For the first time since the North Hyde substation had to close due to the fire, Pettigrew stated that two other substations were operating normally when the fire broke out.
The Heathrow Airport had enough electricity from other substations to stay open throughout the Friday fire event, according to National Grid CEO John Pettigrew. According to Pettigrew, who was speaking for the first time since the North Hyde substation was forced to close due to the fire, two other substations were operating normally when the fire started.
The head of National Grid told the Financial Times on Sunday that there was no shortage of capacity from the substations. “Each substation on its own can supply Heathrow with adequate power,” he continued. Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, reiterated Monday that the issue went beyond the quantity of power available when questioned about it.
She mentioned that the airport’s CEO had tasked her with determining the necessity of temporarily closing the airport. She said to Sky News, “He told me that there were serious issues in terminals two and four, and since they had to shut everything off and restart all the systems, that was their judgment as to why they said that they would close the airport until midnight on Friday night.” “They were able to restore power in the event, and planes started landing on Friday at around 4 p.m.,” she continued.
Investigation into the airport closure underway
Although backup generators were present at the airport, Alexander pointed out that their purpose was “to protect the critical systems within the airport, and not to power the entire airport.” The airport reopened for regular operations on Sunday, and the government has launched an investigation into the closure.
According to authorities, the event may have affected the travel of over 200,000 people worldwide and cost the airline sector between £60 million and £70 million. Speaking about the Heathrow event and the UK’s “energy resilience for critical national infrastructure,” Energy Secretary Ed Miliband stated that the government was “determined to properly understand what happened and what lessons need to be learned.”
Pettigrew stated in the interview with the Financial Times that Heathrow and the distribution network businesses could always rely on two substations to supply power. But he insisted that the reason behind Heathrow’s actions was a “question for Heathrow.” “It’s a unique experience to lose a substation, but there were two others available,” he said. He went on to say, “So that is a level of resilience.”
“As the National Grid’s chief executive noted, he has never seen a transformer failure like this in his 30 years in the industry,” a Heathrow representative said in response to Pettigrew’s claim. His opinion demonstrates that this was an unusual occurrence and that Heathrow could not have continued to function normally.
The airport needed to properly shut down and then safely and methodically restart hundreds of vital systems. It was extremely difficult to safely resume operations following a disruption of this nature at Heathrow due to its size and operational complexity,” he continued. Who is responsible for the airport shutdown has not yet been established.
