Emergency buffer stopped power outages

Planning and emergency backups meant Australians made it through summer without blackouts, a report shows.

Early planning meant Australians made it through summer without power outages caused by a lack of energy supply.

The Australian Energy Market Operator had predicted a tight supply and demand balance in Victoria and South Australia after the withdrawal of the Hazelwood power station.

But its summer review has praised planning which resulted in just 38 unplanned outages compared to 67 the year before.

None resulted in blackouts.

The market operator stepped up to secure power generation during peak periods, Energy Efficiency Council chief executive Luke Menzel says.

AEMO itself added 141 megawatts of energy on top of a 1000 megawatt emergency reserve scheme that was activated twice over summer as a buffer to demand.

That capacity, as part of a trial with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, is expected to grow to 202 megawatts a year in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia over the next two years.

The market operator found early bushfire maintenance meant planned outages could be minimised during peak periods.

When bushfires impacted three gas plants in Victoria in March AEMO found wind generation was sufficient to mean gas outages had a minimal impact.


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Source: AAP


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