The electricity sector has given a lesson in disaster preparedness. The DANA caused significant damage to transformation centers, electrical substations, high and medium voltage lines and complicated physical access to assets that, even so, have been able to operate again in just 72 hours thanks to the work carried out by the brigades. of Iberdrola and EDP operators.
The president of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán, explained during the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Technological Research Institute, the tremendous value that the digitalization of electrical networks had contributed to recovering supply in Valencia.
The investment that his company, through its distribution subsidiary i-DE, had carried out, facilitated the recovery of 90% of the electricity supply in the affected area in a period of just 72 hours.
The passage of the Dana caused the loss of supply to nearly 155,000 customers in different points, especially in the areas through which the Poyo ravine, the Magro river and the headwaters of the Turia river run, partly due to problems in the distribution network. but also in transportation, which suffered significant damage.
According to sources from the electricity company consulted by elEconomista.esthe typology of the incidents has been very varied, from high voltage towers knocked down by the different tornadoes in the Carlet and Catadau area, to the dragging of supports of medium voltage lines by the passage of water and the flooding of two substations. processing plants as well as numerous processing centers due to the high level of water and mud that was reached in the majority of the affected populations.
From the beginning, the company, in coordination with the authorities, mobilized its own personnel and contractor companies, approximately 500 people from both the Valencian Community and other regions in the rest of Spain to replace the electricity supply as quickly as possible.
A group of 200 people traveled on the first day (their own and from contractor companies) from outside Valencia to support both field work and to reinforce and relieve the personnel who operate the control centers. This action allowed us to recover approximately 90% of the affected electricity supply in just 48 hours and in just over 72 hours, practically everything was restored.
The COD (Distribution Operation Center), located in Valencia and Alicante, have played a relevant role in the restoration of the electricity supply. The digitalization of the distribution network has made it possible to manage information in real time and carry out maneuvers to recover the service without having to go on site to the scene of the incident.
In those areas where field work was necessary, the control centers have carried out studies for the distribution of the supply load in the distribution network so that some areas can provide support to other more affected ones and so that The replacement work could be organized so that the points where greater efficiency was going to be achieved in the recovery of affected facilities and clients were prioritized, taking into account the prioritization of special clients such as health centers, schools, nursing homes. , among others.
During Dana, Iberdrola has installed more than 120 generating sets and has connected them in more than 246 locations (they were removed as soon as the supply was recovered and reinstalled where they were necessary). In addition, it has repaired more than 2,500 low voltage incidents and has mobilized more than 25 trucks with electrical material.
As part of this response, the company also reinforced the different customer service channels, kept information updated on its digital channels, and sent communications (emails and text messages) to affected customers.
The company was in permanent contact with the different public administrations (state, regional and local) to report on the situation and its evolution and as it is part of CECOPI, which is coordinating the emergency.
Once a large part of the supply was replaced, the distributor contacted the different corresponding administrations and installer associations to help as much as possible in the coordination of the work to replace customer service in their particular facilities.
EDP also acted along the same lines, which with its distributor E-Redes, had to access some of the most complicated areas. In some cases, it took the teams up to 20 hours to reach the breakdown areas.
EDP operates as an energy distribution company through E-Redes and provides service to more than 8,000 customers in the area. From the first moment, E-Redes was dedicated uninterruptedly to returning the electricity supply in the affected areas of its network (mainly Aldaia, Paterna, Manises, Ribaroja del Turia, Godella and Loriguilla) to all its clients, always under the premise to guarantee maximum safety for people.
crisis committee
Aware of the importance for the affected people of having electricity in these very complicated circumstances, the company quickly launched a crisis committee led by the CEO of EDP Redes España, Francisco Rodríguez, and involving all areas.
This committee, always in contact and coordination with the Valencian authorities, the emergency services and the State Security Corps and Forces, quadrupled the number of personnel in the field, transferring its own and external technical personnel from other provinces of Spain such as Asturias or Zaragoza , and made the necessary vehicles and equipment available, such as generating sets, electrical equipment and satellite telephones.
The high digitalization capacity, through remote control of the E-Redes network, allowed the control center to see the network and execute orders remotely, for which it is necessary that there be communications and also that the facilities be operational.
The DANA caused the loss of communications between the E-Redes control center in Asturias and some damaged equipment in Valencia, in addition to affecting the remote control in facilities such as the Quart de Poblet substation, which forced field personnel to review the real state of the equipment, visiting the facilities and coordinating with the control centers.
At first, field personnel had to overcome circulation difficulties in the affected areas, and then encountered numerous obstacles when accessing the facilities. However, little by little it managed to make its way and deploy emergency solutions, such as provisional electrical circuits, in record time. And as communications were recovered, remote control was also reestablished.
The characteristic meshing of the E-Redes distribution network, with multiple connections and alternative paths to distribute energy to different points, was key when it came to advancing through the lines and being able to progressively feed the network.
The fact that most of E-Redes’ medium voltage networks in the area are underground also helped contain the damage, since overhead line supports are often especially affected by adverse weather (for example, only in In the Catadau area, 21 transport network supports fell).
Problems persist
The Quart de Poblet substation was also severely affected by flooding, to the point that Red Eléctrica has not yet managed to recover the 220 kV supply due to damage to its equipment.
The E-Redes switchgear, which operates the 20 kV lines of this substation, was also affected. However, the mesh allowed, once the equipment was sanitized and clean, to assist the Quart de Poblet substation by diverting energy from another point, in this case from the Aldaia substation.
This was one of the key actions, since it allowed the Manises Hospital line to be recovered, one of the most critical points, and subsequently restore the service of low-voltage domestic supplies, mainly in the Loriguilla area.
Thanks to this effort, in just 48 hours service was restored to low-voltage domestic supplies. Currently, all E-Redes clients whose facilities are operational already have supply and work is being done to find tailored solutions for those with equipment that is still affected.
In any case, the E-Redes teams continue working in the area, as there are numerous damaged facilities that must be adapted to return normality to the area’s distribution network and strengthen it.
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