Fire damages floating solar array on London reservoir

What happened

On 26 May 2020 an electrical fault occurred at the 6.4MW floating solar array on the Queen Elizabeth II Reservoir near Heathrow Airport, on the edge of London. The plant is operated by Lightsource BP and supplies power to Thames Water. Lightsource BP said a small fire ensued and damaged some components. Reporting said the blaze affected an area where two floating platforms met and appeared to cause some modules to sink.

The operator implemented its health, safety, security and environment protocols, investigated the incident and, after approvals from Thames Water, planned repairs to start the following week. Thames Water said the stored water was at the pre-treatment stage and that tests were carried out to check for quality issues. Lightsource BP has not commented on any findings about the cause.

Contributing factors

The operator confirmed an electrical fault but has not published findings on why it occurred. The source does not establish that the fault was at the platform junction, or that water movement damaged cabling or connectors in this incident.

Lessons learned

1. An electrical fault at the junction of two floating platforms can damage modules and cause sinking, so operators must inspect all platform joints and connections after any fault.
2. A small fire from an electrical fault on a floating array requires immediate isolation and checks with the water utility before repairs start.
3. Water quality tests after a fire on a reservoir array protect supply integrity, so the operator must coordinate with the utility at once.

More lessons on electrical protection and isolation, outages, backup supply and restoration, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

• Exact cause of the electrical fault
• Turbine or array model and age
• Duration of downtime
• Cost of repairs and lost output

This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.

Source

Recharge (rechargenews.com)