The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, ordered the National Energy System (NESO) operator to study urgently “the power failure caused by a sub-station fire that closed Heathrow Airport on Friday.
The organization of the organization which operates the British electricity network would create a “clear image of the circumstances surrounding this incident” and “energy resilience of the United Kingdom” more broadly “to prevent it” from reproducing, “said the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero.
“We are determined to understand correctly what happened and what lessons must be learned,” said Miliband.
The fire of the North Hyde basement in western London which provides energy at the airport has led to thousands of canceled flights and passengers blocked around the world.
Miliband said he had commanded the investigation to “understand wider lessons to learn energy resilience for national critical infrastructures, both now and in the future”.
Neso should report to the energy regulator ofgem and the energy security department and the net zero in six weeks with its initial conclusions.
Heathrow closed its early hours on Friday morning after the fire.
Friday, nearly 1,400 flights were disrupted by the closure, according to the air traffic website Flightradar24.com. About 120 flights were diverted elsewhere.
Heathrow airport said it was “open and fully operational” on Saturday morning, but chaos raised questions about the resilience of the main transport center.
On Saturday, more than 30 flights due to the departure of the airport was canceled and more than 15 were delayed, according to the live departure council of Heathrow.
He also showed that more than 70 flights that should arrive at the airport had been canceled, notably Doha, Riyadh, Dubai, Manchester and Newcastle on Tyne.
The substations are designed to produce, convert and distribute electricity to appropriate tension levels. Heathrow uses three electricity stations, each with a backup.
There are also backup diesel generators and uninterrupted battery supplies that provide enough electricity to maintain critical safety systems such as planes landing systems.
However, when the fire broke out the substation, it was out of action, with its backup.
Heathrow’s main return was the two remaining stations, but the CEO of the airport, Thomas Woldbye, told the BBC that he “took time” to “change”.
