Industry chiefs were shocked at the lack of an alternative power supply at the airport after a blaze at nearby electricity substation caused total shutdown and travel chaos around the world.
Labour is now facing calls to invest more in energy upgrades and enforce new standards for the operators running the nation’s critical infrastructure.
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The cause of the fire at the North Hyde electricity substation is not yet known, but Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism police are investigating whether there was deliberate disruption.
Lord Toby Harris, chair of the National Preparedness Commission (NPC) – an independent body looking at the UK’s readiness for multiple crises – told The i Paper that “we need to query if there is any hostile state involvement” in the incident which shut down Heathrow on Friday.
He said there “clearly needs to be lessons learned” by both Heathrow and the National Grid on alternative power supply routes.
“The Government is taking this seriously – we will always argue we could be doing more. There are lots of areas we could be doing more.”
“If that is the case – as it seems – then it is a clear planning failure by the airport,” Walsh added.
Heathrow was set to restart flights later on Friday after the National Grid said an “interim solution” had been found to allow power to be restored to the west London airport by late afternoon.
Tim Leunig, director of economics at the Public First business management consultancy, said: “The problem is not Heathrow’s – it is the problem of the suppliers of electricity. There are major questions for them to answer.
Prof Richard Dawson, of Newcastle University’s School of Engineering, said the Heathrow event had “exposed” the weakness in UK infrastructure to “cascading failure”: disruption in one key area affecting lots of others.
In 2023, the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) recommended the Government brings in new standards for energy, water, transport and digital infrastructure. The advisory body also highlighted major gaps in current standards in a report in September 2024.
Sam Gould, director of policy at the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), said the UK’s critical infrastructure “faces a lot of challenges”. He said the approach to maintenance “has been reactive and based on repair” rather than see the benefits of proactive investment.
Asked if he would like to see the Government commit more money to infrastructure resilience at the upcoming spending review, Lord Harris of the NPC told The i Paper: “I would.”
Households currently pay for any expansion in the network of substations run by both the National Grid and private energy companies through their energy bills, said Dr Preece.
It come as security experts said officials would want to assess whether Russia or another “hostile” state could be behind the fire which hit Heathrow’s power supply.
Security sources told The i Paper that the canals next to the North Hyde substation were a huge point of vulnerability to potential attacks – with access to sensitive sites along the canal side, as well as offering routes in and out of London.
Heathrow, the National Grid and the Government have been approached for comment.
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