Engineers from Electricity North West have now repaired two of the three 33,000-volt underground power cables damaged by another company on Tuesday.
Teams for the region’s network operator have worked throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, including through the night, to restore power to all 22,000 properties affected by the initial power cut.
The company reconfigured the network around the damaged cables and brought in generators from as far as Newcastle and the West Midlands to restore supplies while the repair work took place.
Around 2,600 homes and businesses in Ashton-under-Lyne remain on generators this morning, and engineers will begin moving their supplies back to the network today while they continue work to repair the third cable.
Customers may notice some short interruptions to their power today of up to 15 minutes as engineers remove generators and return them to their normal supply.
Electricity North West had asked local residents to conserve energy as the initial restoration had been achieved by switching to other parts of the network putting it under additional strain. However, now that significant repairs have been made to the network, this is no longer required.
Electricity North West incident manager, Paul Bircham, said: “The work to repair the damaged cables proved to be exceptionally technical and complicated due to the amount of damage caused and the location of the damage.
“We’re pleased that by working through the night we’ve been able to make repairs and get customers back onto a secure and resilient network supply. We’ll be removing the generators that have supplied customers whilst we’ve been carrying the repair during today, and we will continue to fully complete the repairs.
“We had asked local residents and businesses to reduce pressure on the network by conserving as much power as possible. Thanks to everyone who did, it’s really helped, and I’m pleased to say that this is no longer required.”
Electricity North West had contacted hundreds of customers on its Priority Service Register to offer extra help to those who need it.
Regular updates are being posted by Electricity North West on Twitter and Facebook.
