Tech fault known about for years caused fire that shut Heathrow
The report by the National Energy System Operator stated that an "elevated moisture reading" had been detected in oil samples at the substation in west London in July 2018. However, no action was taken to replace the electrical insulators, commonly referred to as bushings.
The March blaze was caused by a "catastrophic failure" in one of the transformers, according to the report's findings, "most likely caused by moisture entering the bushing causing a short circuit" that ignited the oil.
The report also stated that Heathrow underestimated the likelihood of losing one of its three power sources. As a result, "its internal electrical distribution network was not designed or configured to take advantage of having multiple supply points to provide quick recovery following such a loss."
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said that the findings were "deeply concerning".
Energy industry regulator Ofgem had opened an investigation into whether the substation's operator, National Grid Electricity Transmission, had breached its license condition, Miliband explained.
National Grid said that Britain has "one of the most reliable networks in the world, and events of this nature are rare. National Grid has a comprehensive asset inspection and maintenance program in place, and we have taken further action since the fire."
Europe's busiest air hub was shut down for around 18 hours on 21 March after a fire at the North Hyde substation in west London the previous night knocked out power to the airport.
More than 270,000 passengers had their journeys disrupted.
Counterterrorism police initially led the investigation into the fire, which came as countries across Europe were on high alert against Russian-instigated sabotage.
Although authorities quickly ruled out vandalism or sabotage, the fire's significant impact raised concerns about the resilience of Britain's energy system to accidents, natural disasters or attacks.
The government ordered an investigation into "any wider lessons to be learned on energy resilience for critical national infrastructure."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
4 days ago
- Euronews
Which tourists is North Korea hoping to attract with new resort?
North Koreans swam and rode water slides at a newly opened mammoth beach resort which can accommodate nearly 20,000 people, state media reported on Wednesday. Despite restrictions which largely ban foreign tourists from entering the country, leader Kim Jong Un has been seeking to boost tourism to his country, in a bid to improve the struggling economy. However, plans for the Wonsan-Kalma resort — which is the biggest such complex in North Korea — remain unclear, as the country is unlikely to fully reopen its borders and embrace Western tourists anytime soon, observers say. Prospective Chinese and Russian tourists Since 2022, North Korea has been slowly easing the curbs imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and reopening its borders in phases. However, the country hasn't said whether, and when, it would fully resume international tourism. In February this year, North Korea allowed a small group of Western tourists to visit the north-eastern border city of Rason, only to halt the tour programme less than a month later. Chinese group tours, which made up more than 90% of visitors before the pandemic have also remain stalled, amid uncertainty around ties between the two neighbours, as Beijing remains silent on the deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow. Amid its expanding military cooperation with Russia, North Korean has been accepting tourists from the country since February 2024. Russia's Primorsky region, which borders North Korea, said last week that the first group of Russian tourists headed to the Wonsan-Kalma resort would depart on Monday for an eight-day trip which also includes a visit to Pyongyang. Despite this, Russian government records seen by South Korean experts show that out of 2,000 Russians who visited North Korea last year, only about 880 were tourists, a number considered too small to revive the tourism sector.
Euronews
4 days ago
- Euronews
Tech fault known about for years caused fire that shut Heathrow
A fire at a power substation that led to the cancellation of more than 1,300 flights at the UK's Heathrow Airport was caused by a preventable technical fault identified almost seven years earlier, according to a report released on Wednesday. The report by the National Energy System Operator stated that an "elevated moisture reading" had been detected in oil samples at the substation in west London in July 2018. However, no action was taken to replace the electrical insulators, commonly referred to as bushings. The March blaze was caused by a "catastrophic failure" in one of the transformers, according to the report's findings, "most likely caused by moisture entering the bushing causing a short circuit" that ignited the oil. The report also stated that Heathrow underestimated the likelihood of losing one of its three power sources. As a result, "its internal electrical distribution network was not designed or configured to take advantage of having multiple supply points to provide quick recovery following such a loss." Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said that the findings were "deeply concerning". Energy industry regulator Ofgem had opened an investigation into whether the substation's operator, National Grid Electricity Transmission, had breached its license condition, Miliband explained. National Grid said that Britain has "one of the most reliable networks in the world, and events of this nature are rare. National Grid has a comprehensive asset inspection and maintenance program in place, and we have taken further action since the fire." Europe's busiest air hub was shut down for around 18 hours on 21 March after a fire at the North Hyde substation in west London the previous night knocked out power to the airport. More than 270,000 passengers had their journeys disrupted. Counterterrorism police initially led the investigation into the fire, which came as countries across Europe were on high alert against Russian-instigated sabotage. Although authorities quickly ruled out vandalism or sabotage, the fire's significant impact raised concerns about the resilience of Britain's energy system to accidents, natural disasters or attacks. The government ordered an investigation into "any wider lessons to be learned on energy resilience for critical national infrastructure."
France 24
4 days ago
- France 24
North Korea opens massive beach resort: state media
Dubbed "North Korea's Waikiki" by South Korean media, the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area can accommodate nearly 20,000 people, according to Pyongyang, which previously described it as "a world-class cultural resort". Kim showed a keen interest in developing North Korea's tourism industry during his early years in power, analysts have said, and the coastal resort area was a particular focus. The tourist zone opened to domestic visitors Tuesday, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency reported, publishing images of tourists in colourful swimsuits enjoying the beach. North Koreans of all ages from across the country flocked to the site this week "filled with joy at experiencing a new level of civilization", KCNA reported. The visitors were "astonished by the grandeur and splendor of the tourist city, where more than 400... artistically designed buildings lined the white sandy beach in ideal harmony", it added. According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, a group of Russian tourists is set to visit the zone in North Korea for the first time on July 7. South Korea's unification ministry, which manages relations with the North, said the site's operations are "expected to gradually expand", including to Russian tourists. Kim said last week the construction of the site would go down as "one of the greatest successes this year" and that the North would build more large-scale tourist zones "in the shortest time possible". Previously released images showed him sitting in a chair -- alongside his teenage daughter Ju Ae and wife Ri Sol Ju -- watching a man flying off a water slide in the resort. Limited tourism But given the limited capacity of available flights, international tourism to the new beach resort is "likely to remain small in scale," according to Seoul's unification ministry. "It is estimated that tourists will travel via Pyongyang, and that the number of visitors may be limited to around 170 people per day," the ministry said. North Korea sees tourism as a key source of foreign currency, it said, and Pyongyang may have received aid to complete the site from Russia in exchange for joining its war in Ukraine. The nuclear-armed North reopened its borders in August 2023 after almost four years, having closed them because of the Covid-19 pandemic, during which even its own nationals were prevented from entering. But foreign tourism was limited even before the pandemic, with tour companies saying around 5,000 Western tourists visited each year. Significantly more Chinese tourists were allowed at the time. The impoverished country's political, military and cultural ties with Russia have deepened since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The North last year permitted Russian tourists to return for the first time since the pandemic and Western tour operators briefly returned in February this year. No Chinese tourists are known to have returned to the country. A tourist train between Rason -- home to North Korea's first legal marketplace -- and Russia's Vladivostok resumed in May this year, according to an official from Seoul's unification ministry. US citizens made up about 20 percent of the market before Washington banned travel following the imprisonment and subsequent death of American student Otto Warmbier. Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans also used to visit Mount Kumgang near the inter-Korean border every year, travelling to a Seoul-funded tourist resort that was the first major cooperation project between the neighbours. The trips came to an abrupt end in 2008 when a North Korean soldier shot dead a South Korean tourist who strayed off the approved path and Seoul suspended travel.
