What happened after the South Australian statewide blackout
IT’S been one year since the storm that plunged South Australia into darkness. The chaotic event catapulted energy security on to the national agenda. Here’s everything that happened afterwards.
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THURSDAY marks one year since a storm plunged South Australia into complete darkness. The chaotic event catapulted energy security on to the national agenda. Here’s everything that happened afterwards.
SEPTEMBER 28, 2016
South Australia was plunged into darkness shortly before 4pm on September 28 last year. A one-in-50-year weather event caused serious damage to key infrastructure, including 23 electricity towers and three high-voltage lines. Within about 90 seconds key transmission infrastructure was damaged and went offline and key wind farms shut down increasing demand on the interconnector to Victoria well above its capacity. The line trips, other SA generators including all remaining wind farms go down and the whole system went black. It took about three hours for power to begin to be restored and much of the metropolitan area was back up before the end of the day. It took two weeks for power to be restored to the whole state. Wind power was quickly blamed for the total blackout but investigations later showed the issues faced that night were much more complex. A freak storm was the root cause, hidden software settings on wind farms and not the turbines themselves were to blame for them shutting off and the rules governing management of the grid were not up to scratch to manage potential problems.
CRISIS MEETING
The statewide blackout prompted an emergency meeting of the nation’s energy ministers in Melbourne the following week to work out what happened in SA and to ensure it didn’t happen again or anywhere else. At that meeting Australia’s chief scientist Alan Finkel was appointed to conduct an independent review that would consider what contributed to the SA blackout and make recommendations on what reforms to the national market are required to get more renewable energy into the market while retaining reliability and affordability. From here on Australians would continue to hear about the “energy trilemma” — affordability, reliability and meeting carbon emissions targets.
MORE BLACKOUTS
South Australians suffered through a number of blackouts last summer. Some caused by storms and others came about because there wasn’t enough energy available in SA to meet demand as temperatures soared and airconditioners were pumping. While for households and businesses every blackout its uncomfortable, it was the latter which caused the most political discomfort. At about 6.30pm on February 8 about 90,000 homes had their power deliberately cut as the state was experiencing some of the highest electricity demand ever recorded and the market operator was not able to find enough energy to meet that demand. The same heatwave then threatened to force the lights off in NSW. But a power shortage was avoided and no one in NSW had power deliberately cut. The state’s Tomago aluminium smelter, which consumes a massive chunk of power, voluntarily reduced consumption. It was later discovered SA Power Networks stuffed up and only needed to cut 30,000 SA customers but either way the damage was done with South Australians again left in the dark.
THE FINKEL REPORT
On June 9 Dr Finkel’s review was released at a meeting of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and state leaders in Tasmania. His blueprint contained 50 recommendations which would address the energy trilemma. Dr Finkel said his plan would translate to 10 per cent cheaper power in coming years. The key recommendation was the introduction of a Clean Energy Target which would require energy retailers to source a set amount of the power they sell from “clean” sources. It would replace the current Renewable Energy Target where renewable generators earn certificates for every megawatt of power they produce which are sold retailers (currently for about $80). Other recommendations included requiring large generators to give three years’ notice before exiting the market, all new power generators to guarantee reliable backup supply from other sources and tougher technical requirements to ensure stability of wind and solar farms. Dr Finkel also raised concern that gas shortages that were driving up power prices rather than it being caused by the shift to renewables. In July the nation’s energy ministers signed off on 49 of the recommendations which were now being put in place. The final — the CET — does not yet have the support from the Turnbull Government.
SKYROCKETING POWER BILLS
In June The Advertiser revealed as of July 1, an analysis showed South Australians would be paying the highest power prices in the world. The big three power retailers this year increased bills by between 16 and 20 per cent — adding an extra $300 or more a year to the average household bill.
GAS SHORTAGES
In March the national grid operator released a dire forecast in March which revealed that declining gas supplies was leading to likely power supply shortfalls between 2019 and 2021. Queensland’s three gas exporters have been accused of over-estimating gas production capability and struggling to fulfil overseas contract which has contributed to the domestic market squeeze. It led the Turnbull Government to create the Domestic Gas Security Mechanism which would place controls over gas exports in the event Australia was set to run short. Earlier this week the Australian Energy Market Operator handed the Government updated forecasts along with a report on the gas market from the consumer watchdog. Both reports warned the country could need almost 20 per cent more gas than would be available — a shortage three times larger than first predicted. Mr Turnbull met with executives from the gas exporters yesterday and secured an agreement from them to cover the shortfall to prevent the Government pulling the trigger on export controls.
THE POLITICS
SA became the joke of the nation when the state went black last year. Premier Jay Weatherill announced a $550 million energy plan. Initially the SA Government planned to build a taxpayer funded gas power station, the nation’s biggest battery and introduce its own form of a CET which would require retailers selling power to South Australians to buy a set amount of power generated locally. But since then the plan has changed — temporary diesel generators to make sure the state gets through the summer may be turned into gas generators instead of building one power station and the energy security target has been shelved. Despite the changing plan with a massive price tag, in the absence of a energy policy from the State Liberals many, even those inside the Opposition, believe State Labor was winning the political debate on power. The ‘at least they’re doing something’ concession has been prevailing.
That may well change when campaigning starts in earnest before the March state election. But it has also allowed the Premier to play his favourite and successful sport — smash the Feds. The statewide blackout also shone light on serious problems in the national grid. The closure of a major coal-fired power station in Victoria earlier this year further showed SA wasn’t the only state facing power shortages. Debate over the CET, backed by Labor states and industry, has caused unrest on the Coalition backbench. While the Turnbull Government may believe voters on the east coast have only been tuned in to the energy debate for a short time, it’s been a long year for South Australians and the ongoing dithering on the CET is playing into Labor’s hands in the state. The gas crisis has been a welcome distraction for the Turnbull Government as all members of the party appear in lock-step. Yesterday Mr Turnbull has a win on that issue with agreement from exporters to ensure there was no shortage.