Power cuts hit thousands of NI homes

Northern Ireland was hit by widespread power cuts tonight when one of its main power stations stopped generating and another could only provide a reduced level of electricity.

Tens of thousands of homes were affected in the early evening and Northern Ireland Electricity said it would rotate power cuts around different areas.

Operational problems at the Ballylumford and Killroot power stations in Co Antrim – with Killroot completely out of service – meant there was not enough electricity to meet customer demand, said NIE.

What NIE called “programmed interruptions” in service had been introduced and it was envisaged that blackouts in any given area would not last longer than four hours.

Communications manager Robin Greer said: “Due to the problems being experienced NIE has been obliged to implement a load shedding schedule to ensure that the available electricity supply is fairly shared to all our customers.”

Areas of Co Down appeared to be worst affected, together with residential areas of Belfast and some parts of Co Antrim.