„The scale of this storm is such that every additional team of professionals is extremely important today. Our neighbors not only understand well what such a large-scale disaster means – they themselves face similar challenges and know how complex the work ahead is,“ says ESO CEO Renaldas Radvila.
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According to him, one of the biggest challenges in removing the consequences of such a large-scale disaster is human resource capacity. Even with enough equipment, the speed of work is limited by how many qualified teams can be sent simultaneously to the damaged network locations.
„When we have thousands of network damages in different parts of the country at the same time, equipment alone is not enough – we need people who can work with it safely and professionally. Polish colleagues are joining our teams, and with additional capacity, we will more quickly restore electricity supply to all our customers,“ says R. Radvila.
Arrived with special equipment
One of the largest Polish distribution network operators, „PGE Dystrybucja“, sent two teams consisting of 11 specialists to help ESO. They arrived in Lithuania with their own equipment, bringing two lift platforms – a „Mercedes 4×4“ and an „Iveco 4×4“.
Polish engineers will work together with ESO teams to repair network damages in the southern districts of the country.
Earlier this week, Lithuania’s transmission network operator „Litgrid“ came to ESO’s aid. After removing the storm’s consequences in its own network, „Litgrid“ halted planned works that could be postponed and offered all contractor companies specializing in overhead line work to help ESO repair the distribution network.
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The biggest storm in decades
The storm that ravaged Lithuania over the weekend is one of the largest in decades in terms of its consequences. At peak times, electricity supply was disrupted for more than 268 thousand ESO customers.
Currently, electricity supply has been restored to 83% of customers, counting from Saturday when the storm was at its strongest.
One of the most effective ways to protect the electricity network from external impact is to replace overhead lines with underground cables. ESO is significantly increasing cabling volumes, especially in forested areas where the largest share of electricity supply disruptions is recorded.
ESO manages a 135 thousand km electricity network, of which 39% is already cabled. Cabling is one of the most important directions of network modernization, and investments are prioritized to the most vulnerable network locations – primarily forested areas.
Last year alone, ESO cabled 368 km of overhead lines in forested areas. By 2028, the company plans to replace about 2 thousand kilometers of overhead lines with cables, and in 2026 about 700 kilometers of cable lines are planned to be laid in forests.
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