AGL’s Liddell accident puts summer power supplies under pressure
A breakdown at NSW’s ageing Liddell coal plant has increased the potential for power blackouts during heatwaves this summer.
A breakdown at NSW’s ageing Liddell coal plant has increased the potential for power blackouts during heatwaves this summer and forced the nation’s biggest aluminium smelter to cut production.
The state‘s black coal plants are currently operating at only half their capacity, meaning the Liddell accident put authorities on edge with the national power operator calling on emergency supplies to ensure the lights stayed on.
The situation has sparked concerns over the ability of the state’s big power plants to cover peak demand during hot weather when Australians turn up their air conditioners and drain electricity from the grid.
A transformer incident at AGL Energy’s 50 year-old Liddell facility on Thursday afternoon knocked one of the four turbines out of action, cutting 420 megawatts of the plant‘s overall 1680MW capacity.
The 420MW of power supply is expected to be lost for the entire summer with a worker seriously injured and an investigation now underway.
The accident contributed to a big jump in wholesale power prices to the maximum level of $15,000 a megawatt hour on Thursday which meant Tomago Aluminium - the nation’s largest power user which receives its electricity from AGL - was forced offline for a record fifteenth time since November.
The price spike allowed AGL to reduce supplies to Tomago as part of its contract, meaning the smelter cut one potline at 5.30pm on Thursday and another an hour later, saving 300MW of supply each time.
Big price moves at a time when demand has not been particularly high was concerning, according to Tomago.
“The price volatility we are seeing has us extremely nervous going into the heart of summer,” Tomago chief executive Matt Howell told The Australian.
The Liddell issue underlined the need for more back-up supply in the power grid, a spokesman for Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor said.
The “event shows exactly why we need new dispatchable supply in NSW to keep the lights and air conditioners on, and prices down,” Mr Taylor’s spokesman said. “The Government has set a 1000 MW target for new dispatchable capacity to replace Liddell when it retires and expects the private sector to step in or we will.”
Five NSW coal units are currently offline, hiking pressure on the grid. AGL only has half of its Liddell and Bayswater coal plants operating while one of EnergyAustralia‘s Mt Piper 700MW units is also offline for maintenance, consultancy WattClarity said.
Wind and solar output also crashed on Thursday when demand was at its highest.
AGL expects to bring back a third unit at Liddell and the remaining half of its Bayswater plant later in December.
Risks to the national power grid have grown from an outage at AGL Energy‘s Liddell coal plant although the broader outlook for reliable supply over summer remains unchanged, the Australian Energy Market Operator says.
“While AGL continues to assess the extent of the outage, AEMO will work through and manage any possible impacts associated with the unit’s outage, as we do for all incidents of this nature,” AEMO said in a statement.
“While any unplanned outage elevates risk, despite this event, AEMO’s outlook for reliability over summer is unchanged.”
AEMO, which runs the power grid, said in late November conditions for summer were looking favourable with a big jump in renewable capacity available, an expected reduction in maximum demand and generator outages expected to be completed before Christmas.
The Liddell incident shows the coal facility is dangerous after a half century of operating, according to energy adviser Simon Holmes a Court.
“A transformer blew up at Liddell yesterday seriously hurting a worker. The ~50 year old power station, like multiple others, is way past its design life and is dangerous. Thankfully it has already been mostly replaced by new generation,“ he wrote on Twitter.
AGL now faces a decision on the level of investment to ensure Liddell can keep operating until the 2022/23 summer, he noted.
More Coverage
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout