Power restored to 900 homes following Storm Arwen as army deployed

Power has been restored to 900 homes that were disconnected following the impact of Storm Arwen.

Of the remaining 1600 homes still off supply, engineers hope to have 1100 reconnected on Friday and the rest on Saturday.

The army has been deployed to help residents in the north-east who have been without power for a week since the storm caused “catastrophic damage” to the electricity network.

Around 130 troops have been sent to carry out door-to-door checks and offer welfare support.

UK energy minister Greg Hands was in Aberdeenshire on Friday to meet those who helped out in the area.

The 900 customers were reconnected during the night from Thursday into Friday.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) say they are continuing to proactively contact customers still off supply to offer extra support, including accommodation and meals.

And regulator Ofgem has launched a review into the response of energy network companies and has removed a limit on compensation to allow customers to claim up to £140 per day they are without power.

Aberdeenshire: UK energy minister Greg Hands met those who helped and those affected by Storm Arwen. STV News

The remaining 1600 includes single or small groups of houses fed by SSEN’s low voltage network who are mainly located in rural and isolated communities, with Aberdeenshire the main area still affected.

SSEN expects to restore power to a further 1100 homes throughout the course of Friday and into the evening, where it remains safe for work to continue and subject to no unforeseen difficulties with ongoing repairs.

Around 500 customers are expected to be restored throughout the course of Saturday.

Mark Rough, director of operations, said: “Our teams made further progress overnight as we focus all efforts and resources on restoring the final customers who remain off supply following the catastrophic impact of Storm Arwen.

“Additional teams continue to be deployed to Aberdeenshire to support restoration efforts, as well as enhancing welfare provisions in the region, with our teams continuing to proactively contact those customers who remain off supply to offer whatever support we can.

“We fully recognise the challenge Storm Arwen has presented to all our customers who have been impacted, particularly those who are still without power, and we would once again like to apologise for the difficulties our customers are facing.

“We would also like to thank our customers for their patience, understanding and the support they have shown our teams and would reassure all customers still off supply that we are doing everything we can to reconnect power as soon as possible.

“For anyone still off supply, we would encourage them to call 105 and our teams will look to provide whatever support is required.”