A back-up generator that could have kept Heathrow open was also affected by the fire that shut down the airport, Ed Miliband has revealed.
The energy secretary told Sky News Breakfast with Anna Jones that it is “too early” to know what caused the blaze at a nearby electricity substation, which has left Heathrow without power and impacted more than 1,300 flights.
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Asked what this says about the safety of our critical infrastructure, Mr Miliband said he didn’t want to “jump to conclusions” but added: “I understand it from the national grid there was a back-up generator, but that was also affected by the fire, which gives a sense of how unusual and unprecedented it was.
“There is a second back-up which they are seeking to use to restore power, so there are back-up mechanisms in place, but given the scale of this fire the back-up mechanisms also seem to have been affected.”
He said that, as with any major incident, “we will want to understand why it happened and what, if any, lessons it has for our infrastructure”.
Speaking later on Good Morning Britain, he said the National Grid told him they had not seen “anything like the scale” of what happened with the fire and admitted that Heathrow’s closure makes the airport look “quite vulnerable”.
London Fire Brigade (LFB) said a transformer within the North Hyde substation had caught alight but the cause is so far unknown.
LFB said 10 fire engines and around 70 firefighters were still on the scene at Nestles Avenue in Hayes just before 6am with part of a transformer still alight.
Substation fire ‘not common at all’
Dr Robin Preece, Reader in Future Power Systems at the University of Manchester, said the transformers at the substation are filled with oil so if they catch fire it makes the blaze “large and difficult to control”.
He said fires like this are “not common at all” but the electricity grid “will have sufficient alternative supplies to get pretty much everyone back on supply very quickly”.
The fire has also left thousands of homes without power.
Dr Preece said the substation is not the only one that supplies Heathrow but perhaps supplies “some of the more critical services at the airport”.
He added: “To restore power, there will be some switching happening across the network to allow the electricity to find alternative paths to get to affected areas. “
Heathrow will remain shut until midnight because of the power outage caused by the fire.
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Tracking site Flightradar24 estimates 1,357 flights would be affected (679 into and 678 out of Heathrow) today, including around 120 which were already in the air this morning before the shutdown.
A number of flights were turned around and returned to airports in Canada and the United States, while Gatwick Airport accepted seven diverted flights.
Passengers have been warned to stay away from the airport and all trains to Heathrow have been suspended.
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A National Grid spokesperson said the fire had damaged equipment and they were “working at speed to restore power supplies as quickly as possible”.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: “Whilst fire crews are responding to the incident, we do not have clarity on when power may be reliably restored.
“We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.
“We will provide an update when more information on the resumption of operations is available. We know this will be disappointing for passengers and we want to reassure that we are working as hard as possible to resolve the situation.”
