Polish power system is safe despite flooding, grid operator says

WARSAW (Reuters) -The Polish power system is safe despite ongoing flooding, power grid operator PSE said on Wednesday.

PSE is using helicopters to check power lines and transformer stations, while newly built infrastructure is designed to cope with extreme weather patterns linked to climate change, the company said in a statement on its website.

The worst floods to hit central Europe in at least two decades have left a trail of destruction from Romania to Poland, spreading debris in southwestern Polish towns and cutting power supplies to dozens of households."The ongoing floods have not damaged the transmission infrastructure and do not affect the balance of the power system," PSE said in a statement.

"At the same time, the situation in the distribution network in southwestern Poland remains difficult."

Polish utility Tauron, which operates distribution grids in regions affected by the flooding, still has some of its infrastructure switched off for safety reasons.

Since Sunday, Tauron has restored power to 80,000 customers, the company said in response to a question from Reuters.

"In the last 24 hours, we restored power to 9,000 customers. Intensive work is underway in Głucholazy, Nysa, Klodzko, Ladek, Zdroj, Stronie Slaskie, and Jelenia Gora," Tauron's distribution unit spokesperson Renata Szczepaniak said.

(Reporting by Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Sharon Singleton)