Statnett, the state agency in charge of Norway’s power grid, was blaming an error in an “underlying network” for a massive power failure that left around 70,000 homes without electricity on Thursday. Drammen and its surrounding area were hit the hardest.
Households in Nedre Eiker, Røyken, Hurum, Øvre Eiker, Sigdal and Lier were also left without power after the power failure first hit Asker, west of Oslo. Around 20,000 households in Asker alone lost electricity around 3pm and many didn’t get it back until late in the evening.
A Statnett spokesman said the error hit the network around 2:50pm, knocking out two transformers at Flesaker in Buskerud County. “That led to the loss of between 200 and 300 megawatts and that’s relatively large,” Gunnar Romsaas of Statnett told state broadcaster NRK.
The power failure also forced the closure of the tunnel under the Oslo Fjord that runs from Østfold County over to the Hurum peninsula.
newsinenglish.no staff
