Huge effort continues across Argyll to reconnect customers following Storm Éowyn

Friday’s red alert warning and dangerous travel conditions prevented work starting on many repairs until wind speeds fell to safer levels. Engineers then stepped up the process of assessing damage and repairing the network and the remaining faults that teams are now working on involve multiple points of damage, which in some areas requires a complete rebuilding of infrastructure. 

A major operation took place overnight on Friday, with a specialist team carrying out major works near Taynuilt to remove fallen trees. This was completed just before dawn on Saturday, meaning around 10,000 people in the Oban area were reconnected ahead of the scheduled restoration time.

A spokesperson for SSEN added: "We’ve provided customers with realistic updates on when they can expect their supplies to be restored. These are now being further informed by a detailed assessment of the faults and how long it’s taking to complete each job safely, and the time provided could come forward. 

"Despite fallen trees blocking some access tracks, the extent of damage sustained, and the complex nature of the repairs required, our target is to get nearly everyone reconnected by the end of today." 

Anyone still awaiting reconnection and who can’t see their fault listed on SSEN’s PowerTrack app or website should contact 105 to flag their issue.

Andy Smith, SSEN’s Director of Customer Operations for the north of Scotland, said: "Hundreds of people are involved in our operation to reconnect people in Argyll and Kintyre as safely and quickly as possible in the wake of Storm Éowyn.

"Anyone who experienced for themselves the severity of Friday’s winds will know just how ferocious they were and the impact they’ve had on the local electricity network has been severe.

“I’d like to thank everyone who’s lost power over the past few days for their understanding and patience while we’ve mounted a huge twin-pronged operation to fix faults and rebuild parts of the network, while also putting in place arrangements to ensure people can get a hot meal and a drink, a warm space and dedicated support if they need it."

Mr Smith told how support has been drafted in from all over the UK to help the rebuild and reconnection effort.

He added: "Engineers from as far afield as the southeast of England are on the ground here working alongside our own teams to fix faults. While this goes on, we’ve done all we can to provide people with realistic, accurate estimations of when their supplies will be restored.

"Some may have had this happen sooner than expected, and if we need to alter the time we’ve provided, we’ll be in touch with customers directly.”