Information on power cuts

Why do power cuts happen?

Power cuts are caused especially by acts of nature, such as storms, lightning strikes, and snow loads on trees. Excavation, material damage and small animals can also cause power cuts. Sometimes, there are planned power cuts during electricity network maintenance, repair and improvement work.

Short power cuts

Short power cuts stem from medium voltage network protection, often preventing longer power cuts. In the event of a fault, the network protection system will automatically interrupt electricity distribution and strive to restore electricity after a short period of time. The system will try to restore electricity in less than a second, and if the fault does not disappear, again after a few minutes. Several short power cuts may occur during fault detection.

Short power cuts are caused especially by large migratory birds in the spring and autumn, lightning strikes, branches flying in the wind, and heavy snow loads in winter. The automatic protection system prevents longer power cuts as most disturbances are gone by the time it restores electricity.

How we reduce the duration of a power cut

We reduce faults causing long power cuts through network automation.

When the automation detects a fault in the electricity network, it carries out something called auto-reclosing. As a result of auto-reclosing, electricity is briefly cut off and then restored. The length of the interruption usually ranges from less than a second to a few minutes.

We also reduce the length and extent of power cuts by using remote-controlled devices that are installed in the network. With the help of remote control, the fault area can be limited and electricity can be restored to as many customers as possible. For customers outside the limited area, we can restore electricity once the fault has been repaired by an electrician.