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25 July 2007 Fruit bats disrupting power
This commonly occurs at this time of year and most Territorians are aware of the problems caused by the bats. Interruptions occur as fruit bats cluster around power line insulators – creating short circuits. When this occurs, our equipment senses the interruption and automatically restores the power. If electricity is not able to be automatically restored an outage is required so the power can be safely restored. Fruit bats commonly move on from an area when they run out of food. In the meantime Power and Water has crews removing bats from the line and installing bat foils to minimise the impact the bats have on the power supply. Power and Water has implemented a long-term strategy to minimise the impact of the bats. This includes the continued use of longer insulators, bat foils and the introduction insulated cross-arms. These measures will make the system more resistant to short circuits caused by fruit bats.Contact: |
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Fruit bat activity is picking up in the Darwin rural area and in Katherine. Over past weeks the bats – also known as flying foxes – have caused power outages in parts of Darwin’s rural area.