Latest news with #NationalGrid
Times
3 hours ago
- General
- Times
Is this a good time to buy shares in National Grid?
T his month's official report into the power cut at Heathrow airport in March made uncomfortable reading for National Grid. The company presents itself as the careful custodian of the high-voltage electricity network across England and Wales — yet the report by the National Energy System Operator gives the impression that it has been asleep on the job. The blaze in a transformer at National Grid's North Hyde substation that triggered the chaos was most likely to have been caused, Neso found, by moisture entering equipment known as a bushing, causing a short circuit and the ignition of oil within it. Moisture had been detected in oil samples in July 2018, indicating an 'imminent fault' that needed fixing — yet National Grid failed to do so for seven years. It deferred basic maintenance at the substation and failed to fix a fire suppression system that was found in 2022 to be 'inoperable'. Some 108 of National Grid's 805 transformers nationally are overdue maintenance, the report found, a proportion that's within the company's own limits but raises obvious questions about what risks may be going unaddressed.
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Heathrow faces 'tens of millions' in costs after March fire shutdown
Heathrow Airport faces tens of millions of pounds in costs after a substation fire forced a chaotic shutdown of Britain's busiest airport in March. The airport's chief executive Thomas Woldbye told the PA news agency Heathrow anticipates costs in the 'low tens of millions' after the temporary closure caused by a power outage led to disruption for more than 270,000 passengers. It came as Heathrow revealed its busiest ever start to the year, with a record 39.9 million passengers travelling through the airport thanks to strong demand for Asia-Pacific and Middle East routes. But its half-year profits still sunk by more than a third to £203million for the six months to the end of June, as costs surged partly as a result of higher wages and national insurance contributions. 'I would have liked to see my personal role play out differently. 'That said, we need to have procedures in place that ensures that this company can take the right decisions at the right time by the right people, no matter what the situation is. 'An organisation like ours has to be able to manage, whether the captain's on the bridge or not.' During an interview with BBC Radio 4 earlier in the day, Woldbye denied misjudging what it meant to be the head of one of the world's busiest airports. Heathrow now awaits a report from energy watchdog Ofgem to finalise its findings into the incident and discover whether it can claim compensation from National Grid Electricity Transmission. Ofgem has launched an official enforcement investigation into NGET after a report found the fire was the result of a preventable technical fault. The report by the National Energy System Operator (Neso) said 'elevated moisture reading' found in oil samples at the North Hyde substation in west London in July 2018 was not rectified with replacement electrical insulators known as bushings. It also comes as Heathrow plots a major expansion, including plans for a third runway, to increase its capacity and maintain its status as a global hub. Woldbye told investors on Wednesday Heathrow is still 'delivering on our vision to become an extraordinary airport, fit for the future'. He added: 'Our new five-year investment plan will mean faster, more reliable journeys, more on-time flights and unlock room to grow - all while delivering better value for customers. 'We will soon submit our long-term expansion plans to the Government, providing the UK with the opportunity to stay competitive, boost jobs and drive nationwide growth. Heathrow has an exciting future ahead and we are ready to get going.'
The Guardian
11 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Heathrow fire cost airport tens of millions of pounds, says CEO
The substation fire that closed Heathrow for almost a day in March cost the airport 'tens of millions' of pounds, its chief executive has said. Giving the hub's first public estimate on the bill from the blaze, Thomas Woldbye said Heathrow had yet to decide whether to pursue National Grid for damages, as it awaited the findings of the energy regulator Ofgem into the incident. Heathrow was criticised for its lack of resilienceafter more than 270,000 passenger journeys were disrupted when an overnight fire and power outage stopped flights landing or taking off on 21 March. Woldbye, who slept through the night with his phone on silent, said he 'would have liked to see my personal role play out differently'. A report by the National Energy System Operator found that the fire was due to a known, preventable fault at the North Hyde substation, and that insufficient action was taken to remedy problems detected in 2018. Ofgem has launched an investigation. Woldbye said that Heathrow would also be 'investing in agreement with the airlines to improve the physical resilience' of the airport. The comments came as Heathrow revealed that profits fell by a third in the first half of the year despite passenger numbers reaching a record high, with 39.9m journeys in the six months to 30 June. Woldbye said the fall in pre-tax profits to £203m was down to higher costs, 'primarily finance costs, as the consequence of higher interest rates'. Heathrow this month submitted a five-year investment plan to the Civil Aviation Authority to improve its facilities and raise charges by about £5 per passenger. The airport is due to submit further plans next week to the government for a third runway, after the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, signalled support to restart the controversial scheme. Woldbye said: 'If we are to meet customers' requirements, and I think we should, particularly on capacity, that will cost money. Heathrow is a very space constrained airport. We already have two or three times as many passengers per square metre of airport as our competitors in Europe. Creating additional capacity is not easy, and hence it's costly.' Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion He said the runway would not be in operation until 2035 at the earliest and indicated that the airport would be pursuing it with caution. 'The government has asked for input. If customers are not clear, they want it, if the country is not clear they want it, why would we do this?' The submission is expected to spell out the need for action on new flight paths and planning reform before Heathrow commits major investment, but it will include a 'baseline plan' for the runway, which in its last iteration required major work and diversions to the UK''s busiest motorway, the M25, and would increase the number of flights at Heathrow by up to 50%. However, he added: 'I think it is very important for the country, because I think we are already lagging behind on aviation capacity in the London area, and we'll continue to do that for a while. We need to create the right conditions for both airlines and airport to make sure that it's a success. Will Heathrow survive without a third runway? Yes.'
