On March 20, 2025, a major electrical substation security incident at London Heathrow Airport highlighted substations as a vulnerability to national security.
The fire at a single electricity sub-station on the night of March 20, 2025, at the North Hyde 275kV electrical substation, about 1.5 miles from Heathrow in west London, seriously disrupted the area’s power supply, including that of Heathrow Airport, the busiest airport in Europe and second biggest airport in the world. At least one of the substations transformers and various surrounding assets and components burned down.
About 67,000 homes and businesses in the area including Heathrow Airport were cut off overnight as a result of this issue. The airport closure has caused chaos, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. More than 1,300 flights have been affected – bout 120 of these were already in the air. This incident caused commercial damage running into millions.
As in many countries, the UK power grid is generally old or outdated, with many of its components and electrical assets at the end of their anticipated service lifetime.
The closure of one of the world’s largest airports due to a failure of just one electricity substation underlines how important it is that critical national energy infrastructure – substations, pylons, overhead power lines and so on – keeps functioning and are automatically monitored 24/7.
This is only becoming more important as demand for electricity increases, as transport and domestic heating is switched to electrified alternatives – notably electric cars and heat pumps.
To help protect grid assets we have developed the AI Energy Asset Inspection PowerBrains™ software for local substation monitoring automation. It increases substation resilience and security by automatically monitoring energy assets 24/7 and alarming as soon as anomalies occur. Using optical and thermal cameras, our system monitors assets and their surroundings, detecting heat anomalies, structural defects, corrosion, and potential threats such as intruders or sabotage.
Our AI is Internet independent and seamlessly integrates with existing substation infrastructure and SCADA systems. It can be deployed within weeks, offering rapid protection against risks, enhances transformer security, prevents critical incidents, and strengthens infrastructure resilience and national security.
We are eager to collaborate with Network Operators, utilities, DNOs/DSOs, TNOs and asset management and security teams to safeguard your energy assets and grid operations.
