Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution is now operating as normal after four severe weather events hit northern and western Scotland on four consecutive days. However, SHEPD remains on high alert because of storm force winds and heavy snow forecast for Wednesday and Thursday.
Engineers endured atrocious weather conditions to repair the network as they battled winds of more than 100mph, blizzards, lightning and ice. Large parts of the Highlands and Western Isles became impassable and the electricity network inaccessible to engineering teams. On Friday the network was battered by winds of 100mph for eight consecutive hours.
When commercial boat, plane and helicopter operators stopped providing services to some areas because of the severity of the weather, SHEPD turned to the coastguard service. The electricity distributor is extremely grateful to the service for flying three engineers to Coll to carry out repairs. The engineers will return to the mainland on a scheduled flight.
Alan Broadbent, Director of Engineering, praised customers and engineers: “Our customers have been tremendous. They had to endure appalling disruption to their electricity supply. I would like to thank them for their patience and understanding, and again apologise to them. I am also immensely proud of our engineers. They live and work in the communities they serve, so it was a matter of personal pride and satisfaction for them to bring power back on as soon as possible. They did this by battling some of the worst weather conditions I have ever known.” Since Friday, when the first storm struck, engineers have restored power to 120,000 customers. If there are any customers off supply, this is likely to be intentional as engineers make permanent repairs to the network by taking some customers off supply. SHEPD had prepared for the severe weather in advance with a thousand technical and support staff. This was increased to 1300 by Friday when more engineers were brought in from its sister company in England, other electricity network operators and independent contractors.
Alongside the mobilisation of engineering and technical resources, support staff had set in place an extensive welfare program three days before the first storm. Call centre staff proactively started contacting vulnerable customers who may have required a priority service. Alternative accommodation was secured for those deemed to be at risk during a power cut. To help other customers without power, SHEPD mobilised a fleet of catering and welfare vans to areas worst hit. Twenty thousand free hot meals and 30,000 hot and cold drinks were provided at more than 31 locations, through mobile catering facilities and also by hiring local restaurants, hotels and food businesses.
Lisa Doogan, Director of Network Services, explained the challenge facing her teams: “It was important to look after our customers when the power was off – especially in the more remote areas or those that were difficult to get to. That’s why we hired local restaurants and businesses wherever we could. I would also like to thank the Scottish government, local authorities, social services, emergency services and the British Red Cross who all helped us to plan a welfare programme at a real time of need.”