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10/09/2003
London blackout to be investigated
Energy Minister Stephen Timms announced today that the DTI will launch an investigation into the power cuts that affected large areas of south London and parts of Kent on August 28, and the West Midlands on September 5.
Mr Timms said: "I am grateful to National Grid for the report that they have provided to me on the recent power cuts and the lessons to be learnt. However, I have decided in light of the report that further work needs to be done to look into the wider issues surrounding these power cuts.
"We need to understand whether improved communication between National Grid, the distribution companies and their customers could have reduced the disruption caused.
"Ofgem and DTI will jointly commission consultants to do some initial fact finding work. These findings will be made public. In addition I have asked the DTI Engineering Inspectorate to conduct a full and independent investigation into all the technical and operational issues taking account of National Grid power failures over the last five years to identify any trends."
Mr Timms received a report on the London power cuts from National Grid Transco on September 9.
National Grid's report revealed that an initial serious fault in the primary transmission system was exacerbated when an incorrectly installed automatic protection relay disconnected a substation operating on a single line due to routine maintenance.
Power was consequently cut off for much longer than the normal “switching operations” required to isolate the faulty transformer.
A survey conducted on some 9,000 similar relays used throughout the National Grid distribution network will take around four weeks to complete.
(SP)
Mr Timms said: "I am grateful to National Grid for the report that they have provided to me on the recent power cuts and the lessons to be learnt. However, I have decided in light of the report that further work needs to be done to look into the wider issues surrounding these power cuts.
"We need to understand whether improved communication between National Grid, the distribution companies and their customers could have reduced the disruption caused.
"Ofgem and DTI will jointly commission consultants to do some initial fact finding work. These findings will be made public. In addition I have asked the DTI Engineering Inspectorate to conduct a full and independent investigation into all the technical and operational issues taking account of National Grid power failures over the last five years to identify any trends."
Mr Timms received a report on the London power cuts from National Grid Transco on September 9.
National Grid's report revealed that an initial serious fault in the primary transmission system was exacerbated when an incorrectly installed automatic protection relay disconnected a substation operating on a single line due to routine maintenance.
Power was consequently cut off for much longer than the normal “switching operations” required to isolate the faulty transformer.
A survey conducted on some 9,000 similar relays used throughout the National Grid distribution network will take around four weeks to complete.
(SP)
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