Brady secures commitment from ESB to address sources of power outages in West Wicklow
Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady has welcomed a series of commitments secured from ESB Networks to put in place a series of measures to ensure that the factors which caused the spate of outages that were experienced in the Grange Con, Donard and Stratford areas of West Wicklow will be addressed. ESB Network gave the commitment at a meeting organised following representations by Brady to the ESB.
The commitments include the introduction of a Loop Automation Scheme process that would locate faults, a full visual inspection of the line throughout the impacted area, and the continuation of a timber cutting programme that would clear the line of tree obstructions which were responsible for a number of instances of outages.
Brady said:
“There are roughly 1,500 people in the Grange Con, Donard and Stratford areas of West Wicklow who were affected by the unplanned outages which occurred with worrying regularity over the summer, peaking in July, but which have been ongoing for the last two and a half to three years.
This unacceptable level of unplanned outages had a significant detrimental impact on families in the area. Modern society needs and demands a reliable energy supply.
We witnessed students who had online exams interrupted, online workers left without any internet connection, and older people and those with illnesses were left undermined by the outages.
I have been in regular contact with ESB Networks, and I want to thank Sean Murphy and his team for facilitating the meeting today, where I was able to express the urgency needed in addressing the outstanding issues impacting on power supply in West Wicklow.
I welcome the commitments from ESB Networks to introduce a programme of works for the West Wicklow area which will address the source of the unplanned outages.
These include a comprehensive programme of cutting back trees that were hitting against power lines and tripping out power, full and regular visual inspections of the power circuits in the area. The ESB has also committed to the introduction of a full Loop Automation Scheme, which will allow the ESB to locate and act on faults on the line in the impacted area. There are also plans to introduce increased capacity for users in the area, With plans for 38Kv station upgrade at Baltinglass.
These are significant developments, which I will be monitoring closely, while remaining in regular contact with ESB Networks to ensure that the work that has been committed to is progressing as planned.” ENDs
