Labor Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has been dubbed “Blackout Bowen” after heatwave power outages hit Australia’s most populous state.
Parts of Sydney experienced a blackout on Tuesday afternoon as temperatures soared into the low to mid-30s, while southern regions of New South Wales also suffered outages early Wednesday morning, leaving 6,000 homes without power.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said it is working with the industry to “manage electricity reliability during high-demand heatwave conditions in New South Wales, with major power stations unavailable due to forced outages.” and planned”.
Energy market analyst Saul Kavonic stated that the Albanian government’s “meddling” in the market has “come home.”
Kavonic pointed to Labour’s gas deals, Minister Bowen’s Capacity Investment Plan and government interference in the market as three areas where electricity shortages could be addressed.
Fed up Australians wondered whether green energy projects would be able to replace coal quickly enough to meet demand as it was phased out.
“No one is building coal power plants because government policy is to close them. Greetings Blackout Bowen,” wrote one on X.
“And the NSW Labor Energy Minister is now telling Sydneysiders to use less energy during the heat… Welcome to Blackout Bowen’s Australia,” said another.
Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen delivers a statement during the United Nations climate change conference COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, on November 19.
Australia’s electricity market operator warned there could be more blackouts in the next three days as temperatures in the state remained high (pictured, Bondi on Wednesday).
‘Let me get this right. ‘We’re getting rid of our coal power stations in Australia because of the climate crisis, but exporting our coal to China and co so they can use all their coal power stations?’ a third wrote.
Kavonic said shutting down coal-fired power plants as they reach their expiration dates has not been achieved with adequate replacement.
“The government and regulator have been asleep at the wheel and have only addressed this once it reached crisis mode,” the analyst told 2GB.
“The multi-pronged approach the Labor government has taken since coming to power has not left us without redundancies in our energy sector… and this will also be felt in the manufacturing industry, leading to job losses.”
Kavonic said Labour’s Capacity Investment Plan encourages investment in solar, wind and battery storage, but does not apply to LNG or coal projects, making them economically unviable.
He added that if the government issued a statement warning that it would stop directing the type of new electricity projects developed, it would allow the market to naturally fill the gap through private investment.
Inquiries about portable generators have soared by up to 60 per cent in New South Wales in recent days, as the state’s Energy and Environment Minister Penny Sharpe told residents they should ration their electricity.
‘On very hot days is it really necessary to have all the lights in the house on?’ he said during a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
About 80 per cent of the natural gas produced in Australia is liquefied for export to Asian countries (pictured, Origin Energy’s Australian Pacific liquefied natural gas facility on Curtis Island in northern Queensland).
‘Do you need to have the air conditioning at 19 degrees? You don’t. But, you know, I’m not going to give any official advice at this time.
According to the Australia Institute, $149 billion worth of liquefied natural gas was exported from Australia royalty-free in the last four years, meaning Australians not only don’t have access to it, but are being cheated out of income. public.
The energy market operator warned of more blackouts across the state after residents in southern New South Wales were affected on Wednesday morning.
Parts of Wagga Wagga, Culcairn, Henty, Uranquinty, Holbrook and surrounding areas are experiencing power outages.
An Essential Energy spokesperson said power had been temporarily restored via a rear power line.
It said the outage was “caused by a fault on the Transgrid transmission line between Wagga Wagga and Albury and is not related to load loss”.
The spokesperson said it was “temporarily” resolved at 9am and confirmed affected residents were notified of the power outage via SMS on Wednesday.
Residents have also been encouraged to stay “at least eight meters away from downed power lines or damaged electrical equipment.”
Transmission lines were blamed for the outage in southern New South Wales on Wednesday morning.
The outage comes as a heatwave hits the state, sending temperatures to 40C in densely populated areas of Sydney’s western suburbs.
AEMO confirmed it intends to use some of its emergency powers to continue supplying electricity in New South Wales as reserve capacity remains tight.
To enable a stable supply of electricity across the state, AEMO said it intends to enter into negotiations with companies to help reduce demand, known as the Reliability and Emergency Reserve Trader (RERT) scheme.
The RERT scheme is a little-used system that “(protects) the reliability of the national electricity market” due to increased demand for electricity during a heatwave.
On Tuesday, AEMO warned power supplies could be “at risk” as the sweltering heat continues into Wednesday.
“We’re experiencing some pretty unseasonably hot weather…and it’s effectively a summer heat wave while we’re in spring,” said AEMO CEO Daniel Westerman.
Combined with scheduled maintenance work at three of the state’s four coal-fired power stations at Bayswater, Vales Point and Eraring, the AEMO warned residents of a “tightness in electricity supply”.
“It is quite normal for both generation and transmission to use autumn and spring periods to carry out the maintenance activities that are necessary,” he added.