IET comment: Heathrow substation fire report findings

In response to the release of NESCO’s report into the cause of Heathrow Airport’s substation fire in March 2025, Robert Sansom FIET, member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) Sustainability and Net Zero Policy Centre, said:

“This incident represents a significant failure in the UK’s highly resilient electricity transmission and distribution network exacerbated by several factors that the UK must learn from. Critical weaknesses and faults in system management, maintenance regimes, and cross-sector coordination to protect our essential infrastructure, have been highlighted as vulnerabilities.  

"While the restoration of electricity supply was completed in line with expectations, reports like NESO’s which pulls no punches are important in ensuring that the risk of another major operational disruption – like the impact seen to Heathrow and its customers back in March, is greatly reduced. It is also important to note that although there was massive disruption, very importantly there were no injuries or fatalities, and we should recognise the professionalism of all those involved who were called upon to manage the failure and reinstate supplies.  

"The twelve recommendations in NESO’s review give us a strong foundation to address these issues. The Government needs to make sure that we think about the big picture, perceive and manage risks, update our systems, improve communication in our network planning and operation, and make sure we fully understand why these failings occurred. Using technologies like digital twins can help us create models that identify potential problems in a virtual environment, allowing us to solve them before they occur in the real world." 

ENDS

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