Latest news with #substationfire
The Guardian
7 days 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.'
Telegraph
03-07-2025
- General
- Telegraph
The Heathrow fire report is not just damning for National Grid
The report into the substation fire that brought Heathrow to a standstill in March is damning for National Grid. It reveals that the blaze was caused by a fault detected seven years ago but not fixed. But the findings also raise serious questions about Ofgem, the energy regulator. Ofgem's job isn't simply to rubber-stamp investment plans, it's to challenge risk management and resilience plans. Letting a known-defective transformer remain in service for years is not just bad engineering, it's a management and regulatory failure. The regulator has now announced an investigation, saying it expects network companies to 'properly maintain their equipment'. The words 'horse' and 'bolted' spring to mind – the regulator should be monitoring this continually, not just issuing fines after things have gone wrong. The National Energy System Operator (Neso)'s final report into the fire at the North Hyde substation in west London on March 20 details that at 11.21pm one of three supergrid transformers owned and maintained by National Grid tripped and was later confirmed to have caught fire. Soon after, the adjacent transformer also tripped. A third was further away and so was not affected, other than it was unable to be used as long as the substation was shut off to tackle the fire. Transformers are some of the most important pieces of equipment on the electricity grid. They allow us to move electricity in bulk over long distances by changing the voltage. Higher voltages reduce losses from power lines heating up. But high voltages are dangerous – we wouldn't want or need them in our homes – so we use transformers to change the voltage up for long distance transmission and then down for local networks and into homes and businesses. The actual bit that does the voltage transformation consists of lots of wires wrapped around a metal core. This can get very hot and heat degradation could lead to short circuits that would stop the transformer working properly, so the coils or windings need to be kept cool. This means placing them in a tank of cooling fluid. It must be runny enough to be pumped in and out to take the heat away and also an electrical insulator – i.e. it won't create short circuits between the windings. It also needs to be stable in the normal UK temperature range, chiefly not freezing in winter. The fluid settled upon is oil. Unfortunately it is very flammable, so if there is a fault causing sparks it can catch fire or even explode. The part of the transformer that failed at North Hyde is called a bushing. This is essentially a sleeve that lets the high voltage cable enter the metal oil tank without touching the walls and becoming earthed. If moisture gets inside the sleeve, a short circuit can happen and you can get arcing, which is where electricity jumps across air gaps. The particular transformer that caught fire in North Hyde had known issues: moisture had been detected as far back as 2018. National Grid's own guidance said the level of moisture indicated there was a risk of 'an imminent fault and that the bushing should be replaced'. In addition, basic maintenance of the transformer was overdue and had been consistently put off. The Grid decided to extend the interval between basic maintenance from four to five years, and for major maintenance from 11 to 15 years. The most recent basic maintenance of the transformer had been in 2018, so it was well overdue on both the old and new schedules. Fire suppression equipment at the substation was found not to be working in 2022. A further inspection in 2024 showed it still didn't work and repairs had not been carried out at the time of the fire, although London Fire Brigade suggested it would not have made much difference had it been working. The sequence of events at North Hyde suggests a wider, systemic problem with delayed maintenance, and little follow-up in terms of the risks associated with these delays. The report identifies that the transformer was installed in 1968, making it 57 years old. National Grid believes that transformers can last 60-65 years. Despite the North Hyde transformer approaching National Grid's end-of-life window, it had not clocked this and set in motion plans to replace it. All this raises questions about Ofgem's role. While it has been critical of National Grid's business plan in respect of aging infrastructure, its response lacked teeth. Why did Ofgem not insist that asset lives be more rigorously analysed and that maintenance of older critical equipment was carried out on time? Was Ofgem's focus on renewables connections a factor in the approach taken by grid owners to legacy equipment, knowing that consumers can't pay for everything at once during a cost of living crisis? We need urgent action: Ofgem must demand a comprehensive review of all legacy transformers and other critical grid equipment and enforce swift maintenance or replacement. It also needs to be far more proactive about ensuring grid owners are assessing asset life appropriately and make sure that maintenance procedures are both rigorous and properly adhered to. We were lucky this time. Incidents such as the North Hyde fire could easily cause explosions, threaten local communities, and even trigger cascading grid failures if large generation assets or import cables are disconnected as a result. There is no room for complacency.
