LONDON: A hearth that prompted a massively disruptive shutdown at Heathrow airport in March was brought on by the failure of a element at an electrical energy substation that had not been correctly maintained, Britain’s Nationwide Vitality System Operator stated on Wednesday (Jul 2).
Britain’s vitality regulator Ofgem launched an official enforcement investigation into Nationwide Grid Electrical energy Transmission based mostly on the report’s findings, the watchdog stated in a separate assertion.
The closure of Heathrow, the busiest airport in Europe, on Mar 21 value airways tens of hundreds of thousands of kilos and stranded 1000’s of passengers. It additionally raised questions in regards to the resilience of Britain’s infrastructure.
“This overview has seen proof {that a} catastrophic failure on one of many transformer’s excessive voltage bushings at Nationwide Grid Electrical energy Transmission’s 275kV substation prompted the transformer to catch fireplace,” the report by the Nationwide Vitality System Operator stated.
“This was most definitely brought on by moisture getting into the bushing, inflicting {an electrical} fault.”
Nationwide Grid controls in place weren’t efficient and didn’t determine that motion had not been taken in relation to an elevated moisture studying in 2018, the report stated, including that the problem went unaddressed.
Vitality minister Ed Miliband stated the report was “deeply regarding”.
Nationwide Grid didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
