OREANDA-NEWS. The storms which battered the north west of Scotland at the start of the week gave the country’s Deputy First Minister the opportunity to experience first-hand the work of Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution (SHEPD).

John Swinney visited the company’s Perth headquarters on Monday evening as engineers prepared for the possible damage to the network that was eventually to leave over 14,000 customers without power due to the high winds that reached up to 90mph in South Uist.

His tour of the headquarters took in the Storm Room, the Network Management Centre and the Emergency Service Centre where Mr Swinney also met call centre colleagues who, in addition to taking thousands of inbound calls from customers off supply, made outbound calls to over 2,000 vulnerable customers to ensure their safety, and provide reassurance and advice.

Speaking after his visit to the heart of the company’s storm control, the Deputy First Minister said: “I have seen first-hand the tremendous efforts all of SSE staff put in during the recent storms, particularly those working in terrible conditions out in the field.

“Only recently (January) SSE engineers endured atrocious weather conditions to restore power to 120,000 customers and repair damaged caused by winds of more than 100mph, blizzards, ice and lightning. Reconnecting so many customers swiftly and in such challenging conditions was a remarkable achievement.

“The speed and quality of the information provided by SSE during severe weather events has been excellent throughout recent events and I extend my gratitude to them on behalf of all those effected.”

Within 24 hours all customers who had been affected by this most recent storm had their power restored, despite weather conditions hindering travel. Alternative methods of travel to remote areas and islands had to made in some cases, such as chartering a helicopter to take engineers to areas of the network which had been damaged.

Director of Engineering Alan Broadbent responded to Mr Swinney’s praise, saying: “We greatly value the support we receive from the Scottish Government and the other public agencies we partner with during storms to help us restore electricity supplies as soon as possible and ensure our most vulnerable customers get the support they need. We are very pleased to have been able to show Mr Swinney how we respond to a major storm and look forward to the continued support of the Scottish Government.”