The Sun
02-07-2025
- The Sun
Heathrow could SUE National Grid after fault that caused fire was identified seven years ago
HEATHROW may sue the National Grid after a probe found a fault causing the huge substation fire was identified seven years ago. The blaze in March halted flights for 24 hours — affecting 270,000 passengers and costing the airport millions. A probe by the National Energy System Operator found faulty fire safety equipment and moisture in electrical parts flagged in 2018 were not addressed, and maintenance was delayed again in 2022. The North Hyde substation fire was caused by 'catastrophic failure' in a transformer, triggered by moisture entering electrical components. Heathrow's network was not designed to recover quickly. The airport said it was making improvements. Energy watchdog Ofgem has now launched a probe into the National Grid, which could result in fines. Heathrow said: 'A combination of outdated regulation, inadequate safety mechanisms and National Grid's failure to maintain infrastructure led to this catastrophic power outage.' National Grid said it had 'taken action'. called the findings 'concerning' and promised action to prevent similar incidents. Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, handled over 83.9million passengers in 2024. 1
The Guardian
02-07-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Heathrow substation fire ‘caused by fault first identified seven years ago'
The root cause of the substation fire that shut Heathrow airport was a preventable technical fault that National Grid had been aware of seven years ago but failed to fix properly, investigators have concluded. The final report by the National Energy System Operator (Neso) on the incident said the fire that cut power to the airport on 21 March, affecting more than 1,350 flights, almost 300,000 passengers and cutting power to 67,000 homes, was 'most likely' sparked by moisture entering the insulation around wires. The state-owned body said its investigation had found that National Grid, which owns the substation that caught fire, had been aware of the issue in 2018. 'An elevated moisture reading … had been detected in oil samples taken in July 2018 but mitigating actions appropriate to its severity were not implemented,' the report said. 'National Grid has since initiated an end-to-end review of its oil sampling process, with a view to ensuring that it is robust.' The 77-page report catalogued numerous opportunities to identify issues at the substation, but said decisions were repeatedly made to defer basic maintenance. A National Grid electricity transmission review in 2022 indicated that fire suppression systems were 'inoperable', and a fire risk assessment in July last year stated that if a fire started in any of the three supergrid transformers at the substation 'it would not be suitably suppressed'. The assessment resulted in the issuing of a 'high priority' action for fire systems to be 'appropriately serviced and maintained' but 'that action remained outstanding at the time of the incident', Neso said. A spokesperson for National Grid said it had 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. In response to the findings, Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, has opened an investigation into National Grid for what it called a 'preventable technical fault'. Ofgem said it would review whether National Grid complied with legislation and licence conditions relating to the 'development and maintenance' of the electricity system at North Hyde. It has also commissioned an independent audit into National Grid's critical infrastructure assets and their status. Ofgem said the aim was to identify whether the 'failings identified in Neso's report … were a one-off in nature, or more systemic across the National Grid estate'. Akshay Kaul, the director general for infrastructure at Ofgem, said: 'The North Hyde substation fire resulted in global disruption, impacted thousands of local customers, and highlighted the importance of investment in our energy infrastructure. We expect energy companies to properly maintain their equipment and networks to prevent events like this happening. Where there is evidence that they have not, we will take action and hold companies fully to account.' Neso said that using forensic analysis from National Grid and the London fire brigade it had found evidence of a 'catastrophic failure' on one of the transformer's high-voltage bushings at the 57-year-old power substation that caused it to catch fire. The bushing provides insulation for electrical current to flow safely and is typically made from materials such as porcelain, resin or oil-impregnated paper. Heathrow's private electricity network took hours to power up again after the outage, even as two nearby substations continued to operate as normal. Europe's largest airport took a further seven hours to reopen after the power was restored, according to the report, meaning flights were disrupted for almost 24 hours after the fire broke out. Three datacentres that lost power in the incident were able to continue operations through the use of backup generators. 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 Airlines based at the airport have estimated the closure cost carriers between £80m and £100m. Heathrow has said it is considering legal action against National Grid. 'The final NESO report finds clear failings by National Grid that resulted in a loss for both Heathrow and our airlines,' said a spokesperson for Heathrow. 'We are considering if we want to pursue legal action as a result of the clear Neso report and Ofgem enforcement action.' Neso's review, which looked at 900 pieces of evidence, found that energy network operators 'are not generally aware' whether customers connected to their networks are designated as critical national infrastructure (CNI). 'There is currently no explicit cross-sector requirement on CNI operators to ensure appropriate continuity of operations in response to power disruption,' it said. Fintan Slye, the chief executive of Neso, said that despite the power outage and closure of Heathrow being 'hugely disruptive', all parties involved 'responded quickly and professionally'. The incident has been hugely embarrassing for Thomas Woldbye, the airport's chief executive, who has expressed his 'deep regret' at being uncontactable and sleeping through the power outage. Woldbye slept through two emergency notification calls and 'several' phone calls from Heathrow's chief operating officer, Javier Echave, in the early hours of the morning after the fire cut power to the airport. The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said: 'The report is deeply concerning, because known risks were not addressed … My department, working across government, will urgently consider the findings and recommendations set out by Neso and publish a response to the report in due course.'
