SA can withstand summer power demands without blackouts if homes are cooled in morning

South Australia is “well placed” to withstand summer power demands without blackouts, though the state could be vulnerable if there are problems in Victoria, the Australian Energy Market Operator says.

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South Australia is “well placed” to withstand summer power demands without blackouts, though the state could be vulnerable if there are problems in Victoria, the Australian Energy Market Operator says.

But residents are still being urged to be cool their homes in the morning to take pressure off the grid in the evening peak, as a hotter than average summer is forecast.

AEMO boss Damien Sanford said there was a one in 10 chance of forced blackouts.

AEMO’s Damien Sanford

“Short of anything catastrophic occurring, then I would not be expecting load-shedding,” Mr Sanford said.

“We have enough generation capacity to meet the peak demands that we are forecasting in SA and so we are seeming pretty solid there.

“If there are potential shortfalls in Victoria this year then that could have some flow-on implications into SA.”

If the market does not supply enough power to meet standards and there are consumer load shortages in Victoria, AEMO can procure a minimum of 405MW on short and medium notice contracts in both states – because of their interconnectedness – to manage risks.

At least 2100MW has been added to the national energy market in the year to December, consisting of wind and solar generation and battery storage, according to AEMO’s summer readiness report.

Mr Sanford said additional capacity from residential solar was “quite useful”, and was pushing maximum demand later into the evening.

In SA last summer, peak demand was experienced around 7.30pm.

Mr Sanford encouraged residents to be “energy-wise” from 4-8pm by switching off any appliances when not in direct use.

Originally published as SA can withstand summer power demands without blackouts if homes are cooled in morning