i-DE responds in Castile and Leon in its annual emergency drill

• The exercise, in which more than 100 people from Iberdrola's distribution company and its contractors took part, forms part of the actions to be carried out in extraordinary situations in the network that may require the activation of the Emergency Plan.

i-DEExternal link, opens in new window. , Iberdrola España's distribution company, carried out an emergency drill this morning in the event of a hypothetical adverse meteorological situation with strong winds that caused significant damage to various overhead lines in the community.

The action protocols have worked satisfactorily and the more than 100 employees of Iberdrola's distribution company and its contractors have responded in a coordinated and efficient manner in this exercise, which is part of the actions in extraordinary situations in the grid that may require the activation of the Emergency Plan.

During this action, the response of each of the units involved and the reaction time were monitored in order to develop skills in the members of the company's organisation that would allow them to automate the response to a real emergency situation. In addition, the operation of the emergency systems, such as satellite telephones, was checked and proposals for improvement of the planned action plan were promoted.

After verifying the necessary resources, i-DE proposed the deployment of its field teams, special vehicles, generators, etc., to speed up the restoration of the service as much as possible in the event of these incidents in the electricity supply during the weather alert, in order to guarantee the efficiency and coordination of the personnel involved.

Iberdrola España's distribution company carries out annual emergency drills to check the effectiveness and knowledge of the Emergency Procedure, which guarantees a rapid resolution of incidents should they occur, with the ultimate aim of continuing to offer its Castilian and Leonese customers the best quality electricity supply.

Talent and investment

The essential work of the i-DE brigades and contract staff, as well as the high investment in the maintenance of the electrical network, must be highlighted. Thanks to vegetation management - cleaning the corridors through which i-DE's power lines run - the quality and safety of the power supply has been improved by reducing the number of incidents caused by trees which, due to the wind, on other occasions touched the power lines or fell on them. 

Quality of supply

In Castile and León, i-DE manages more than 50,000 km of power lines, has 15,697 transformer stations in service and 246 substations. The company maintains a level of service quality in the region that is above the national average, with the best forecast value at the end of the year in history.