SA power crisis: Will there be more blackouts?
THE Australian Energy Market Operator has ordered the second power generation unit at Pelican Point be switched on — and says enforced blackouts are unlikely to occur tonight. | Hit list: Suburbs to next lose power | Analysis: Solutions hard to find | Power deliberately cut amid heatwave | Gallery
- Is your area on the blackout hit list?
- Analysis: No easy fix to SA’s power crisis
- Power deliberately cut amid heatwave
- Gallery: How South Australians are coping with the heatwave
- How the State Government plans to fix our energy debacle
THE Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has ordered the second power generation unit at Pelican Point be switched on to avoid a repeat of Wednesday night’s enforced electricity black out.
However, losing power tonight is unlikely.
The AEMO has issued a notice revoking its concerns about reserve power in SA, indicating the state is likely to avoid more controlled blackouts tonight.
More than 90,000 homes had their power deliberately cut on Wednesday night, as the full extent of the power crisis is finally disclosed.
Following inquiries from Advertiser.com.au, SA Power Networks spokesman Paul Roberts revealed that more than 90,000 customers were affected by the deliberate cuts — more than double the 40,000 originally estimated.
SA Power Networks said the cuts were made about 6.33pm under “rotational load shedding’’ orders from the Australian Energy Market Operator “due to lack of available generation supply in SA”.
It was restored about 45 minutes later.
In a statement on Thursday, AEMO said high temperatures in the eastern states and ‘increasing electricity consumption levels’ in SA and NSW were putting extra strain on the national power system.
It said SA was experiencing ‘some of the highest electricity demand ever recorded in the state’, prompting the authority to order load shedding to more than 90,000 SA customers on Wednesday night.
The AEMO was unable to guarantee that load shedding will not happen again during today’s extreme temperatures.
WHICH SUBURBS ARE NEXT ON THE LOAD SHEDDING HIT LIST
Amid concern over the continuing blackouts, Premier Jay Weatherill today foreshadowed “dramatic plans” for the state to step away from the national electricity grid “and take control of our own future”.
Mr Weatherill would not provide full details of the plans today, other than to say that they had been long in the planning and were likely to be finalised and announced imminently.
He did indicate that a contract for a bulk-buy of State Government electricity, for which tenders have been received, was likely to lead to the creation of a new gas-fired power station.
Mr Weatherill said last night’s load shedding blackouts were “totally and utterly unacceptable”, “didn’t need to happen” and the state was right to be furious about the failure of a key utility.
“One thing that is absolutely clear to us is that SA is now on its own in relation to the national electricity market. It’s on its own because the national Energy Markey Operator is unable to run a system which can guarantee us security of electricity supply,” Mr Weatherill said.
“We have to step up and take control of our own future, and we are determined to do that.
“The SA Government has been planning to intervene dramatically in the SA electricity market. Those plans are well-advanced and we’re expecting to have further meetings today.
“The events of last night only confirm in our minds the need to take this dramatic step.
“I think we have complete political permission from the people of SA to take these steps.
“South Australians are not prepared to put up with being ridiculed and having the finger pointed at them by a Federal Government that has abdicated its responsibilities.”
READ MORE ABOUT THE STATE GOVERNMENT’S PRESS CONFERENCE HERE
Meantime, Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has ordered an urgent report from AEMO to explain why more than 40,000 customers went without power during yesterday’s extreme heat.
Mr Frydenberg also suggested the SA Government should look at every option to stabilise the system.
“You can’t blame the Australian Energy Market Operator for what happened last night,” he said.
“At the heart of the problem was a fall in supply from wind generated power.
“Jay Weatherill has said he is conducting a big experiment in SA.
“SA has the highest uptake of intermittent sources of power, namely wind and solar, of any country in the world on a per capita basis.
“This is a big experiment but that big experiment has failed the people of SA.”
“If that means going back to the owners of the Northern Power station and saying ‘this is something that we must investigate to restart this, even though the closure’s been announced’, then you must do it,” he said.
Alinta Energy closed the black coal Northern Station in Port Augusta last May and it is already partially demolished.
In Question Time, Mr Frydenberg said that he had spoken with the market operator which disputed the State Government’s claims it was to blame.
“But I have spoken, yesterday and this morning, to the market operator. And the market operator has made it very clear he disputes the Labor Party — Jay Weatherill and the Federal Labor Party — trying to blame the umpire for the bad game that they’ve played when it comes to South Australia’s energy mix,” Mr Frydenberg said.
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting temperatures to reach 42C in Adelaide today, after the CBD experienced a high of 42.4C on Wednesday.
Across the state, it is expected to reach 46C in Moomba, 47C in Tarcoola, 41C in Mount Barker, 42C in Kadina and 40C in Naracoorte.
From 8am yesterday to 8am today, SA Health has revealed there have been a total of 43 heat-related presentations to hospitals across the state and of those, 18 patients were admitted.
