NT blackout: APA issue statement after 20,000 left without power in Territory on Monday evening

Pipeline infrastructure company APA has taken the fall for a “significant disruption” that left thousands across the NT without power. What they said.

Power and Water have received reports of a mass power outage in the Top End.

Tuesday update 7.45am: Pipeline infrastructure company APA issued a statement acknowledging “an event” that contributed to Monday’s blackout and apologised for disruptions to customers.

“On Monday evening APA experienced an event which resulted in us being unable to deliver the full supply of gas to the Channel Island Power Station,” a spokesperson said.

“This in turn meant that there was a significant disruption to power to local communities.

“Our on-call technicians were immediately dispatched to assure the issue and gas supply was restored. Throughout the outage APA continued to work closely with our stakeholders to ensure power was restored as quickly as possible.

“We acknowledge the impact this outage has had on Territorians and apologise for the inconvenience caused.

“An investigation into the event is currently underway and we will continue to work with Power and Water Corporation and Territory Generation through this process.”

More to come.

Cause behind mass power outage revealed

Monday latest, 8.40pm: The preliminary cause of a mass power outage which left thousands across the Top End without power has been revealed.

In a post to Facebook at about 8.30pm, Chief Minister Eva Lawler stated that the cause of the outage had been a “loss of gas supply” to the Channel Island Power Station.

The outage, Ms Lawler said, had affected 19 suburbs and 20,000 customers along the Darwin to Katherine grid.

“The outage occurred at 5:40pm with suburbs intermittently restored, the last suburb came back online at 7:45pm,” Ms Lawler said.

She said a review would be undertaken to find out just what caused the interruption to the gas supply.

Ms Lawler in the post thanked the technicians and staff at Territory Generation and Power and Water for their efforts to restore power.

Earlier, 7.30PM: Power and Water have confirmed works are ongoing to “restore power” to the Top End. Widespread power interruptions are affecting customers in Darwin, Palmerston and Katherine,” the spokeswoman said.

“We are working with Territory Generation to restore power to all affected areas.

“Traffic lights in some areas have been affected – please be careful.

“Our focus is to restore power to customers as quickly and safely as possible.

Thank you for your patience.”

Update, 7PM: Traffic lights across Darwin have been reportedly not working as the Top End awaits a complete return to power.

Imagery shows a key intersection on Parap Street and the Stuart Highway without power as of 7pm, forcing drivers to coordinate traffic among themselves.

Intersection for Parap Street on Stuart Highway was without traffic lights.

Nearby, the McDonald’s restaurant on Bagot Road has shut its doors to customers citing no power.

McDonald’s on Bagot Road will not be serving tonight.

One Darwin KFC worker told the NT News when his restaurant lost power, management were forced to send it’s food to waste - only for power to reactivate an hour later.

INITIAL, 6PM: Residents across the Top End and even as far south as Katherine have been left without power.

Dozens of residents in the greater Darwin region have been reportedly affected.

Territory residents have taken to social media to report that their suburb has been impacted.

A Power and Water spokeswoman confirmed the “widespread outage” was unplanned.

“There is a widespread outage and the cause is yet to be identified,” the spokeswoman said.

“More information will be available soon.”

SUBURBS IMPACTED AS AT 6PM, FEBRUARY 5, 2024:

• Gunn, Palmerston
• Durack Heights
• Bayview
• Rosebery, Palmerston
• Gray
• Waterfront
• Woodroffe
• Stuart Park (some areas)
• Moulden
• Bellamack
• Fannie Bay
• Ludmilla
• Tiwi
• Darwin City
• Berrimah
• Driver
• Bakewell
• Palmerston
• Eaton
• Coconut Grove
• Nightcliff
• Milner

In a statement on the Power and Water website, the utilities provider said they had received reports of a widespread outage affecting customers in Darwin, Palmerston and Katherine.

“An update with more information will be provided at 7pm.”

A Palmerston resident who was shopping at Bakewell Woolworths at about 6pm told the NT News that the store went black for some moments.