Government launches investigation into major power outage
The government has launched an investigation into the power cut on Friday (9 August) that led to major disruption across the UK's power and transport networks.
12th August 2019 by Networks
Andrea Leadsom, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), has commissioned the Energy Emergencies Executive Committee to consider the incident which effected around one million customers and was caused when two major generators disconnected from the transmission system, causing frequency to drop to less than 49 hertz.
Energy regulator Ofgem has already demanded an “urgent detailed report” on the failure from National Grid “so we can understand what went wrong and decide what further steps need to be taken”.
In a statement on Saturday (10 August), National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) said: “Any type of power cut can be disruptive to daily life, and the whole UK energy industry needs to understand the causes of yesterday’s power cut and also why it was able to create such significant disruption to services across Great Britain, particularly the transport network.
“The National Grid ESO is therefore very pleased that the government has commissioned the Energy Emergencies Executive Committee to consider the incident and how it played out, and we will work closely with that investigation to ensure that learnings can be reflected in industry processes and procedures going forward.
“In the meantime the ESO has already initiated its own internal review of the response, and is collaborating closely with Ofgem, local distribution networks and affected power stations/generators to understand the cause of yesterday’s power cut.”
The event was triggered by the near-simultaneous loss of two generators – first, RWE’s 730MW Little Barford combined-cycle gas turbine plant in Bedfordshire shortly before 5pm, and then two thirds of Orsted’s 1.2GW Hornsea Two offshore windfarm a few minutes later.
Comments
Login on register to comment
Related content
Gas
Cadent backs launch of major bio-CNG HGV refuelling station
Gas network’s £250,000 infrastructure investment ensures supplies to existing connected customers have not been impacted
Gas
Editor’s blog: The biggest tests of resilience are yet to come
Network content director Jane Gray reflects on the industry's coronavirus response to date and the challenges still to come.
Gas
From the front line: Chris Garside and Andy Simcoe, Northern Gas Networks
Key workers across the power and gas networks are playing a critical role in the national response to Coronavirus. Network has committed to profiling their stories.
Related supplier content
![‘Learning by doing’ on the road to net zero [test product]](https://networksonline.s3.amazonaws.com/products/images/3.jpg)
People & Skills
‘Learning by doing’ on the road to net zero [test product]
DSO director Andrew Roper discusses 'Learning by doing'
Power
Load patterns and lockdown: how Covid-19 is impacting electricity networks
Insights into dynamics on the low voltage network as the outbreak unfolds
Downloads
Protect electrical equipment from insulation failure
Insulation faults are a major cause leading to the eventual failure of electrical equipment. Partial discharge (PD) is a very reliable indicator of developing insulation faults. Regular PD testing allows users to detect and analyze PD activity