Blackout-free summer

Adelaide Advertiser
Friday 2/11/2007 Page: 31

POWER blackouts in South Australia because of lack of supply are unlikely this summer, a new report says. The National Electricity Market Management Company report, however, warns that unless the state has found extra generating capacity by 2010-11, there will be problems. A similar time-frame is forecast for Victoria which shares a major power interconnector with SA.

NEMMCO managing director Les Hosking said: "Our forecasts show that the NEM (national electricity market) has sufficient capacity to deliver reliable supply during the coming summer." The warning about future supplies is contained in the company's annual statement of opportunities released yesterday, in which it sets out the predicted reliability of electricity supplies over the coming summer.

The report is based on supply and demand and the perceived reliability of each state's electricity system. The power system is deemed reliable if, over the long term, at least 99.9 per cent of consumer energy demand can be met. "The 2007 statement of opportunities shows this level of reliability can be met in all regions for the summer of 2007-08 even if extreme temperatures and demand conditions occur," the report says.

On SA, the report says the state will need additional generating capacity to provide 49 megawatts by 2010-11. It says this is only enough to meet the state's local minimum reserve level requirement. "An additional 56 megawatts of capacity is required for the combined Victorian and SA network to meet the combined minimum reserve level requirement," the report says. It says the commissioning of new generators at Hallett, Lake Bonney Stage II and Snowtown wind farms will increase the available capacity in SA before the summer of 2008-09. The report says Queensland will face supply problems in 2009-10 while NSW is not in any danger until 2013-14.