Stormy Weather

Over the Christmas and New Year period storms caused damage to networks on six separate occasions. The ESB Networks Emergency Plan was called into action.

The christmas and New Year period felt like 'Groundhog day' for many staff in ESB Networks and the National Customer Call Centre. The country was buffeted by four storms over an eight week period with wind speeds in excess of 130 kph (80 mph). As if that wasn't bad enough they were followed by lightning. In addition, minor damage was caused to the networks on six occasions by winds in excess of 120kph

Each time, Met Eireann provided ESB Networks with a severe weather notification the ESB Networks Emergency Plan was set in motion. Areas, Divisions, National Customer Call Centre (NCCC), Distribution Control Centres (DCC) and Public Relations were put on alert to cover the ensuing storm.

Fault repair and supply restoration
According to John Shine, Director, ESB Networks, "Supply to approximately 100,000 customers were affected by each storm with the exception being New Years Eve when over 124,000 lost supply."

The commitment by staff to our customers was reflected in their excellent response, working in difficult conditions, to restore supply. Crews and supervisors worked from early morning to well into the evening on repairs. Timber cutting and poling contractors assisted in clearing fallen trees off the networks and replaced over 500 poles. Fault isolation and safety remained a priority throughout the night."

On each occasion more than 80% of our customers had power back within four hours. This was due in no small part to the coordination of fault hunting by supervisors, operators, the Distribution Control Centres and the use of SCADA. With the exception of a small number of customers, supply was restored within 24 hours. Mopping up and follow on repairs continued over the following days.

Customer calls and Public Relations
The information provided by customer calls to the NCCC and substations through SCADA is vital for the management of resources and prioritisation of fault repairs.

"NCCC deployed additional staff to handle over 20,000 calls received from customers and assisted by automated call handling, Trouble Call Management & Operations Management systems. Customers were kept up to date on supply restoration times." - Denis Cambridge, Manager, NCCC

Public Relations provided regular updates and interviews to both local and national media. Key messages reminding customers of safety, care for the elderly and fault notification contact numbers were provided.

Resource coordination and other utilities.
The Divisional Emergency Teams coordinated resources between areas, the various Divisions and provided updates on progress with fault repairs. After supply was restored to customers, ESB Networks responded to requests for assistance from Northern Ireland and England. Crews assisted in supply restoration in Northern Ireland on two occasions and 17 crews with supervisors travelled to England and worked in the areas of Birkenhead, Chester, Wrexham, Preston and Wigan.

Network Renewal
"The investment in the Network Renewal Programme (NRP) proved its worth, the impact of the storms on our medium voltage networks and service to customers would have been far greater without it.

Line breaks and broken poles showed significant reductions in comparison to previous storms. Most of the damage was caused by trees, outside the normal scope of timber cutting, falling on the networks."- Denis O'Leary, Manager, Asset Management.

More than 70 % of the pole and line breaks occurred on the low voltage networks, where the Low Voltage Refurbishment (LVR) programme has yet to have an impact.

Safety
During and in the aftermath of a storm, hazards can develop which require additional vigilance by everybody working to restore supply. There were no safety incidents involving crews or the public during the recent storms. This reflects the commitment within ESB to a safe working environment and public safety.

After the clean-up
Its business as usual after a storm, connecting over 400 new customers per day, refurbishment programmes and substation construction continue apace. However, calls relating to damage are still received from customers and in particular farmers who notice previously unreported damage. When this arises, crews have to be dispatched, work reprioritised and customer advised of any changes to appointments and connection commitments.

Fortunately, the storms have abated and its business as usual…until the next one! EM