Heathrow shutdown blamed on ‘catastrophic’ maintenance failure that went unfixed for seven years
by Danielle de Wolfe · LBCBy Danielle de Wolfe
A power outage which wiped out electricity to Heathrow airport and caused travel chaos for passengers could have been avoided, a new report has revealed.
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Energy Secretary Ed Miliband ordered an urgent investigation into the power outage that caused the UK's busiest airport to close in March of this year, following the serious fire at a nearby electrical substation.
The report, released today, reveals expert opinion suggesting the fire at the North Hyde Substation "most likely" started after the failure of high-voltage bushing, which allowed moisture to enter the equipment.
The report also reveals that two chances to prevent the failure were missed.
This failure caused the fire which ultimately spread out of control, burning for several days before firefighters were able to extinguish it.
More than 67,000 were left without power after the fire at the substation back in March, and 270,000 journeys disrupted from the airport.
The government is now demanding urgent reforms and upgrades to the ancient grid system, some of which are already being pushed through by government in a bid to increase capacity as the UK moves towards Net Zero.
The first opportunity to avoid the outage came in 2018, when tests revealed a higher than expected level of moisture in oil samples.
The levels of moisture meant "an imminent fault and that the bushing should be replaced", the National Grid Electricity Transmission's relevant guidance said.
Basic maintenance to the substation that was required in 2022 was also subsequently deferred.
The report, released on Wednesday by the National Energy System Operator (NESO), noted that opportunities to mitigate the severity of the issue were "not actioned".
It also revealed the airport had become too reliant on a single source of power.
An initial report commissioned by Heathrow into the saga, led by former Transport Secretary, Ruth Kelly, found that the chief executive of Heathrow airport was asleep at home when the decision to shut the airport was taken.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband called the NESO report "deeply concerning", because "known risks were not addressed by the National Grid Electricity Transmission.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: "A combination of outdated regulation, inadequate safety mechanisms, and National Grid's failure to maintain its infrastructure led to this catastrophic power outage.
"We expect National Grid to be carefully considering what steps they can take to ensure this isn't repeated.
"Our own Review, led by former Cabinet Minister Ruth Kelly, identified key areas for improvement and work is already underway to implement all 28 recommendations."
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Senior staff tried to wake Thomas Woldbye with calls and messages but he could not be reached.
But the report concluded that the decision to suspend flights was the right one, and was essential to protect safety and security of passengers.
An interim report from NESO, the National Energy Security Operator, said that the cause of the North Hyde Substation fire, remains unknown.
Government sources were confident there had not been a cyber attack at the time, but no cause has yet been determined.
The National Grid said there were “important lessons to be learned” about cross-sector resilience following the review into the North Hyde substation fire.
A National Grid spokesperson said: “As Neso’s report sets out, in Great Britain we have one of the most reliable networks in the world, and events of this nature are rare.
“National Grid has a comprehensive asset inspection and maintenance programme in place, and we have taken further action since the fire. This includes an end-to-end review of our oil sampling process and results, further enhancement of fire risk assessments at all operational sites and re-testing the resilience of substations that serve strategic infrastructure.
“We fully support the recommendations in the report and are committed to working with NESO and others to implement them. We will also cooperate closely with Ofgem’s investigation.
“There are important lessons to be learnt about cross-sector resilience and the need for increased coordination, and we look forward to working with government, regulators and industry partners to take these recommendations forward.”