When asked if the AEMO would conduct load shedding in South Australia again today, a spokesman for the operator said “we hope not, that’s the plan”.
“It’s not forecast and we are doing everything we can to mitigate that from happening,” he said.
In a statement released by AEMO at 10.15am, the operator said it understood “the frustration from South Australian energy consumers”.
“It is important to note that AEMO instructed load shedding to ease the pressure on the power system, protecting it from potentially impacting more residents, and for a longer period,” the statement said.
“AEMO is continuing to carefully manage the power system during this period of high temperatures and high demand across Australia’s eastern states.
“AEMO has today published market notices forecasting a tightening supply/demand balance across South Australia and New South Wales over the coming days, and is working with the market to mitigate the need for further load shedding events.”
Many South Australians took to social media to express their frustration at more power outages.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull this morning did not buy into debate on the failure of the national grid and instead blamed the State Government for SA’s energy woes.
He said the State Labor Government had created a situation where SA was “crying out for more investment and industry” but had the most expensive and least reliable power.
“Of course they (the SA Government) want to blame it on everybody else. Well, I suppose they can blame it on the wind because it wasn’t blowing yesterday,” Mr Turnbull said.
“But you know something, in SA which does have a history of heatwaves, when they have the biggest heatwave there’s no wind. And when there’s no wind, all their windmills are not generating electricity and they haven’t planned for that.
“The Labor Party, driven by ideology, is putting Australian households and businesses at risk.”
Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham said he was “embarrassed that my state is now a joke”.
“You turn in to tune in to morning radio programs, and as they’re giving the weather forecast and saying it’s another hot day in South Australia, oh we hope the lights stay on,” he said.
“Well again, that’s not what I want from my state. That doesn’t help attract investment or jobs to South Australia.
“Essentially South Australia ran out of electricity generation yesterday. And that’s just not a sustainable position. Less than five per cent wind generation in a state with a renewable energy target pushing for 40 or 50 per cent of renewables.
“Obviously it’s putting real pressure on the grid.”
State Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said last night: “Every South Australian has a right to be angry. We had spare capacity in the SA generation market and the market didn’t turn that generation on.”
“The second unit at Pelican Point (power station) could’ve been turned on last night, it had gas, was ready to go and it wasn’t turned on. The national market isn’t working,” he said.
“We (the State Government) have been taking advice from the market operator and others but after last night we have to reassess. We will do what’s necessary to make sure SA has sufficient generation,” Mr Koutsantonis said.
“It’s my understanding that AEMO (Australian Energy Market Operator) was made aware more generation was available and chose not to turn that generation on. Serious questions have to be asked about why we had generation available that wasn’t used.”
A spokesman for ENGIE, which runs the Pelican Point power station, said that under the current rules of the National Electricity Market, it cannot be used unless directed by the market operator.
“We continue to engage with all relevant stakeholders to make this capacity available,” he said.
An SA Power Networks spokesman said they were acting on instructions from AEMO in response to insufficient generation supply in SA.
“We don’t generate,” he said. “This is not an SA Power Networks issue — we are the muggins in the middle between the customer and generation supply.”
In a statement today, AEMO said it issued a notice to all generators requesting a “market response to be provided due to increased demand as a result of the high temperatures in South Australia”.
“AEMO did not receive sufficient bids into the market to maintain the supply/demand balance in South Australia,” the statement said.
AEMO said it instructed SA Power Networks to load shed about 3 per cent of the state’s total power demand “to avoid potential damage to network equipment”.
READ THE AEMO STATEMENT IN FULL
THE Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) can confirm that at 19:03 AEDT, 100 megawatts (MW) of local load shedding was instructed in South Australia to maintain the security of the power system over the evening peak demand period.
A number of market notices were issued to all generators in the lead up to this instruction, requesting a market response to be provided due to increased demand as a result of the high temperatures in South Australia.
AEMO did not receive sufficient bids into the market to maintain the supply/demand balance in South Australia.
In order to maintain power system security, AEMO instructed South Australia transmission network business ElectraNet to load shed 100 MW, which was approximately 3% of total South Australian demand at 19:03 AEDT, to avoid potential damage to network equipment.
At 19:30 AEDT as the evening peak subsided, AEMO gave permission to restore the load as the threat of damage to network assets had reduced. At approximately 19:40 AEDT electricity supply had been restored.
AEMO understands the frustration from South Australian energy consumers as electricity is an essential service. It is important to note that AEMO instructed load shedding to ease the pressure on the power system, protecting it from potentially impacting more residents, and for a longer period.
AEMO is continuing to carefully manage the power system during this period of high temperatures and high demand across Australia’s eastern states.
AEMO has today published market notices forecasting a tightening supply/demand balance across South Australia and New South Wales over the coming days, and is working with the market to mitigate the need for further load shedding events.