Power expected to be restored to remote rural households within a day or two
After a severe storm cut power across large parts of Latvia, supply has already been restored to most customers, but remote rural homes may have to wait one to two more days. Around 75,000 households currently remain without electricity.
Arvis Zīle, head of the Crisis Management Centre, told a press conference that despite the large number of outages, power is being restored relatively quickly, although repair work continues.
Damage across the whole country
Rolands Irklis, chairman of the board of transmission system operator AST, said the storm caused widespread damage to the electricity network, with outages affecting areas from Ugāle to Krāslava and Dagda — essentially the entire territory of Latvia. Most of the damage has already been fixed, but the most intensive repair work is currently underway in Latgale, where power lines suffered severe damage and fallen trees need to be cleared. Active repairs are also taking place in the Sēlija region and around Ērgļi in Vidzeme.
Over 1,000 faults recorded
The head of grid operator Sadales tīkls said around 75,000 households are currently without electricity, and the total number of faults in the network is expected to exceed 1,000.
Restoration timeline
Power has already been restored to major clients. Supply to apartment buildings in rural areas is planned to be reconnected today, while single homesteads and households in more remote rural regions are expected to get power back tomorrow, and, if necessary, the day after.
