Blackout knocks out power to 1200 Sydney homes and businesses

More than 1200 homes and businesses across inner Sydney are still without power after a mysterious blackout struck several suburbs at 4.30am.

More than 1200 homes and businesses are still without power – eight and a half hours after a blackout struck several suburbs in Sydney.

The power outage impacted Ultimo, Pyrmont, and Darling Harbour areas at around 3.30am and continued to spread throughout the morning.

Ausgrid has classified the outage as a major blackout, which should result in power resumption in eight to twelve hours. Eight and a half hours after the blackout was reported, more than 1200 homes and businesses still don’t have electricity.

The distributor expects power to be back online by 4pm on Monday.The deadline has been pushed back two hours from the original estimate, which was shared with NCA NewsWire at 8am.

Police are seen directing traffic, with the power out in Pyrmont. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Traffic is banking up around Pyrmont as emergency crews rush to turn traffic lights back on. Picture: Live Traffic

“At this stage it looks like full restoration won’t be until lunchtime,” an Ausgrid spokesperson told NCA Newswire.

“Crews are on the ground there and they’ve discovered a couple of faults within a pit. We don’t know for sure the reasons for the faults.”

The blackouts in the inner Sydney suburbs can all be traced to the same pit which is showing multiple power issues. The Ausgrid spokesperson reassured customers that crews are working as hard and as quickly as they can to get the power back online as soon as possible.

Traffic lights in the busy nearby streets have been affected by the blackout and police are currently directing traffic.

Traffic lights on Pyrmont Bridge Road at Pyrmont Street in Pyrmont and on William Henry Street at Jones Street in Ultimo were both blacked out due to the power failure.

The Ultimo traffic lights have since been restored, but both sets of traffic lights along Pyrmont Bridge Rd remain blacked out on Monday afternoon.

Police have been called in to avoid commuter chaos on Pyrmont Bridge Rd in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Technicians are seen performing urgent repairs after traffic lights lost power in Sydney’s inner suburbs. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

The Dulwich Hill light rail line is also experiencing delays and commuters are urged to allow extra travel time.

The blackout began in the early hours of Monday morning when more than 1300 homes and businesses lost power.

Electricity was restored to the Darling Harbour area around 9am, but 1200 customers in the Ultimo and Pyrmont areas are still dark at 1.30pm.

According to Ausgrid, major blackouts can be caused by damaged underground cables or severe storm damage. Only 10 per cent of power outages are classified as major by the energy company.

The spokesperson for the power distributor said crews will try to make custom repairs which allow power to be restored to certain areas while repairs continue on the faults.

Repairs may require Ausgrid to turn off the power to work on the issue, which could prolong the outage.

Originally published as Blackout knocks out power to 1200 Sydney homes and businesses