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We head to Ireland

37 of our linesmen and engineers have travelled to the Republic of Ireland to help counterparts from ESB Networks following Storm Ophelia. Teams from the Midlands, South West England and South Wales arrived yesterday to help restore power supplies and repair electricity infrastructure in the worst affected parts of Ireland.

The storm hit the southern coast of Ireland on Monday, with winds in excess of 80 miles per hour causing severe damage to electricity network infrastructure and resulted in 360,000 properties losing power.

While the majority of customers affected have now had their power restored, repairs are expected to take longer in some areas.

Network staff are being deployed through an agreement called NEWSAC; a mutual aid arrangement developed by network companies to help share resources across the UK and Ireland when severe weather causes widespread damage to network infrastructure.

WPD’s South Wales Network Services Manager Phil Davies said:

“The storm earlier this week did cause some impact on our network, however we are now in a position to offer our support to customers in Ireland who were worst hit. Our linesmen and engineers are well trained and equipped to repair and restore the electricity network and we’re pleased to be able to lend our support and thank our staff for travelling to the country to help at this time.

“We have made sure that our own network has enough staff to cover any emergencies that might occur.”
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