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National Grid ESO confirms submission of interim technical report into the power outages of 9th August, to Ofgem

National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO), a legally separated business within National Grid Group, confirms that it has submitted its interim technical report into the power outages of Friday 9th August, in accordance with Ofgem’s interim deadline of 6pm today, Friday 16th August.

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Power Cut Statement on Frequency - 13 August

A National Grid ESO spokesperson said: “Contrary to media reports there have been no near misses nor early warning signs of incidents similar to last Friday’s power cuts. This was a highly unusual event, without precedent in the past ten years. We work with Ofgem to set the agreed limits of frequency of electricity output to keep the whole system safe and the lights on. All the time until Friday’s events, the system has remained within safe limits. We are conducting a thorough internal investigation and will report our interim findings in detail to Ofgem by the end of this week. We can and must learn lessons from Friday’s events – however rare their occurrence – as National Grid and as an energy industry."

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Power Cut Statement - 10 August, 7.30pm

A National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) spokesperson 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.”

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Power Cut Statement - 10 August, 8.30am

A National Grid Electricity System Operator spokesperson said: “We appreciate the disruption caused by yesterday’s power outage and investigations have continued overnight to better understand the situation.”

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Power Cut Statement - 9 August, 8pm

A National Grid ESO spokesperson said: “This evening we had an unexpected and unusual event, the loss of two generators that connect to the GB transmission system, which led to a fall in the frequency of the electricity system. Even though these events are outside of our control, we have plans in place to respond and the system operated as planned by disconnecting an isolated portion of electricity demand. We appreciate the inconvenience caused but this action allows the system to protect itself and limit the fall in frequency, allowing for power to be quickly restored. By 18:30 all demand was restored by the Distribution Network Operators. The system is operating normally."

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Power Cut Statement - 9 August, 6.30pm

A National Grid ESO spokesperson said: “There has been an issue with two power generators causing loss of power in selected UK areas. The issue is now resolved and the system has returned to normal. Anyone continuing to experience a local issue should contact their local Distribution Network Operator for assistance.”

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