Trees falling into power lines is the "single biggest cause of damage to the network" following Storm Éowyn, according to an energy sector lead.

Five days on from Storm Éowyn, around 142,000 homes, farms and businesses still have no electricity, while over 30,000 premises still have no water supply.

A number of families have been told it could take until the middle of next week to have their power reconnected.

25/01/2025 ESB Networks crews and partner contractors pictured on site near Dunmanway in West Cork during restoration works in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn.
Picture: Michael O'Sullivan /OSM

Emergency crews - including some from abroad - are working around the clock to repair the “unprecedented damage” caused to the electricity infrastructure last week.

With more extreme weather events likely in the future, is it time to start futureproofing our infrastructure?

Energy sector lead at EY Ireland Sean Casey told Newstalk Breakfast “it’s taking too long to get key infrastructure built in this country”.

“We as a country need to press on and deliver key infrastructure, projects and programmes which improve the resilience and performance of our networks,” he said.

“I’m talking about projects that reinforce or upgrade the network to our towns, villages and communities.

“I’m talking about projects which upgrade water treatment plants and allow for the installation of generators."

'Vegetation management'

According to Mr Casey, we should take a closer look at our "vegetation management".

"If you look anywhere in the country, trees coming down into power lines is the single biggest cause of damage to the network and thus causing outages," he said.

"Many utilities and countries globally are looking at how do you manage this issue.

"The impact and the growth of vegetation and trees, we've seen the this in the last few days.

"It's definitely something that ESB and Eirgrid will have to look at in due course."

A fallen tree leans dangerously across the Rosscommon Road near Athlone is being held up by power lines due to storm Eowyn. Credit: Athlone Photography/Alamy Live News. 24th January 2025

'Harness the benefits of tech'

Mr Casey said we need to “harness the benefits of many technologies” when implementing these upgrades.

“Just one by way of an example would be the role of smart sensor technology on our networks,” he said.

“These sensors give you greater real-time visibility of the network, allow you to pinpoint faults much quicker and indeed allow you [to] automate your response to these faults.

“In my day, you had to walk lines to find faults and that was really, really time consuming.”

Mr Casey said that a multi-agency review should look into how and where generators are deployed across the country in similar events to Storm Éowyn.

However, he said that Ireland faces a “unique situation” due to our dispersed population.

Listen back here:

Main image: 13/1/2020 Storm Brendan In Ireland. ESB crews check for storm damage in Kildare as Storm Brendan hits the country. Photo: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie