Power supply to Heathrow?

[SUNRAY]

Heard the interview of a network manager on the Today programme this morning who reckoned Heathrow has three feeds from the national grid.
Two of them come via the substation in question but a third is from a different source.
Unfortunately Heathrow don’t appear to have the ability to simply switch over between them.
I suspect they very soon will!

Having 2 feeds from one sub may confirm the location of back up generator(s) and the 2 feeds being general and back-up.

 

[plugwash]

From the POV of the DNO/supplier, providing gennies to afford at least some back-up might well be more financilly attractive that providing two totally separate (and geographically separated) supplies.

I don't know if it happens in this country, but I have heard of electricity suppliers in other countries doing deals with customers to operate the backup generators which give the customer first dibs on the power from those generators but also allow the generators to be used to supplement the local grid in times of stress, before it falls over completely.

 

[JohnW2]

I don't know if it happens in this country, but I have heard of electricity suppliers in other countries doing deals with customers to operate the backup generators which give the customer first dibs on the power from those generators but also allow the generators to be used to supplement the local grid in times of stress, before it falls over completely.

That makes sense but, like you, I have no idea as to whether anything like that happens in the UK.

 

[JohnD]

 

[morqthana]

At a Christmas day lunch I met a black girl who ...

How old was she?

 

[morqthana]

I think it unlikely that a customers equipment that requires servicing would be allowed within a substation compound!

And if it was, I b****y wouldn't want to go in there and service it.

 

[morqthana]

..albeit the assumption was that a future pandemic would be of some type of influenza..

SARS‑CoV‑2 may not be an influenza virus, but it has many practical similarities, and maybe what matters in preparedness planning are things like infection mechanisms, R-numbers, case fatality rates, and so on, and the underlying virus less so.

 

[morqthana]

Anyway - I know someone who works at Heathrow.

1) Not all terminals were without power.

2) If their internal rumour mill is to be believed, they used to have more self-generated backup capacity, but they removed a lot of it to meet carbon reduction targets.

 

[JohnW2]

SARS‑CoV‑2 may not be an influenza virus, but it has many practical similarities, and maybe what matters in preparedness planning are things like infection mechanisms, R-numbers, case fatality rates, and so on, and the underlying virus less so.

Exactly - and, in any event, the only previous pandemics of which we have much experience/knowledge have been influenza ones, so it was inevitable that any 'pandemic planning' had to be based on them.

There is a limit to how far one can sensibly go in trying to go further than that (basing plans on experiences of 'flu) in attempts to 'prepare' for a pandemic due to a currently totally unknown pathogen.

 

[SUNRAY]

Anyway - I know someone who works at Heathrow.

1) Not all terminals were without power.

We know that from the news reports on the day

2) If their internal rumour mill is to be believed, they used to have more self-generated backup capacity, but they removed a lot of it to meet carbon reduction targets.

post#9

 

[morqthana]

2) If their internal rumour mill is to be believed, they used to have more self-generated backup capacity, but they removed a lot of it to meet carbon reduction targets.

post#9

Well, no.

In order to make the 'net zero' targets the generators are installed away from the airport complex sadly the apparently obvious place to site the standby arrangements was deemed to be at the substation... OOPS.

Is not the same as removing capacity.

 

[SUNRAY]

Well, no.

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Is not the same as removing capacity.

Well at the moment we are all working on guesses, rumours and marmite says, however a network spokesman on the TV news did say there was adequate standby power available to the airport, It is already in the public domain via respectable news reports that there was plenty of power to run the whole complex very early on, one TV report mentioned within five minutes.

IF the above is correct then I suspect it was a case of removed from site to a different location rather than reduced capacity.