Blackout: Drought-hit Tassie faces power rationing

Hobart Mercury
Monday 4/2/2008 Page: 1

TASMANIA could be hit with power bans if the 10-year dry that has drained the state's Hydro lakes continues. Energy Minister David Llewellyn has warned of possible blackouts and urged Tasmanians to cut back to preserve "our precious energy resource" in the "record drought." "Notwithstanding the record low inflows in the past few months, there is no plausible circumstance in which Tasmanians will be faced with rationing this year," lie said. "That is, there would need to be an extraordinary convergence of events such as the concurrent and extended loss of Basslink and other generating capacity, before rationing would become an option. "However, if the current record dry continues, then Autumn 2009 may become a challenge." Power has not been rationed in Tasmania since 1967.

The State Opposition and Greens yesterday called for a long-term plan to protect Tasmania from blackouts. "The State Government's energy strategy cannot be pinned simply on praying for rain of biblical proportion," Opposition energy spokesman Peter Gutwein said. "The State Government needs to be taking iunmediate steps to ensure that power rationing does not occur in the short term and it must reveal what long-term steps it is taking to meet the energy needs of all Tasmanians as the impacts of climate change continue to place strain on our energy supplies into the future." Greens energy spokesman Kim Booth said the Government's energy strategy was in tatters and its claim Basslink and the Bell Bay gas power station would drought-proof Tasmania were hot air.

He said the $92 million annual fee to use Basslink would have been better spent developing wind energy. The undersea cable that plugs Tasmania into the national grid can, with the gas power station only provide a quarter to a third of Tasmania's energy load, which is increasing as households install powerhungry devices such as air conditioners and switch to electric heating. After 10 years of low rainfall and the driest November to January on record, Hydro storages are at 23 per cent - the lowest the current system has been at the end of January. Hydro warned that if drought continued, storages would decrease through autumn and would start winter very low - possibly lower than last year's 17 per cent.

Mr Gutwein said the Government must not prop up the Hydro's "parlous" finances by exporting power at high prices. "Are they going to use water that they have got to ensure the lights stay on in Tasmania or are they going to export at higher prices?" he said. "The short-term management of Basslink is absolutely critical. The State Government has now slugged Tasmanians with higher energy charges, it should also reveal if it has held any discussions with other energy companies with a view to establishing increased energy generation in Tasmania.

"There must also be a greater emphasis on better educating Tasmanians in both the commercial and domestic markets on how to better conserve energy." The last time Tasmania was warned blackouts were possible was July 2005, before Basslink giving the state access to Victorian coal power, when lake levels were below 23 per cent and Hydro was set to recommend power rationing to the Government.

It planned to rotate the blackouts geographically to share the pain. Blackouts were to be at peak times to reduce the system load. Tasmania has since endured another two years of drought.