Daily Mail
02-07-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Substation fire that shut down Heathrow was caused by moisture flagged as a problem SEVEN YEARS earlier but left unrepaired
The substation fire that shut down Heathrow Airport for a whole day was caused by moisture which was first flagged as a problem seven years ago but left unrepaired. Energy watchdog Ofgem has launched an investigation after a new report found the fire, which broke out on March 20 in Hayes, west London, was due to a preventable technical fault. More than 270,000 air passenger journeys were disrupted by the fire, which forced the UK's busiest airport to close for almost an entire day. The subsequent electricity outage led to 71,655 domestic and commercial customers losing power and the 'complete loss of supplies' to part of Heathrow Airport's internal electrical distribution network, a new report has said. 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 action was not taken to replace electrical insulators known as bushings. In 2022, a decision was made to 'defer basic maintenance' at the substation, meaning the issue went 'unaddressed', the final report said, meaning that electrical insulators known as bushings were not replaced. On Wednesday, Ofgem said it had opened an official enforcement investigation into National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) based on the Neso review's findings. The fire was caused by a 'catastrophic failure' in one of the transformers, 'most likely caused by moisture entering the bushing causing a short circuit', which ignited the oil, the Neso report said. A review by the National Grid in 2022 found the fire suppression system at the North Hyde site was 'inoperable', while another assessment in July 2024 indicated the system was still 'out of service', the report said. No flights operated at the west London airport until about 6pm on March 21 because of the blaze which started late the previous night. Akshay Kaul, director general for infrastructure at Ofgem, said: 'The North Hyde substation fire resulted in global disruption, impacted thousands of local customers, and highlighted the importance of investment in our energy infrastructure. 'As a result of the report's findings, we have opened an investigation into National Grid Electricity Transmission. 'We have also commissioned an independent audit of their most critical assets. 'Ofgem will also further examine the incident and its causes and take further action as appropriate. 'We expect energy companies to properly maintain their equipment and networks to prevent events like this happening. 'Where there is evidence that they have not, we will take action and hold companies fully to account. 'Britain has one of most reliable energy systems in the world and thankfully incidents like this are rare. We must continue to invest in the system to maintain that resilience.' Outcomes from Ofgem's investigation could include a finding of no breach, or compliance action to bring companies into compliance, along with potential contributions to the voluntary redress fund, penalties and licence revocation. The Neso report, which was published on Wednesday and commissioned by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, read: 'An elevated moisture reading in one of SGT3's (the transformer's) bushings had been detected in oil samples taken in July 2018. 'According to National Grid Electricity Transmission's relevant guidance, such readings indicate 'an imminent fault and that the bushing should be replaced. 'While the reading was recorded in National Grid Electricity Transmission's online system, the mitigations appropriate to its severity were not actioned. 'The controls in place were not effective and failed to identify subsequently that action had not been taken in relation to the elevated moisture reading. 'This includes an opportunity in 2022 when a decision was taken to defer basic maintenance on SGT3. The issue therefore went unaddressed.' The report continued: 'The July 2024 fire risk assessment stated that if a fire started on any of the three supergrid transformers, 'it would not be suitably suppressed'. 'As a result, a high priority action was created on the pump of the water mist system to be appropriately serviced and maintained. 'That action remained outstanding at the time of the incident, in March 2025. 'National Grid Electricity Transmission stated that it was planning a combination of replacements and refurbishments of the fire suppression system by October 2025.' The Neso review also found that the design and configuration of Heathrow's internal power network meant the loss of just one of its three supply points would 'result in the loss of power to operationally critical systems, leading to a suspension of operations for a significant period'. Plans were in place to respond to such an event, including the reconfiguration of the network which would take approximately 10 to 12 hours, but the loss of a supply point was 'not assessed to be a likely scenario by Heathrow Airport Limited, due to its expectation of the resilience of the wider network', the report said. 'This meant that its internal electrical distribution network was not designed or configured to take advantage of having multiple supply points to provide quick recovery following such a loss and relied on manual switching.' Mr Miliband said: 'The report is deeply concerning because known risks were not addressed by the National Grid Electricity Transmission, and Ofgem has now opened an official enforcement investigation to consider any possible licence breaches relating to the development and maintenance of its electricity system at North Hyde. 'There are wider lessons to be learned from this incident. My department, working across Government, will urgently consider the findings and recommendations set out by Neso and publish a response to the report in due course.' A Heathrow spokesperson said: 'Heathrow welcomes this report, which sheds further light on the external power supply failure that forced the airport's closure on 21 March. '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 under way to implement all 28 recommendations.' Heathrow is Europe's largest airport with more than 83.9 million passengers travelling through its terminals in 2024. 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 retesting 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 co-operate closely with Ofgem's investigation. 'There are important lessons to be learnt about cross-sector resilience and the need for increased co-ordination, and we look forward to working with government, regulators and industry partners to take these recommendations forward.' A spokesperson for Heathrow said the National Grid's 'failure to maintain its infrastructure' led to the power outage. The spokesperson said: 'Heathrow welcomes this report, which sheds further light on the external power supply failure that forced the airport's closure on March 21. '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.
