2003 London blackout
Encyclopedia
The 2003 London blackout was a serious power outage
that occurred in parts of southern London
and north-west Kent
on 28 August 2003. It was the largest blackout in South East England
since the Great Storm of 1987
, affecting an estimated 500,000 people.
, which occurred two weeks earlier (August 14) and affected about 100 times more people. For example, on August 15, The Daily Express
had reported that the National Grid might not be able to cope with predicted power surges in the winter of 2004.
On the day of the blackout London Mayor
Ken Livingstone
declared the situation a "catastrophic failure" and "the normal British disease of underinvestment and not keeping your plant up to date". The press followed this lead. The power transmission company National Grid plc
responded that, as they had invested £3000 million in the last 10 years, the system certainly could not be described as old and decrepit.
Headlines such as "Power cut cripples London" (CNN
) concealed the fact that over 90% of London's population was unaffected (but see below for the effects on the London Underground and mainline rail services).
Later it became clear to the press that the blackout might not be directly attributable to underinvestment, but this was still the main thrust of the stories: e.g. The Independent
, 30 August: "Just admit it, Mr Urwin. National Grid needs to invest more".
On 8 September the London Evening Standard
ran a story "Blackout report will take weeks" http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/6595311?source=Evening%20Standard. On 10 September National Grid published a 43-page report describing the causes of the blackout (and made it available on the internet http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/library/documents/pdfs/London28082003.pdf). The national BBC
TV evening news did not cover this.
In mid October an anonymous National Grid engineer spoke to the BBC. It emerged that there may have been a maintenance problem not covered in National Grid's report (see below).
area of south London. A spokesman for National Grid said it was "an unusual occurrence", but "not even vaguely on the scale of what happened in the U.S.",
adding that there was a fault in the 275 kV system. Later, Chief Operating Officer Mark Fairbairn said the problem was caused by the extremely rare coincidence of two faults happening only seven seconds apart.
Later National Grid's report revealed that the second fault, and the ultimate cause of the blackout, was the fitting of a wrongly rated part in a backup system - similar to fitting a 1 ampere fuse instead of a 5 ampere fuse. The first fault was a problem with a transformer. The impression was given that this fault was in a sense routine - about 13 such faults happen in a year. Normally it would be possible to switch the transformer out of the system and continue with power uninterrupted, but in this case the switch over exposed the second problem.
On 17 October it emerged that the transformer fault was due to an oil leak, spotted some weeks before the blackout. The oil had been topped up but the leak had not been cured. National Grid's Director Of Transmission admitted to a "small backlog" of maintenance checks. On 21 October it became clear that the leak had been known of since March. National Grid had started a regular programme of topping-up until the transformer could conveniently be serviced. Evidently this was ultimately not enough to keep up with the leak; "it got bigger" said a spokesman.
National Grid also operates the U.S. business Niagara Mohawk, and was among those affected by the earlier US-Canada blackout.
was affected (London Underground had shut down the last of their independent generators in favour of using Grid supplies in 2002) and people were stuck underground. 270 sets of traffic lights were hit. To relieve the transport problems, buses accepted train and Tube tickets. Thousands of people took to the rain-soaked streets. Pubs filled up with people sitting out the delays.
s at 19:00 BST, but is reported to have taken about two hours to be restored fully in some areas.
Power outage
A power outage is a short- or long-term loss of the electric power to an area.There are many causes of power failures in an electricity network...
that occurred in parts of southern London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and north-west Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
on 28 August 2003. It was the largest blackout in South East England
South East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
since the Great Storm of 1987
Great Storm of 1987
The Great Storm of 1987 occurred on the night of 15/16 October 1987, when an unusually strong weather system caused winds to hit much of southern England and northern France...
, affecting an estimated 500,000 people.
Media coverage
Even before the blackout the UK press were anticipating a UK equivalent of the Northeast Blackout of 2003Northeast Blackout of 2003
The Northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Ontario, Canada on Thursday, August 14, 2003, just before 4:10 p.m....
, which occurred two weeks earlier (August 14) and affected about 100 times more people. For example, on August 15, The Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
had reported that the National Grid might not be able to cope with predicted power surges in the winter of 2004.
On the day of the blackout London Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
declared the situation a "catastrophic failure" and "the normal British disease of underinvestment and not keeping your plant up to date". The press followed this lead. The power transmission company National Grid plc
National Grid plc
National Grid plc is a multinational electricity and gas utility company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its principal activities are in the United Kingdom and northeastern United States and it is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world.National Grid is listed on...
responded that, as they had invested £3000 million in the last 10 years, the system certainly could not be described as old and decrepit.
Headlines such as "Power cut cripples London" (CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
) concealed the fact that over 90% of London's population was unaffected (but see below for the effects on the London Underground and mainline rail services).
Later it became clear to the press that the blackout might not be directly attributable to underinvestment, but this was still the main thrust of the stories: e.g. The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, 30 August: "Just admit it, Mr Urwin. National Grid needs to invest more".
On 8 September the London Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
ran a story "Blackout report will take weeks" http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/6595311?source=Evening%20Standard. On 10 September National Grid published a 43-page report describing the causes of the blackout (and made it available on the internet http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/library/documents/pdfs/London28082003.pdf). The national BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV evening news did not cover this.
In mid October an anonymous National Grid engineer spoke to the BBC. It emerged that there may have been a maintenance problem not covered in National Grid's report (see below).
Causes
Initial reports were that there appeared to be a problem with a cable feed from the national grid in the WimbledonWimbledon, London
Wimbledon is a district in the south west area of London, England, located south of Wandsworth, and east of Kingston upon Thames. It is situated within Greater London. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas...
area of south London. A spokesman for National Grid said it was "an unusual occurrence", but "not even vaguely on the scale of what happened in the U.S.",
adding that there was a fault in the 275 kV system. Later, Chief Operating Officer Mark Fairbairn said the problem was caused by the extremely rare coincidence of two faults happening only seven seconds apart.
Later National Grid's report revealed that the second fault, and the ultimate cause of the blackout, was the fitting of a wrongly rated part in a backup system - similar to fitting a 1 ampere fuse instead of a 5 ampere fuse. The first fault was a problem with a transformer. The impression was given that this fault was in a sense routine - about 13 such faults happen in a year. Normally it would be possible to switch the transformer out of the system and continue with power uninterrupted, but in this case the switch over exposed the second problem.
On 17 October it emerged that the transformer fault was due to an oil leak, spotted some weeks before the blackout. The oil had been topped up but the leak had not been cured. National Grid's Director Of Transmission admitted to a "small backlog" of maintenance checks. On 21 October it became clear that the leak had been known of since March. National Grid had started a regular programme of topping-up until the transformer could conveniently be serviced. Evidently this was ultimately not enough to keep up with the leak; "it got bigger" said a spokesman.
National Grid also operates the U.S. business Niagara Mohawk, and was among those affected by the earlier US-Canada blackout.
Effects
The London fire brigade took around 400 calls and made 100 rescues of people stuck in lifts. All main rail services were at a standstill in south London and the south-east. Sixty percent of the London UndergroundLondon Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
was affected (London Underground had shut down the last of their independent generators in favour of using Grid supplies in 2002) and people were stuck underground. 270 sets of traffic lights were hit. To relieve the transport problems, buses accepted train and Tube tickets. Thousands of people took to the rain-soaked streets. Pubs filled up with people sitting out the delays.
Restoration of service
Power came back on after 34 minuteMinute
A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units...
s at 19:00 BST, but is reported to have taken about two hours to be restored fully in some areas.