View Full Version : Powercut in UK
WindSheer
9th Aug 2019, 16:47
Power has gone off in Cornwall and reportedly large parts of UK. BBC quoting disruption to flights, but surely back-up systems will remove chance of this?
WindSheer
9th Aug 2019, 17:50
I thought it was news channels over reacting also, but a lot of flights are now running late nationwide so its certainly newsworthy.
I work in rail, in the 12 years I have done, I have never witnessed all trains in UK being brought to a stop - as quoted by Network Rail.
Quite strange that most of the UK was down on power for a while.
I note from the BBC Evening News that it was thought the problem was a failed generator. This sounds like a load of tosh.
They're quoting a statement from one of the power companies, referring to a "generator" on the National Grid. Or in regular English: a power station.
EDIT: the power station in question appears to be Little Barford (740 MWe gas-fired).
Fly Aiprt
9th Aug 2019, 19:32
They're quoting a statement from one of the power companies, referring to a "generator" on the National Grid. Or in regular English: a power station.
Lots of things that can fail in a power station : generators, turbines, boilers, circuit breakers, control systems etc.
DaveReidUK
9th Aug 2019, 21:48
https://twitter.com/craigybaby111/status/1159900427875430401
jimjim1
10th Aug 2019, 09:10
https://gridwatch.co.uk
https://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk
Both show live power sources for UK, take your pick.
IE Questions: What Keeps Our Electric Grid Humming? | Inside Energy (http://insideenergy.org/2015/07/10/ie-questions-what-keeps-our-electric-grid-humming/)
Explains what happens when there is a sudden change in the Supply or Demand
https://www.bmreports.com/bmrs/?q=remit
Web page showing power station status changes as posted as a screenshot in post #16 (yes I know post number are not maintained but in this case I think it will do).
https://twitter.com/i/status/1159953712061788160
Happy pylons
(Link wouldn't work without Quote stuff. I stopped fiddling when it burst into life. Oh no I didn't and it's dead now! Back to life I hope.)
Guest 112233
10th Aug 2019, 09:10
From what I've been able to find out: the problem was caused by a gas fired power station in Bedfordshire coming off line, followed two minutes later by a North Sea wind farm aggregation unit failing too. This caused the national power supply frequency to drop from approx 50Hz to 49Hz. This situation is outside allowed tolerances and load has to be shed from the generating system urgently.. I do not know if this is done automatically or by manual intervention or a combination of both. The withdrawal of power from the whole of the Rail Network could in my opinion: be an emergency contingency . We have not herd about cutting of power to steel furnaces/Heavy Industry yet - But situations like this can happen. Remember there's the National Grid (400KV/275KV) and the associated national distribution sistem (132KV/66KV/33KV and 11KV) down to the distribution transformers like the one 150 metres from the house !
I hope there's a proper technically detailed report made available to the public.
oldpax
10th Aug 2019, 09:31
Pretty sure the statutory frequency is 49.6 cycles so there would probably be automatic load shedding.During the summer {!!}some power stations are down for maintenance,of course this is allowed for.at peak times there used to be standbye plant running but not on load but this may not be the case now.Gas Turbines need a few minutes to get up and on load!!
old,not bold
10th Aug 2019, 09:34
There were reports that Newcastle Airport had no power for 15 minutes. Was that totally correct? What about the essential services standby? An airport as big as NCL would probably have no-break stand-by or at least a very short break stand-by, I forget the exact requirement in seconds.....if that failed then the airport has a lot to do to keep its approach category and perhaps its licence.
WindSheer
10th Aug 2019, 10:19
There were reports that Newcastle Airport had no power for 15 minutes. Was that totally correct? What about the essential services standby? An airport as big as NCL would probably have no-break stand-by or at least a very short break stand-by, I forget the exact requirement in seconds.....if that failed then the airport has a lot to do to keep its approach category and perhaps its licence.
I am pretty sure the critical components such as ILS are backed up by generators. Its the rest of the airport going down that causes disruption. Loading, computers, fuel etc.
Dannyboy39
10th Aug 2019, 18:37
Anyway back to an aviation theme... the power cut didn’t need to contribute to another Friday of mayhem inside London TMA with virtually every U2 inbound to LGW significantly delayed.
We want to increase movements at LHR and elsewhere yet there isn’t enough airspace to manoeuvre them all especially on stormy days or if there’s an emergency or incident.
Tashengurt
11th Aug 2019, 09:53
There was a huge thunderstorm over Newcastle airport at the time the power went off. I could see it from across the Tyne valley.
I'm sure that couldn't be coincidental?
Joe_K
11th Aug 2019, 20:22
There was a huge thunderstorm over Newcastle airport at the time the power went off. I could see it from across the Tyne valley.
I'm sure that couldn't be coincidental?
You are sure that a gas-fired power station in Bedfordshire and a windfarm in the North Sea off the Yorkshire coast going offline at the same time were caused by a thunderstorm over Newcastle airport. Right.
Tashengurt
11th Aug 2019, 21:25
You are sure that a gas-fired power station in Bedfordshire and a windfarm in the North Sea off the Yorkshire coast going offline at the same time were caused by a thunderstorm over Newcastle airport. Right.
Yup, that's right. Positive. 100%.