NSW avoided enforced blackouts on Friday when its heatwave sent electricity demands to record highs, with the Australian Energy Market Operator saying the network's tight supply conditions had "subsided" and that the worst had passed.

 

The day before the AEMO had warned of possible "load shedding events" like those which South Australia endured the previous day when 90,000 Adelaide homes had their power cut for up to 45 minutes to protect the struggling power network.

 

The AEMO was forced to defend itself at a Senate Committee on Friday over the load shedding on Wednesday, revealing that three thermal generators were offline at the time, increasing the vulnerability of the state's electricity supply.

 

AEMO released a statement on Friday explicitly rejecting SA Labor's claim that the Pelican Point gas-fired station could only come online if directed by the market operator.

 

"Based on where our investigations are at, AEMO does not accept public statements being made questioning AEMO's capability or that we didn't manage the power system in a safe, secure state," AEMO said. 

 

"Further, AEMO does not accept the assertions that some generators that were available to enter into the market could not do so."

 

Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg noted on Friday that SA's wind capacity is 1576MW, and that at the critical time prior to the load shedding event it was only generating 70-90MW, with demand at the time being over 3000MW.

 

Following SA's blackout, Frydenberg asked the AEMO to "urgently investigate" the actions of generation market participants in the state, to ensure the rules are being complied with.

 

Yet Electrical Trades Union national secretary Allen Hicks said before the AEMO revealed Friday evening that no imposed blackouts were needed that "simplistic attempts" to blame renewable energy for power cuts in SA had been "blown out of the water" by the energy crisis in NSW, which has the lowest reliance on renewable generation.

 

Hicks said it was now clear the national market had been a "total failure".

 

"Since the National Energy Market was introduced power prices have skyrocketed and now we are seeing ever increasing incidences of the operator not being able to ensure generation supply," he said.

 

"This heatwave wasn't an unexpected natural disaster. It was forecast well in advance, along with the increased power demands it would bring, yet the National Energy Market that serves most of Queensland, NSW, Victoria, SA and Tasmania appears unable to fulfil its job of providing reliable power for consumers.

 

"The inability — and in some cases deliberate refusal — of the AEMO and privately owned electricity generators to meet projected demand reveals the fundamental weakness of an electricity network driven by financial interest rather than the public interest."

 

Hicks welcomed SA Premier Jay Weatherill's statement that "one option is to completely nationalise the system", saying it was important all options for restoring reliable electricity supplies for consumers be put on the table.

 

While the Turnbull government has used previous failings with the energy market to attack state renewable energy targets, Hicks last week's power crisis that crossed the border into NSW confirmed that the weaknesses was the system as a whole, rather than the specific generation mix.

 

"If the state with the lowest proportion of renewable generation still can't guarantee that consumers won't face forced power cuts on days of extreme heat, it puts paid to the fallacy that renewables are to blame and demonstrates clearly that there is a bigger problem that the federal government must fix," Hicks said.

 

He said many academics, industry figures and overseas governments were examining the option of returning essential services such as electricity to public hands as a way of ensuring decisions such as how much power is generated were made in the public interest, rather than for pure profit motives.

 

"The current system relies on the market operator begging private companies to increase their generation capacity, but these businesses can and often do refuse, putting their bottom line ahead of the community's needs," he said.

 

"It's time to seriously talk about taking back our energy system into public hands."