By Jeremy Sollars
ERGON Energy says the blackouts in Warwick and surrounding areas on Monday arose as a result of a “relatively brief, but very intense storm” that passed over the Darling Downs mid-afternoon.
A spokesman said direct lightning strikes on aerial earth wires near both the Warwick bulk supply substation and the East Warwick substation had a “major impact” on the network during the storm.
“The force of the lightning strikes broke aerial earth wires at both locations and these wires then fell on to the high-voltage lines underneath, causing the network protection system to operate as intended to immediately cut the power supply,” the spokesman told the Free Times.
“The lines between the Warwick bulk supply substation and both the East and West Warwick substation were affected, along with two of the feeder lines out of the East Warwick substation.
“As a result, all 4200 customers normally supplied from the West Warwick substation had their power interrupted from 3.16pm until 8.39pm when repairs were completed.”
He said in the case of East Warwick substation, power was restored to some of the 5000 affected customers prior to crews undertaking repairs by reconfiguring the network so they could take supply from other feeder lines.
“About 2000 customers were supplied from the Stanthorpe feeder around 5pm and a similar number were supplied from another feeder line about 6.30pm,” the spokesman said.
“Supply to the remaining 1000 customers had to remain off until 8.33pm so crews could safely repair the network.
“The sub-transmission lines from the Warwick bulk supply substation to Stanthorpe, Allora and Killarney substations were not affected by the storm and customers in these areas remained on supply throughout the afternoon and evening.”
He said with upgrades to the Warwick network in recent years, it was “unusual” for both the East and West Warwick substations that supply the town area to be out of operation at the same time.
“This was the result of the location of the lightning strikes and damage caused,” the spokesman said.
“If either substation had been fully operational, it would have been able to supply the majority of customers from both substations temporarily while repairs were undertaken.
“All available Warwick crews were dispatched to respond to the multiple incidents simultaneously, initially prioritising the restoration of power to as many customers as possible before undertaking the repairs.
“Ergon Energy understands the concern of some residents about the widespread loss of power in Warwick as a result of yesterday’s storm and also appreciates the supportive comments towards our crews from the majority of locals through social media.
“Ergon has invested tens of millions of dollars upgrading the network in the Southern Downs in the past decade, however no electricity network in the world is storm-proof.”
