National Grid failures led to fire that caused Heathrow shutdown

2/7/2025 16:38

A fire that shut Heathrow airport in March, stranding thousands of passengers, was caused by National Grid's failure to maintain an electricity substation, an official report said on Wednesday, prompting the energy watchdog to open a probe.



The closure of Heathrow, the busiest airport in Europe, cost airlines tens of millions of pounds. It also raised questions about the resilience of Britain's infrastructure.



Energy minister Ed Miliband said the report was "deeply concerning".



The report follows a review of the incident on March 21 by the National Energy System Operator, which manages the electricity network and was separated from National Grid last year.



As a result of the report, Britain's energy regulator Ofgem launched an enforcement investigation into National Grid Electricity Transmission, which owns and maintains the high-voltage electricity transmission network in England and Wales.



The report said its review had seen evidence that a "catastrophic failure" on one of the transformer’s high voltage bushings at National Grid Electricity Transmission’s 275kV substation caused the transformer to catch fire.