With the nation on lockdown, many of us within SSEN are able to work from home. But many colleagues remain on the frontline working hard to support the safe and reliable supply of electricity at local, regional and national level, on which the people and organisations whose work is critical to the coronavirus response depend.

Without their commitment to the cause, this simply wouldn't be possible. So, over the coming weeks, we'll be hearing from the colleagues who are out doing what they can to support the communities that we serve across the north of Scotland and central southern England in their time of need.

Today we are starting with Thomas Hoffmann who is Project Manager in the Network Construction department in the north of Scotland.

He said: "I live in Wick, but my work sees me managing the upgrade and maintenance work on our overhead lines all across the far north of Scotland. As part of my role I'm also a Senior Authorised Person (SAP), which means that when we need to turn off the power to carry out our essential work,

"I'm the member of staff on site who liaises with our Control Room to make sure the power goes off, stays off when the work is being done and then comes back on again safely."

SSEN has postponed all but the most essential work in line with government advice, however the teams are still ready to help if any faults develop that cause the power to go off.

Thomas said: "I'm currently part of the Rapid Response team which is standing by and ready to go out to fix any faults should they develop across the far north of Scotland.

"If it's essential that we go to a customer's property as part of our work to get the power back on, we have an enhanced safety process to follow; these additional measures include checking with the customer if they are self-isolating or have the virus, rubber gloves are mandatory and we carry sanitising wipes with us everywhere we go. When we leave the property after the job is finished, our toolbox and PPE gets a good wipe down, and our gloves get double-bagged for disposal back at the depot.

"We all know how frustrating a power cut can be, but given that nearly everyone has been advised to stay at home and also some people may be self-isolating or unable to go out, it is even more important that we have as many staff as possible available to help fix a fault.

"There's always been a great community spirit in this part of the country, and this is something I'm noticing more and more with each passing day, with colleagues and friends regularly checking in with each other as we all realise just how challenging a time this is for everyone."