A “preventable, technical fault” led to the fire at an electrical substation that resulted in Heathrow Airport being closed for almost an entire day, a report has found.
It was probably caused by moisture that had been present in electrical components for seven years but went “unaddressed”, a review by the National Energy System Operator (Neso) has found.
The review also found the design and configuration of Heathrow’s internal power network meant the loss of one of its three supply points would “result in the loss of power to operationally critical systems, leading to a suspension of operations for a significant period”.
Plans were in place to respond to the event, but these included a network reconfiguration that would take 10 to 12 hours. The loss of a supply point was “not assessed to be a likely scenario by Heathrow due to its expectation of the resilience of the wider network”.
The review said this meant that its internal electrical distribution network was “not designed or configured … to provide quick recovery following such a loss and relied on manual switching”.
No flights operated at the west London airport until about 6pm on March 21 because of the blaze, which started late the previous night.
More than 270,000 air passenger journeys were disrupted by the closure, which led to questions over the airport's energy resilience.
A spokesperson for Heathrow said a combination of “outdated regulation, inadequate safety mechanisms, and National Grid’s failure to maintain its infrastructure led to this catastrophic power outage”.
“We expect National Grid to be carefully considering what steps they can take to ensure this isn’t repeated,” the spokesperson said.
The airport carried out its own review and identified 28 key areas for improvement.
It found attempts to tell Heathrow airport’s sleeping chief executive that the airport had been closed because of the power cut failed because his bedside phone was on silent. Thomas Woldbye was in bed when senior Heathrow staff decided to suspend operations.
Power was restored to terminals around seven hours before flights resumed on the day it was closed.
The National Grid said there were “important lessons to be learned” about cross-sector resilience following the fire. Regulator Ofgem said it was launching an investigation.
The regulator said the cause was a “preventable, technical fault” and will review whether the National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) complied with legislation and licence conditions over the development and maintenance of the site.
Ofgem will also commission an independent audit of NGET’s assets and their status and whether “the failings identified in Neso’s report into [the] North Hyde [substation] were one-off in nature, or more systemic across the National Grid estate”.
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The biog
Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi
Age: 23
How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them
Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need
Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman
Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs
Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
INDIA V SOUTH AFRICA
First Test: October 2-6, at Visakhapatnam
Second Test: October 10-14, at Maharashtra
Third Test: October 19-23, at Ranchi
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Beach Bum
Director: Harmony Korine
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
The Matrix Resurrections
Director: Lana Wachowski
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick
Rating:****
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
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