The Independent
14 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Heathrow reveals huge financial impact of fire that forced airport's closure
Heathrow Airport is expected to incur costs in the "low tens of millions" of pounds following its chaotic March closure, chief executive Thomas Woldbye has revealed. The blaze, which started late on March 20, halted operations at the west London airport until approximately 6pm on March 21. More than 270,000 air passenger journeys were disrupted by the incident. The airport group awaits a report from energy watchdog Ofgem to finalise its findings, which will determine if it can claim compensation from National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET). Mr Woldbye added the group had "learnings" to take away from the incident. A report into events clarified that Mr Woldbye had been asleep with his phone on silent as the overnight decision to close the airport was taken. He said: 'That is one learning and that will not happen again. 'I would have liked to see my personal role play out differently. 'That said, we need to have procedures in place that ensures that this company can take the right decisions at the right time by the right people, no matter what the situation is.' 'An organisation like ours has to be able to manage, whether the captain's on the bridge or not,' he said. In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he denied misjudging what it meant to be the head of one of the world's busiest airports. Ofgem has launched an official enforcement investigation into NGET after a report found the fire that caused the shutdown of Heathrow was due to a preventable technical fault. The report by the National Energy System Operator (Neso) said an 'elevated moisture reading' had been found in oil samples at the North Hyde substation in west London in July 2018, but that action was not taken to replace electrical insulators known as bushings. The comments came as the airport revealed half-year profits fell by more than a third despite seeing passenger numbers soar to a record high. The group posted a 37.2 per cent drop in pre-tax profits to £203 million for the six months to June 30 as its costs surged, partly driven by a higher wage bill after last autumn's budget measures.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
Substation fire that shut Heathrow Airport to cost it ‘tens of millions'
The boss of Heathrow has revealed the chaotic closure of the London airport in March after a substation fire is expected to cost it tens of millions of pounds. Chief executive Thomas Woldbye told the PA news agency the financial impact of the temporary closure caused by a power outage was expected be in the 'low tens of millions'. The group is now waiting for a report from energy watchdog Ofgem to finalise its findings into the incident to see if it can claim compensation from National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET). No flights operated at the west London airport until about 6pm on March 21 because of the blaze which started late the previous night. More than 270,000 air passenger journeys were disrupted by the incident. Mr Woldbye told PA the group had 'learnings' to take away from the incident. A report into events clarified that Mr Woldbye had been asleep with his phone on silent as the overnight decision to close the airport was taken. He said: 'That is one learning and that will not happen again. 'I would have liked to see my personal role play out differently. 'That said, we need to have procedures in place that ensures that this company can take the right decisions at the right time by the right people, no matter what the situation is.' 'An organisation like ours has to be able to manage, whether the captain's on the bridge or not,' he said. In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he denied misjudging what it meant to be the head of one of the world's busiest airports. Ofgem has launched an official enforcement investigation into NGET after a report found the fire that caused the shutdown of Heathrow was due to a preventable technical fault. The report by the National Energy System Operator (Neso) said an 'elevated moisture reading' had been found in oil samples at the North Hyde substation in west London in July 2018, but that action was not taken to replace electrical insulators known as bushings. The comments came as the airport revealed half-year profits fell by more than a third despite seeing passenger numbers soar to a record high. The group posted a 37.2% drop in pre-tax profits to £203 million for the six months to June 30 as its costs surged, partly driven by a higher wage bill after last autumn's budget measures. Click below to see the latest London headlines
