Sydney power outages: 45,000 homes and businesses impacted in eastern suburbs

Ausgrid has restored power to 45,000 customers after an outage across Sydney’ eastern suburbs.

Power outages hit Sydney's eastern suburbs. Picture: Supplied

Ausgrid has restored power to 45,000 customers after an outage across Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

Electricity supply was interrupted shortly before 11.30am and all power was restored by 12:30pm.

“Emergency crews have located and isolated the fault. The outage was caused by a fault on an underground cable where it enters our Double Bay zone substation,’’ said a spokeswoman for Ausgrid.

“Ausgrid apologises to customers for the disruption and thanks them for their patience.’’

The electricity outage amid sweltering summer temperatures — forecast to peak at 40C on Thursday — follows over 200,000 customers losing supplies in Victoria on Friday after a heatwave and a lack of generation.

The Sydney outage is understood to have been caused by a network fault rather than any supply issues.

However, it highlights the frailty of the power system during summer peaks when intense heat can pressure ageing infrastructure.

Sydney’s power outage “appears to be a distribution-level outage, perhaps heat related,” WattClarity analyst Paul McArdle tweeted on Thursday. It is “not AEMO load shedding or related to supply/demand in the wholesale market. It is different from Friday last week in Victoria.”

The Australian Energy Market Operator earlier noted it was working “around the clock to keep our energy system secure” and has more than 1000 megawatts of energy reserves it can call on if required.

AEMO continues to work around the clock to keep our energy system secure. Even with forecast temperatures in NSW hitting the high 30s today, as at 10:30am there is more than 1,000 MW of energy reserves forecast to be in place to lean on if required. https://t.co/IR6kv3y3Zb

— AEMO (@AEMO_Media) January 30, 2019

Some 45,000 homes and businesses in Sydney’s eastern suburbs had been affected including Randwick, Bondi Junction, Bondi, Kensington, Waverley, Double Bay and Woollahra.

Power is out to about 45,000 customers in Sydney's eastern suburbs. Emergency crews are on the way to investigate and restore power. Impacted areas include Randwick, Bondi Junction, Bondi, Kensington, Waverley, Double Bay, Woollahra. For updates go to https://t.co/MxbaFPxBlK pic.twitter.com/bX77lbsOJK

— Ausgrid (@Ausgrid) January 31, 2019

Ausgrid notified its customers of the outages shortly before midday, power crucially restored at the Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick after an hour.

And power is back at #SydneyChildrenHospital after 60 minutes. Thanks @Ausgrid Phew! pic.twitter.com/wCRIHkaREv

— MinxChique (@MinxChique) January 31, 2019

Traffic lights were out throughout the area, with police directing traffic on the busy Alison Rd, which runs past the Royal Randwick Racecourse. Lights were also out in Maroubra, Clovelly, Kensington, Coogee, Bondi and Double Bay.

EASTERN SUBURBS: There are multiple traffic lights blacked out through Maroubra, Randwick, Clovelly, Kensington, Coogee, Bondi and Double Bay due to a power failure. Exercise caution.

— Live Traffic Sydney (@LiveTrafficSyd) January 31, 2019

One resident said cash registers and car park boom gates weren’t working in Double Bay.

#Breaking: Chaos amid complete power blackout in Double Bay area of Sydney. No traffic lights, cash registers down, car park boom gates not working. #DoubleBay

— Simon Palan (@SimonPalan) January 31, 2019

There were also outages affecting a small area in Milsons Point and Kirribilli, north of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but Kirribilli House and Admiralty House were unaffected.