Origin’s Mortlake gas plant has been repaired, shoring up power supply for summer
Two key electricity plants which broke down months ago have finally been fixed, improving prospects Victoria and SA will get through summer with enough power.
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Summer electricity supply in Victoria – and therefore South Australia – has improved with a key gas-fired power plant repaired.
The Mortlake plant, in western Victoria, had been out of action since July.
“In less than six months, we’ve been able to source, safely transport and install a 320-tonne replacement generator from the US before the peak summer electricity demand period,” Origin Energy executive general manager Greg Jarvis said.
As well as repairing the plant the work included an upgrade to improve operation in hot weather.
The unit at Mortlake, which broke down due to an electrical fault, represents just under three per cent of Victoria’s generation capacity.
The Mortlake unit and AGL’s Loy Yang A coal plant – which also began generating again this month after lengthy repairs – were raised as issues by the Australian Energy Market Operator in its summer forecasts.
Analyst Paul McArdle, of consultants Global-Roam, welcomed the return of both generators.
However, supply will still be tight on extremely hot days, he cautioned.