Grid operator to ‘urgently investigate’ Heathrow power outage after fire
Energy secretary Ed Miliband has ordered the National Energy System Operator to “urgently investigate” the power outage caused by a substation fire that shut Heathrow Airport on Friday.
He is working with Ofgem and using powers under the Energy Act to formally launch the grid operator’s investigation.
“We are determined to properly understand what happened and what lessons need to be learned,” Miliband said.
“That is why, working with Ofgem, I have today commissioned the National Energy System Operator to carry out an investigation into this specific incident and to understand any wider lessons to be learned on energy resilience for critical national infrastructure, both now and in the future.
“The government is determined to do everything it can to prevent a repeat of what happened at Heathrow.”
The National Energy System Operator (Neso) is expected to report to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and Ofgem with initial findings within six weeks.
Heathrow fire
Flights resumed at the west London airport on Friday evening and restrictions on overnight flights were temporarily lifted after hours of closure.
A blaze knocked out an electricity substation in Hayes the previous evening.
Counter-terrorism officers from the Metropolitan Police initially led the investigation, but the force has confirmed the fire is believed to be non-suspicious, so London Fire Brigade is now leading the probe which will focus on the electrical distribution equipment.
Heathrow said it has added 50 slots to Saturday’s schedule to facilitate an extra 10,000 passengers travelling through the airport.
A spokesperson said: “We can confirm that Heathrow is open and fully operational today.
“Teams across the airport continue to do everything they can to support passengers impacted by yesterday’s outage at an off-airport power substation.
“We have hundreds of additional colleagues on hand in our terminals and we have added flights to today’s schedule to facilitate an extra 10,000 passengers travelling through the airport.
“Passengers travelling today should check with their airline for the latest information regarding their flight.”
The airport later added that all terminals and all car parks are open.
‘Significant disruption’
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said: “This incident caused significant disruption but Heathrow, National Grid, and our emergency services have worked swiftly to get people travelling again.
“Heathrow is a massive airport that uses the energy of a small city, so it’s imperative we identify how this power failure happened and learn from this to ensure a vital piece of national infrastructure remains strong.
“Whilst Heathrow is back to business, some disruption is expected over coming days as things get back to normal so I encourage anyone travelling to check with their airlines and plan their journeys.”
Akshay Kaul, director general for infrastructure at Ofgem, said: “We saw yesterday the huge disruption that comes when energy supply is disrupted, and it’s important we now understand how that happened.
“Households and businesses should be able to have confidence in the resilience of critical national infrastructure, and Ofgem will work with the government and others to ensure Neso’s review goes as far as possible to ensure steps are put in place to avoid any repeat of an incident of this scale in the future.
“To the extent the review finds any breaches of standards or licence obligations, we will not hesitate to take action.”
Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye welcomed the investigation, adding: “We will support every effort to understand the causes and impacts of yesterday’s off-airport incident and we are committed to working closely with all stakeholders to ensure a thorough investigation to help strengthen the airport’s future resilience.”
BA, which has a major presence at Heathrow, said it expects to operate around 85 per cent of its scheduled flights at the airport on Saturday.
The airline would usually expect to run nearly 600 departures and arrivals on Saturday but it is understood some cancellations will be made, where possible to high-frequency routes.
Press Association reporters