South Australian heatwave sparks push for national energy plan

SOUTH Australia’s demand for east coast power surged during last week’s sweltering temperatures, reigniting the debate over national energy policy.

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SOUTH Australia’s demand for east coast power surged during last week’s sweltering temperatures, reigniting the debate over national energy policy.

In a scathing attack, Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg called on the Weatherill Government to admit the state could not afford to cut the cord from Victoria because it relied on the national grid.

But State Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis dismissed the comments as little more than “jealousy” over the international attention SA has attracted for its giant Tesla battery.

The Tesla lithium-ion battery at Hornsdale wind farm near Jamestown, South Australia. Picture: Bernard Humphreys

The admonishment was clearly aimed at ensuring energy was on the agenda ahead of the March state election and the April deadline for states to sign up to the Turnbull Government’s proposal to overhaul the power market.

SA has been leading the charge against the Turnbull Government’s national energy guarantee (NEG), policy which would force power retailers to meet reliability and emissions targets.

Data provided by the Federal Government showed SA relied on Victoria for almost a third of its electricity needs – 732MW – on Thursday night while wind generation dropped off to just 117MW and solar was at zero.

This was a reversal of the recent trend in which SA has been a net exporter of power to Victoria every week since July, helping to keep the lights on in the east at a lower cost.

Then on Friday afternoon, a severe weather warning forced the national grid operator to limit the amount of power being pumped into SA from Victoria to ensure the state’s power security.

A severe weather warning forced the national grid operator to limit the amount of power being pumped into SA from Victoria.

The Heywood interconnector was overloaded and tripped during storms in September 2016, which led to SA’s infamous statewide blackout.

Mr Frydenberg said the events of last Thursday and Friday provided evidence that SA could not go it alone or would risk another blackout.

He said it should serve as yet another reminder why it was time SA Labor “admitted its failings” and signed on to the NEG to make the national grid more affordable and reliable. “There is no doubt SA has an over-reliance on wind power, which is not only causing reliability issues, but price volatility as well,” Mr Frydenberg said.

“The wind was blowing so little in SA during the heatwave it was only producing 6.5 per cent of its capacity, which meant it needed to import a stack of power from Victoria.

“Victoria was able to do this not only because of its coal- fired assets, which SA no longer has, but also because of hydro power from the Snowy and Tasmania.”

SA Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis. Picture: AAP / David Mariuz

Mr Koutsantonis said it was easy to find figures from particular points in time to support an argument, but the longer-term data showed SA was regularly helping keep the lights on in Victoria.

He said this summer, the national grid operator had issued fewer supply shortage warnings for SA than for either NSW or Victoria. “Our power supply has been more reliable than the coal-reliant grids in the eastern states,” he said.

“The Tesla battery has been dispatched dozens of times . . . was used on December 14 to stabilise Victoria’s grid when a major coal-fired power station shut down.”

“Josh Frydenberg is . . . jealous of the international attention we are getting for our leadership in energy storage.”

Mr Koutsantonis said last week that SA’s diesel generators were also on standby. However, there was enough supply to meet demand, so they were not needed.