Traffic at London’s Heathrow Airport was severely disrupted on March 20. Most of this chaos was due to a power-cut related to the fire at an electrical substation. This disruption led to the cancellation of tens of thousands of flights stranding millions of passengers. The incident disrupted more than 270,000 passenger trips, and airlines incurred losses of £80m to £100m due to the fire.
The third failure, the electrical substation that powers the airport’s operations, was the most avoidable and had faults documented for at least five years. Concerns were first found seven years ago, but they couldn’t get the problem fixed. A recent report [PDF] found that Heathrow Airport missed opportunities to improve its energy resilience. At the same time, the energy sector was reeling from the failure to understand the resilience of critical infrastructure.
In particular, National Grid is expected to bear the cost of keeping the equipment in good repair and all infrastructure intact and operational. It placed no one individual or organization at fault but pointed out systemic failures.
The loss of one of Heathrow’s three electrical supply points led to a power outage affecting critical systems, resulting in the airport’s closure. Investigations found a fault at the substation that was classified as “elevated” and “imminent.” We suggested a replacement bushing be installed. Straightforward maintenance to repair this dangerous gap was postponed in 2022.
Once again, the lack of accountability has underscored the fragility and overall integrity of our essential infrastructure.
“Re-testing the resilience of substations that serve strategic infrastructure is essential,” – Neso.
Fintan Slye, the chief executive of the National Electricity System Operator (NESO), discussed some of the report’s recommendations. He elaborated on these results when he joined us at the BBC’s Today programme. He pointed out that once moisture levels were found in 2018, something should have been done right away.
“So when they identified those moisture levels back in 2018, what should have happened is that the transformer should have been taken out of service for a short period of time and that fault effectively repaired,” – Fintan Slye.
Slye insisted that failure to implement this recommendation is what eventually caused the fire.
“That was missed. The moisture got worse over time and ultimately that’s what caused the fire to happen. The story of our report really is probably one of missed opportunities,” – Fintan Slye.
Heathrow Airport responded favorably to the report’s recommendation. They are optimistic that, through their advocacy, National Grid will take the steps needed to prevent future violations.
“We expect National Grid to be carefully considering what steps they can take to ensure this isn’t repeated,” – Heathrow Airport.
The report highlighted a need for companies to ensure proper maintenance of their networks and equipment to avert such events.
“Where there is evidence that they have not, we will take action and hold companies fully to account,” – Akshay Kaul.