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Blackouts across Victoria as storm forces outage at state’s largest coal generator Half a million Victorian homes without power and trains cancelled as storm causes outage at state’s largest coal-fired plant
(about 1 hour later)
As many as half a million homes are without power as AGL says all four units of the 2,210 megawatt Loy Yang A were forced offline Authorities working to ‘get Victorians back online as quickly as possible’, state’s energy minister says
As many as half a million households in Victoria have lost power after a major transmission line was brought down by a storm, tripping a power station and sending spot electricity prices soaring. Half a million households in Victoria are without electricity and trains have been suspended across metropolitan Melbourne after a power station went down during storms.
Customers accounting for as much as 1,000 megawatts of load have gone without electricity after transmission towers near Anakie to Melbourne’s north-west were left crumpled by the wild weather. The load shedding was aimed at protecting the grid with about 300MW since restored. Victoria’s energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, has confirmed about 500,000 households were without power late on Tuesday afternoon after two transmission towers collapsed near Anakie, north of Geelong, causing Loy Yang A power station to trip and go offline.
The lines failure prompted AGL Energy’s 2,210MW coal-fired power station to drop offline at 2.15pm, the company said. D’Ambrosio said she had met with the Australian Energy Market Operator’s. (Aemo) chief executive, Daniel Westerman, to discuss “the current unprecedented impact of extreme weather on Victoria’s power grid”.
Aemo issued a market alert declaring a “significant” power system event because of “multiple tripping of generation and transmission lines” in the region. “Due to the physical collapse of some transmission lines caused by this severe weather, many Victorians are currently without power,” she said.
The failure has resulted in 2,300MW of generation being halted, with more than 1,000MW of load interrupted. “We are working with Aemo and relevant authorities to get Victorians back online as quickly as possible and we want to thank those impacted for their patience.”
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Extreme weather has resulted in the physical collapse of six transmission towers near Anakie this afternoon, leading to widespread power outages across the State.This event resulted in the Loy Yang A power station disconnecting from the grid, while storm damage has led to…
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup The storms, which brought heavy hail and strong winds to Victoria and saw the temperature plummet 15 degrees, also wreaked havoc on the state’s public transport system, with half of the Melbourne’s 16 metropolitan train lines partly suspended as commuters began to make their way home from the CBD.
An Aemo spokesperson said the Moorabool to Sydenham 500-kilovolt transmission lines tripped, resulting in “multiple generators” becoming disconnected from the grid and some consumers experienced a loss of electricity supply. Services were moved onto replacement busses on the Alamein, Belgrave, Craigieburn, Cranbourne, Frankston, Glen Waverley, Lilydale, Pakenham and Sunbury lines throughout Tuesday afternoon.
“Aemo is investigating the cause,” the spokesperson said. “To keep the power system secure, Aemo has directed AusNet Services to enact load shedding. V/Line services were also suspended on sections of the Gippsland, Seymour and Shepparton lines and replaced with buses.
“Controlled load shedding is a mechanism Aemo uses as an absolute last resort to protect system security and prevent long-term damage to system infrastructure,” he said. Delays of more than 60 minutes were expected across the public transport network.
Spot power prices were running at their ceiling level of $16,600 per megawatt hour in Victoria, with other states in the national electricity market recording a wide range of prices. Public Transport Victoria warned passengers should allow extra time for their journey, and “consider alternative travel plans, such as altering your departure time, or using a different mode of public transport”.
Load shedding under way in parts of Victoria as prices in the spot market go haywire… (via @reddolphinsys ) pic.twitter.com/EuK1rLuMrD Loy Yang A power station is one of Victoria’s three remaining coal-fired plants and, when fully operational, has a maximum capacity of 2210MW.
AGL said all four units at its Loy Yang A plant in the Latrobe Valley were presently offline. “We are currently investigating the cause,” a spokesperson said. A spokesperson for its operator, AGL, said a transmission line failure prompted all four units at Loy Yang A to drop offline at 2.15pm.
Temperatures in Victoria soared to as high as 41.7C in Walpeup, while the mercury climbed to 36.7C in Melbourne before dropping back. In another statement just before 6pm, they said AGL will continue to work with Aemo and stakeholders to investigate the cause of the issue.
“Following today’s tripping of transmission lines that led to the unplanned outage, work is underway to return units back to service,” the spokesperson said.
“This will take place over the next few hours in line with our safety and operational protocols and as associated transmission line issues are resolved.”
It is expected Unit 1 will remain offline, but units, 2, 3 and 4 will be brought back online in line with safety protocols progressively through the evening.
At the time of the outage, Victorian wholesale power prices increased to $16,600 per megawatt hour, compared to $60.39 in Queensland and $299.98 in NSW.
Aemo issued a market alert declaring a “significant” power system event because of “multiple tripping of generation and transmission lines” in Victoria about 4pm.
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@AEMO_Energy looking into the cause but there's both a drop in demand and a spike in prices: pic.twitter.com/VewR3ez0OU They said they would would beginning load shedding, or switching customers off due to a lack of supply, in Victoria.
“To keep the power system secure, Aemo has directed AusNet Services to enact load shedding,” they said.
“Controlled load shedding is a mechanism Aemo uses as an absolute last resort to protect system security and prevent long-term damage to system infrastructure,” he said.
Load shedding under way in parts of Victoria as prices in the spot market go haywire… (via @reddolphinsys ) pic.twitter.com/EuK1rLuMrD
The failure has resulted in 2,300MW of generation being halted, with more than 1,000MW of load interrupted.
Later on Tuesday, Aemo said all 90,000 customers who were switched off have had had their electricity restored.
They said the power outages were are due to high temperatures, strong winds and lightning causing damage to the electricity network.
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Dylan McConnell, an energy expert at the University of New South Wales, said significant incidents in the grid were “very infrequent”.Dylan McConnell, an energy expert at the University of New South Wales, said significant incidents in the grid were “very infrequent”.
Bruce Mountain, head of the Victoria Energy Policy Centre, said power demand in the state was fluctuating with the Portland aluminium smelter dropping offline, returning, and apparently exiting again.Bruce Mountain, head of the Victoria Energy Policy Centre, said power demand in the state was fluctuating with the Portland aluminium smelter dropping offline, returning, and apparently exiting again.
Big drop in power demand in Victoria, with some of the reduction because of load shedding. (Via @VEPC_VU ) pic.twitter.com/URmRMv2INr
Power supply issues may extend to South Australia later on Tuesday. “They depend critically on Victoria in the evening,” Mountain said.Power supply issues may extend to South Australia later on Tuesday. “They depend critically on Victoria in the evening,” Mountain said.
“It’s going to be a nervous evening” for many power consumers in Victoria and South Australia, he said.“It’s going to be a nervous evening” for many power consumers in Victoria and South Australia, he said.