Sydney weather: Warning of NSW power shortages and high humidity levels during Sydney heatwave
YOU might not get desperate enough to lie in a sheep trough, but beating the heat this weekend could come at a premium. A rare energy alert has been announced for NSW, suggesting electricity supplies will be under pressure as temperatures soar.
NSW
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SYDNEY may need additional supplies of electricity to cope with the demand as the city approaches a weekend heatwave from hell.
And even then the shortfall may lead to blackouts in some areas of the city, the Australian Energy Market Operator warned today.
The announcement comes a day after power was cut to 40,000 consumers in South Australia, which federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg today described in parliament as “like a third-world country”, having to rely on back-up generators.
Sydney, already suffering one of its hottest summers ever, got a taste of things to come this afternoon, with the mercury hitting 29C on another sweltering day in the CBD.
Blacktown recorded 33C and Penrith 35C.
Around 40,000 households lost electricity in South Australia for about half an hour, and the state has been warned of a possible repeat, with NSW supplies also under pressure.
With temperatures set to soar above 40C on Friday, and for days afterwards, the AEMO issued a “forecast lack of reserve” notice — and 4-4.30pm tomorrow seems to be the most worrying time.
Such alerts are common in South Australia, but rare in NSW.
“AEMO is continuing to carefully manage the power system during this period of high temperatures and high demand across Australia’s eastern states,” it said in a statement.
The temperature tomorrow is likely to push past 40C in the city and 44C out west, with Saturday and Sunday seeing something similar before a much cooler Monday.
Meanwhile, Adelaide is expecting a maximum of 42C today, Melbourne 39C, Canberra 36C and Alice Springs 40C.
Debate raged in parliament’s final Question Time of the week today about SA’s blackouts, with the state’s Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis warning the problem could soon spread to eastern states because of what he described as “a massive, catastrophic failure of the national electricity market”.
“I think what you’re seeing at a national level is an ignorance that the problem that’s occurring here is coming to a city near you on the eastern seaboard soon,” he said.
“There is a problem with generation and the way the market operates in this country. That is, we have an oversupply of generation but the market is unable to dispatch that electricity to sufficiently meet our needs.”
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described the latest SA power crisis as a disgrace and again pointed the finger at the state’s heavy reliance on renewables.
Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said SA’s energy grid was a basket case and the state government’s incompetence had subjected consumers to third-world conditions.
To add to the woes, the Bureau of Meteorology says it’s going to feel even hotter than the forecast plus-40s — thanks to the humidity.
A spokesman said while heat was going to be an issue over the next few days, the accompanying “thick tropical air” was going to make things feel even worse.
“We are expecting humid weather, and in particular you’ll notice high humidity at night,” he said.
“Relative humidity will get into the 90s overnight, but during the day, when the temperature warms up, it will be much less,” the BOM spokesman said.
The humidity will mean sweaty skin, and little relief from the stinking heat.
The higher the humidity, the higher the temperature feels on the human body.
This is because the high amount of moisture means that water which sits on the skin fails to evaporate.
When sweat fails to cool us, the body continues to heat, which causes a loss of water, leading to dehydration and chemical imbalances within the body, leading to heat stroke.
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