How secure will the South Australian electricity grid be when coal shuts down next month?

Media reports say Alinta will close their coal fired generation at Port Augusta in May 2016. SMH and ABC – Last month I blogged – Will South Australia walk the talk and close their coal fired electricity generation? Since then I have obtained 12 months of daily South Australia electricity data and on Adelaide hot summer days when wind is not stellar it looks difficult to meet demand without coal. NemWatch

Large version chart -I am looking for a period of 5 minute data to check this further. Thanks to Peter Bobroff from the grid.publicknowledge.com.au site for these data.

6 thoughts on “How secure will the South Australian electricity grid be when coal shuts down next month?”

  1. Don’t worry, by the time the subs start being built SA will have lots of emergency diesel generators, much like the other example of ‘green planning’. (The UK not Tasmania as you thought).
    This is good news as they will be cheaper to run, more reliable and give off no more emissions than the rash of OCGT being thrown up to cover shortfalls (at $2-300 per MWh).
    The official ‘line’ is that maximum demand can be just covered on very hot days without any wind. This assumes that all plant is available and the inter-connectors run at maximum capacity, unlike a previous time when overheating reduced supply.
    Curiously I have finally, finally got an interview with my local MP tomorrow to discuss this very thing (among some others). I have a graph prepared to make this very point.

  2. Interesting thought Tom. I’m wondering how long before industry starts having intermittent shutdowns as a result of an unreliable supply.

    Show me a labour Govt with an intelligent energy policy. I haven’t noticed one yet.

  3. Victorian taxpayers were and continue to be well and truly shafted by the ALP/union rorts associated with the Wonthaggi desal plant.  It was known as the CFMEU's treasure island.

    One wonders why industrial relations with unions such as the AWU would be any better on another big government pays for anything and everything project.  At a cost of something like $18 million per job created it might be less costly to just mail out $900 cheques, a la Kevin 07, to all voters in the Liberal's Adelaide seats under threat and have the subs built in Japan.  Quicker, less costly and a much better chance that the subs will be seaworthy.

  4. I see these headlines about Adelaide electric rail problems.
    Seaford, Tonsley rail lines in Adelaide’s south shut down for second day 29 Apr 2016
    www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-29/seaford-tonsley-trains-in-adelaides-south-out-for-second-day/7369344
    Quote, The Seaford rail line has faced ongoing disruptions since its extension and electrification in 2013.

    and an earlier article said, “SA Power Networks said the power disruption was due to internal issues within the rail system’s private supply network, not external electricity supply.”
    www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-28/powerfailure-causes-seaford-rail-line-shutdown-during-peak-hour/7366128
    I wonder what “private supply network” means? Surely they would not have a dedicated generating station.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.