Systems came back online efficiently after lightning hit the Búrfell line last night, according to representatives of electricity utilities. The safety director of Landsnet says the protection system was triggered immediately and worked as intended.
The protection system of Landsnet worked as intended when lightning struck the Búrfell line yesterday, says Halldór Halldórsson, safety director of the electricity agency.
Power outages occurred widely in the southern part of the country, for example at Keflavík Airport, and in some places it took several hours to restore electricity – for example in Mosfellsbær.
Halldór says the protection system was triggered as soon as the lightning struck.
Then a protective mechanism activates which disconnects parts of the system to protect the electricity network from major lightning strikes, to protect the system, and to protect people and equipment from damage, because lightning can in itself end up inside people’s homes if such protection is not in place.
The protection system can be likened to a fuse in electrical equipment.
Halldór says it took about 20 minutes to bring the system back online, but in some places power was out for several hours because when faults occur in distribution networks it is often necessary to send personnel to the site.
Residents in Helgafellsland, the Völuteigur area and Miðholt in Mosfellsbær were without electricity until just after 10 pm last night. A supply station failed there, which affected district heating in Mosfellsbær and on Kjalarnes.
“We had some difficulty restoring power to the supply station. That has to be done manually,” says Silja Ingólfsdóttir, press officer at Veitur.
Power outages caused by the thunderstorms led to disruptions or pressure drops in district heating in Hveragerði, Ölfus and the capital area.
The lightning caused widespread power outages in South Iceland – from Landeyjar to Vík in Mýrdalur. Another lightning strike slightly earlier also caused a power outage in Flóahreppur. Guðgeir Guðmundsson, head of system operations at Rarik, says the process of bringing everything back online went well.
Guðgeir says the weather also caused a power outage in Borgarfjörður eystri. An electricity pole also broke between Hveragerði and Selfoss, but that did not lead to a power outage.
Source: Ruv.is
