Electricity supplies restored after major powercut
12 November 2018
Diesel fuelled generating stations in South Uist, Barra, and Stornoway were activated to provide a local electricity supply after damage to the national grid link to the Western Isles.
Supplies have been restored to all 23,000 customers in the Western Isles and on Skye who were affected by the power cut.
A landslip on the mainland knocked down a pylon carrying high voltage electricity lines.
Repairs to the main network may take days.
SSE is drafting in extra personnel to allow the back-
Electricity was restored slowly in stages. All of Uist and Barra were switched back on by lunchtime.
Parts of Stornoway and surrounding districts were reconnected within a short period.
But other areas of the town and rural Lewis and Harris were without power for hours.
The national grid supply runs across the west Highlands, through Skye and then underwater by two submarine cables to Lewis and Harris, as well as Uist, Benbecula and Barra.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) received reports of the fault shortly after 9am and immediately started carrying out investigations.
This included the deployment of a helicopter patrol, which identified damage to the
overhead line network at Kinloch Hourn -
Due to the nature of the fault, supplies have been restored by re-
Work to carry out repairs to the damaged line will take place as soon as essential safety checks have been concluded, including an assessment of rock stability and the risk of a further landslip in the area.
The land slip brought down a pylon
Tonnes of debris slid down the slope, taking out a pylon