How we stepped up to help repair storm damage in Ireland
Storm damage can have a devasting effect on people’s lives, and we’re proud that colleagues from E.ON have travelled to Ireland to help restore power and keep people warm and well.
At home or away, we’re proud to support our communities, especially when they need us the most.
One recent example of this is colleagues from our parent company E.ON SE and three of our German grid operators who volunteered to travel to Ireland to help local teams deal with the extensive damage caused by Storm Éowyn. The storm led to more than 760,000 homes being without electricity for several days across Ireland.
To help restore power quickly, the Irish grid operator, Northern Ireland Electricity Networks (NIE Networks), put out a Europe-wide request for help. And our colleagues had no hesitation in coming forward.
As part of a group of German-based organisations who responded to the request, some 50 colleagues – from E.ON SE, Westnetz, Avacon and the HanseWerk Group (SH Netz) – have travelled from Germany to Ireland, quickly helping to get people’s power supply back on.
To send our colleagues as swiftly as possible, we responded to the call for help by setting up a task force with some of our German grid operators to coordinate efforts. The team quickly ensured aspects like labour law and appropriate insurance were considered and addressed before colleagues were sent to the most affected regions in Ireland. The key priority, as always, has been ensuring the safety of our colleagues while undertaking this overseas challenge.
Our colleagues have since travelled to Dublin, Cavan, Galway and Athlone, working under the guidance of local teams to help ensure power supplies were restored as quickly as possible.
Brian Brady, Head of Program Delivery at Irish grid operator ESB said: “Thank you for responding to our request for help during the peak of our need. At that time, we had approximately 30% of our customers without power here in Ireland. Since then, your team has greatly assisted us by mobilising and deploying a team quickly to Ireland. I wish to express our deepest gratitude for this assistance. This comes from me personally, on behalf of ESB Networks, and on behalf of everyone in Ireland. The quick and open support you have provided is inspiring, and we hope that someday we too can return the favour should you need assistance.”
Whether at a local, national or international level, we’re proud to be supporting people and communities, keeping them warm and well this winter.