continued severe flooding in Cumbria following storm Desmond on Saturday night is preventing engineers from accessing the substations which are still submerged in water to repair “extensive” damage.
ENW said thousands of customers in the Cumbria area have already been reconnected but its engineers continue to work “day and night to restore power” to the remaining homes.
ENW operations director Mark Williamson said the network is working closely with energy suppliers to ensure a “co-ordinated response so that we can restore the remaining customers as soon as possible”.
“We have now restored power to the vast majority of homes in Cumbria. Our focus now is to restore power to those areas worst affected by the floods, where our equipment also suffered extensive damage.
“The community spirit we have witnessed in Cumbria has been incredible and we would like to thank customers and local businesses for their continued patience, support and goodwill to our teams.”
Last night the distribution network operator avoided planned power cuts after customers heeded calls to reduce demand while the main Lancaster substation is being repaired.
The final 2,500 homes in the Lancaster region were reconnected yesterday morning when the substation, damaged in the weekend’s floods, was brought back online but is operating at reduced capacity.
More than 50,000 homes in total lost power due to storm Desmond at the weekend.
Please login or Register to leave a comment.