Heathrow Shutdown Caused By Problem Found Seven Years Ago
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Issues at an electrical substation which caused a fire that resulted in Heathrow Airport closing were first detected seven years ago but not fixed, a report has found.
These two paragraphs, explain the problem.
The National Energy System Operator (NESO) said moisture entering electrical components at the North Hyde substation caused the blaze at the site that supplies the UK’s biggest airport with power.
It revealed an elevated moisture reading had been first detected in July 2018, but that “mitigating actions appropriate to its severity were not implemented”, with basic maintenance cancelled.
This was a failure of National Grid’s management and I suspect the company will received a severe punishment.
But what worries me, is that power networks are built from a series of standard components.
So how many other North Hydes are waiting to happen?
The Anonymous Widower 
Ofgem are opening an enquiry https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/press-release/ofgem-opens-investigation-national-grid-electricity-transmission-nget-north-hyde-substation-fire
There’s another issue, which was covered at the time, namely, why did Heathrow take so long to recover? It took Heathrow 7 hours to restart after power had been restored.
Comment by Peter Robins | July 2, 2025 |
I was told a long time ago that any fool can walk into a company and increase profitability by cutting down on R&D and/or maintenance but it bites you in the end. I experienced this a couple of times in my career following takeovers, sometimes ending up with my being made redundant a few years down the line when things went pear shaped.
Comment by HW | July 2, 2025 |