Sydney weather: Fears power grid may overload in extreme heat, hundreds without power after storm
NSW is set to swelter with the mercury tipping 40C, and as people look to cool off hundreds are without power after storms. And providers fear an energy grid overload leading to criticism of Labor’s energy policy.
NSW
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A Nationals Senator has taken aim at the federal government’s energy policy as Sydney braces for soaring temperatures and power grid strain following a night of severe storms, leaving hundreds still without power as of midday on Tuesday.
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan criticised the government’s handling of energy infrastructure, warning it has left the country vulnerable during extreme weather events.
“Every day in summer, there seems to be some warning of (power outages). And the frustrating thing with this is it is so simple, it’s not a difficult problem to see,” Senator Canavan said on 2GB.
“We have not been building enough reliable power stations over the past decade, we’ve been shutting the ones we do have down, and that’s left us in a position where we’re almost in a developing country where we can’t guarantee that electricity will be available 24 hours a day.”
Highlighting the broader impacts of unreliable energy supply, Senator Canavan warned of the consequences for households, health and Australia’s economic future.
“Now that’s a massive inconvenience for some, it’s a health risk for others in hot conditions if they can’t cool their homes, and of course, for manufacturing businesses here in this country, how can they invest in our nation if they can’t be guaranteed that there’ll be reliable power in the years to come,” he said.
“Why would you invest millions of dollars a year? And if we keep this going, we’re going to lose investment, we’re going to lose jobs and lose productivity, to those countries that are investing in reliable power stations, like nuclear, like gas, like coal. We need to build something like that.”
Severe thunderstorms have battered NSW, bringing heavy winds, torrential rain and large hailstones, with the Bureau of Meteorology closely monitoring two tropical lows developing off Australia’s east coast.
In NSW, State Emergency Services (SES) crews responded to more than 100 calls for help overnight.
SES spokesperson Jenni North said teams were bracing for more as residents began assessing the damage.
“We do expect calls to continue coming through over the next several hours as people identify issues,” Ms North said on 2GB.
Sydney is bracing for another scorching day, with temperatures tipped to hit 40C in the CBD and 42C in the western suburbs.
Power providers are monitoring the energy grid amid fears that extreme heat could cause it to overload, it comes after thousands of homes were left in the dark following severe storms overnight.
The Ausgrid website reports that Surry Hills is the hardest-hit area on Tuesday morning, with 424 customers still without power as ofd midday
Adding to the challenges, the outage in Surry Hills has been labeled as “complex,” indicating it may take over 12 hours to restore electricity. A specific restoration time has not yet been provided, as assessments are ongoing.
Other impacted areas include Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay, where nearly 300 customers are affected. These outages are also classified as “complex,” but power is expected to be restored by 11am.
Suburbs including Georges Hall, Condell Park, Yagoona, Bass Hill and Bankstown were among the hardest hit, with 5000 Ausgrid customers left without power overnight.
By 7am, emergency crews had managed to restore electricity to most of those affected areas.
On Monday Sydneysiders got an early taste of the sweltering conditions ahead, ending the Australia Day long weekend with a splash as they packed out beaches and water parks on
Monday before a late storm rolled in, bringing with it thunder, heavy rain and damaging winds that brought down power lines in Hebersham.
Just after 8.30pm, Ausgrid’s live online tracker showed unplanned outages affecting about 2015 sites, while Endeavour Energy had 4172 customers without power.
Earlier, even in the harsh sun atop the Sydney Harbour Bridge, climbers were able to cool down with a blast from a “water mister”.
Hayden Hughes, 6, was among those who beat the 35C heat using more conventional methods at Oran Park Splash Park, in the city’s southwest.
“She’s a water baby, she loves it,” mother Allyson Hughes said.
“It was super hot and quite busy... the busiest I’ve ever seen it since we’ve been living here. It’s brilliant and the kids love it.”
Looking ahead, Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Angus Hines said the CBD was expected to hit 35C on Tuesday ahead of winds that were likely to cause a dramatic drop in the temperature during the afternoon.
“Minimise your time out in the sun, wear a hat, lots of sunscreen and drink plenty of water,” Mr Hines said.
The forecast has Ausgrid on high alert, with the power provider saying it would have emergency crews on standby to respond to any unplanned outages.
Temperatures are then expected to cool across Sydney from Wednesday, with a 70 per cent chance of rain and increased likelihood of thunderstorms the following day.
Originally published as Sydney weather: Fears power grid may overload in extreme heat, hundreds without power after storm
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