Elia to start removing fallen high-voltage lines from houses in Leest tomorrow. First residents can return home by Monday evening.

• Elia’s top priority is to secure the impacted homes in the area around Vinkstraat, followed by the area between the sports hall (Dorpstraat) and the railway line (Moststraat). 
• Stringent safety measures will be put in place and traffic will be diverted during the work. 
• At the same time, Elia will bolster the local transmission network to optimise security of supply for the city of Mechelen. 

Now that the preparatory work has been completed, Elia will start removing the fallen high-voltage lines in Leest tomorrow. The lines fell on ten houses on Tuesday as a result of a powerful storm that toppled nine high-voltage pylons. Alongside Mechelen’s municipal authorities, Elia has drawn up an action plan for the days ahead. The situation should be back to normal within a week. Elia’s top priority is to secure the impacted houses so that residents can return home as soon as possible. Stringent safety measures will be put in place during the work and traffic will be diverted.

Strengthening security of supply 

In the wake of the storm, Elia, working with the distribution system operator Fluvius, successfully maintained the power supply to the affected region; however, additional work is needed here too. 

Given the loss of the impacted high-voltage line, the local network must be bolstered in order to better protect it from any additional incidents. Over the last few days, Elia's experts have been working on a technical solution that will involve the deployment of a backup line. Elia will work with the municipal authorities and relevant landowners with the aim of launching an emergency procedure to build five temporary pylons. Elia would like to start this work on 23 July. The backup line should be operational by mid-August.