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Ofgem Opens Enforcement Investigation into National Grid After Heathrow Outage Report

The National Energy System Operator’s final analysis identifies preventable technical and systemic failures at North Hyde Substation; regulators have launched an investigation into National Grid, with Heathrow starting recommended resilience upgrades.

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Overview

  • The NESO final report confirms that moisture ingress in a transformer bushing at the North Hyde Substation triggered the March fire that cut power to Heathrow Airport.
  • The analysis finds elevated moisture readings in 2018 and deferred basic maintenance in 2022 were not addressed by National Grid Electricity Transmission.
  • Ofgem has opened a formal enforcement investigation into possible licence breaches by National Grid following the report’s publication.
  • More than 1,300 flights were cancelled, 270,000 passenger journeys disrupted and over 71,000 domestic and commercial customers lost power during the 16-hour outage.
  • Heathrow Airport and energy operators are beginning to implement NESO’s recommended upgrades to strengthen ageing infrastructure and improve cross-sector coordination.