Weatherill must reopen Port Augusta Power Station to prevent another blackout, Federal Government, state Liberals demand

JAY Weatherill’s Government must reopen Port Augusta’s coal-fired Northern Power Station to prevent another devastating statewide blackout, the Federal Government and state Liberals have demanded.

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JAY Weatherill’s Government must consider reopening Port Augusta’s coal-fired Northern Power Station to prevent another devastating statewide blackout, the Federal Government and state Liberals have demanded.

As South Australia faces a long-predicted higher risk of blackouts this summer because of the shutdown of old technologies, federal ministers yesterday said it would be “a gross act of irresponsibility” if the State Government failed to consider temporarily restarting the 520MW plant, which closed in May.

State Treasurer and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis last night ridiculed the idea, but said he would not stand in the way of any private businesses that wished to reopen the plant and the Leigh Creek coal mine at their own expense.

He said the state’s energy future included baseload power from efficient gas power stations, not coal.

State Treasurer and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis has ridiculed the idea of reopening Port Augusta’s Northern Power Station.

“This is as ridiculous as me sending out ships to hunt whales for their blubber to light street lamps. They are living in another century – not the 21st century,’’ he said.

“If the market decides it wants to reopen Port Augusta, the State Government won’t do anything to stop them but we’re not going to be using taxpayers’ dollars to secure the operations of one generator.’’

State Liberal energy spokesman Dan van Holst Pellekaan travelled to Canberra to meet senior federal ministers yesterday to discuss the state’s energy problems and whether the Northern Plant should be restarted.

About 450 direct jobs were lost when Alinta Energy closed down its two Port Augusta power stations and the coal mine after deciding they had become financially unviable.

Federal Resources Minister Matt Canavan said he was aware of companies that were looking seriously at whether the plant could reopen to provide reliable baseload energy in SA.

Damaged power towers near Melrose after this month’s wild weather.

“It would be a gross act of irresponsibility if the South Australian government did not explore the opportunity to reopen a power station that can potentially provide the solution to the disastrous outcomes that occurred a couple of weeks ago,’’ Senator Canavan told The Advertiser.

“They keep saying it was a weather event and there is nothing that can do. Well if there’s nothing they can do, why are they in government?”

Senator Canavan said reopening the plant might turn out to be impractical but the idea should be examined.

“I know of some of those customers and others in the energy sector exploring in detail the possibility of reopening Northern as a solution to the clear issues that now exist in South Australia,’’ he said.

SA suffered an unprecedented statewide blackout on September 28 which created huge costs for major employers like Arrium and Nyrstar and forced hospitals to run on backup generators.

On Wednesday night — two weeks after the crisis began — transmission company ElectraNet announced that power had finally been restored to all of its customers.

SA already has the highest power prices in Australia and Mr Koutsantonis said subsidies for the coal power station or other generators would make electricity even more expensive.

Alinta declined to comment on whether it would be theoretically possible for the Northern Power Station to be reopened.

Demolition work on the nearby Playford A and B power plants has already begun and their fittings placed on the market.

Mr van Holst Pellekaan said it was worth considering reopening the Northern station on a temporary basis until more reliable clean energy plants were developed.

“They must seriously consider whether reopening the Port Augusta Power Station on a temporary basis is warranted to help the state make a responsible transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy,’’ he said.

Police direct traffic in Adelaide during the statewide blackout.

“Northern Power station was providing 15 per cent of our state’s total electricity and 25 per cent of our baseload. So let to that go has led directly to the increased difficulties we’re having at the moment.

“If the Northern Power Station was still operating we might still have had a blackout but we would have got the power back on much, much more quickly.’’

Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said the state Government should look at all available options to ensure homes and businesses had the power they needed.

“South Australia’s energy experiment has clearly failed,’’ Mr Frydenberg said.

“It’s now up to the Weatherill Government to consider every option in order to stabilise the system and drive down electricity costs for families and business.’’

The state’s power system will be put to the test in the coming months as summer temperatures lead to increased demand for power to air condition homes.

Consultants have warned that SA’s focus on local wind and solar power is making it more reliant on power generated in Victoria and has put the state’s power grid at increased risk of instability and blackouts.

ACTION STATIONS

■ The Northern Power station closed in May, following the earlier closure of the Leigh Creek coal mine and Playford A power stations.

■ Alinta had decided the 520 megawatt plant was no longer financially viable. 

■ The closures led to the loss of about 450 direct jobs.

■ Analysts said the ageing power station was unable to compete in the electricity market against subsidised renewable energy sources.

■ The closure was delayed by several weeks to allow the station to use up a stockpile of coal from the Leigh Creek mine.

■ The Port Augusta community has been lobbying for a solar thermal power plant with storage capacity to be built near the town.

■ The original Playford Power Plant was commissioned in 1954.

Energy move to avert new blackouts

By Daniel Wills

TREASURER Tom Koutsantonis has ordered owners of the electricity interconnector to Victoria to provide more information to regulators in a bid to stop controlled blackouts and price spikes.

Mr Koutsantonis has issued new regulations which require ElectraNet to alert the Australian Energy Market Operator of limitations in the Heywood interconnector to Victoria so action can be taken to stabilise grid frequency.

A series of recent reports have raised concerns that the state’s 40 per cent supply of wind energy poses risks for managing frequency, which must be balanced out with fossil fuel generation.

When frequency is not managed, load shedding or controlled blackouts can occur.

Mr Koutsantonis said the new regulation ensured the market had more information about how the interconnection was functioning, and could respond by raising or dropping their generation.

“(It’s) to manage the system and frequency control, as to make sure that you can integrate renewables,” he said.

“What I’m doing is giving them (AEMO), through a Government direction and regulation, power to enter the market and augment the market for system security.

“The market currently acts as if there is thermal generation everywhere, and just takes the lowest bid.

“That means wind wins every time.

“To stop us having a frequency event, which can see load shedding or other things, you manage it.”

Mr Koutsantonis said he expected it would encourage local energy generators to increase their supply under certain conditions, leading to lower prices.

Meanwhile, more than 4300 Victorian homes were still without power yesterday, four days after wild weather caused major outages across the state.