Australia: What happened to our electricity system in the heat? Coal and gas plants failed
Heatwaves and blackouts have been the talk of the town as temperatures climbed over 40C in all states except Tasmania, and once again the commentariat have gone into a renewable-generated bluster. Chris Uhlmann and Alan Moran blamed the high prices on wind power, Pauline Hanson called for people to use more power and Judith Sloan called demand management a bribe.
There were three notable things that happened with our energy system during what will become the new normal of extreme heat.
1. It was hot
At the end of last week it was hot. Like, record-breaking, fry an egg on the pavement hot. Many parts of South Australian and Victoria faced their hottest days on record.
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We can improve our houses and building so they better manage the heat. Australian houses are sometimes called leaky tents; they let in the heat in summer and the cold in winter.
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2. Coal and gas plants failed
Our coal and gas plants are ageing. As they age, they breakdown and need maintenance more often.
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We need to get serious about demand response. Demand response is when households and industry are paid not to use electricity for some nonessential operations for a period of time. While this isn’t a great idea all year round, for a few hours on a few days a year it’s the cheapest and most effective way of maintaining an electricity system.
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3. There were blackouts
At the end of last week we experienced two types of blackouts.
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We need more on-demand capacity – there is need for storage (batteries and pumped hydro) and dispatchable solutions (concentrating solar thermal and demand response), that can turn on and ramp up quickly.
Renewables (hydro, solar and wind) account for about 20% of generation in the National Electricity Market, higher in South Australia. Over the two-day period in question, renewables averaged higher than 20% generation and on Friday afternoon, when power was needed most, a combination of hydro, wind and solar provided over one-third of Victoria and South Australia’s power.
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