Skellefteå Kraft scrambles as blackout hits hard

At around 21:30, large parts of Skellefteå and the surrounding area went dark.

Sara kulturhus went dark.

Sara kulturhus went dark.

Foto: Melker Westerberg

Skellefteå2023-11-17 08:54

The major blackout began at 21:26.

– There was a line break on a transmission line in the regional network. A line broke. When the regional network is affected, many people quickly lose power, says Elin Ala, press officer at Skellefteå Kraft.

The regional network can be compared to the E4 motorway; it branches out into many smaller lines. The local network is like the smaller roads.

What caused the line to break?

– We don't know at the moment.

A maximum of 30,424 customers were without power. All affected customers had their power back by 10.48 pm, she says.

– Today, the remaining problems on the line where the problem occurred are being addressed.

She continues:

– We have started analysing what happened. We do not want to speculate as to what exactly caused the problem.

The operations map was down, what was the problem there?

– We had problems with the web application, which obviously needs to be reviewed. There was an incredible amount of pressure on the site.

Ala says an intensive effort was made to solve the problem. Many also experienced problems with the mobile network.

– Mobile traffic was affected, which also affects us when we make calls on our phones.

Procedures are in place for such events, says Elin Ala.

– Extra staff were called in very quickly. The staff is very experienced in this kind of thing.