Minister Josh Frydenberg, senator Nick Xenophon question renewables in wake of South Australia blackout


The Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg and other MPs have raised questions about South Australia's increasing use of renewable energy in the wake of a state-wide blackout on Wednesday, despite assurances from the premier the switch to cleaner energy sources was not to blame.

In May, the coal-fired Port Augusta power station closed because it could no longer compete with subsidised clean energy.

Monster storm takes out the power.   Not really anything to do with generation method.

Actually the windmills were not working because it was too windy.....therefore SA had to rely on power from Victoria generated by that nasty coal, and the privately maintained grid failed.  Now when there is a total shutdown power needs to be generated from zero. This is not possible with the windmills and so SA is reliant on power being supplied by coal to bring the power levels back to a point where the windmills can start generating again.

So, SAs expensive experiment with windmills has failed its first real test.

Crikey, the blackout was at night its a wonder anyone in SA noticed

Let them have their way and return us to primitive subsistence economies.
Bob Brown, so I understand, now lives in a cave in the Tasmanian wilderness, from which he occasionally emerges to broadcast his latest thoughts by smoke signal. He is assisted by occasional visits from SHY who dons a ceremonial robe of Tassie Devil skins for his pleasure.

Actually the windmills were not working because it was too windy.....therefore SA had to rely on power from Victoria generated by that nasty coal, and the privately maintained grid failed.  Now when there is a total shutdown power needs to be generated from zero. This is not possible with the windmills and so SA is reliant on power being supplied by coal to bring the power levels back to a point where the windmills can start generating again.

So, SAs expensive experiment with windmills has failed its first real test.

Or, this may sound outrageous, maintain their own base load power   Smiley Smiley

Looks like an increase in the SA birthrate coming up next year!

BigOl64 wrote on Sep 29^th, 2016 at 10:02am:



are you calling for the govt. to take control and run the old coal generators? that's socialism

tickleandrose wrote on Sep 29^th, 2016 at 10:15am:



The power from victoria was cut and yes it was coal fired power; your point is lost somewhere along the way from confused to irrelevant.

This delusion that Australian renewables can solve the worlds co2 problem; it solves nothing and only causes energy problems for the fools who do it.

Actually the windmills were not working because it was too windy.....therefore SA had to rely on power from Victoria generated by that nasty coal, and the privately maintained grid failed.  Now when there is a total shutdown power needs to be generated from zero. This is not possible with the windmills and so SA is reliant on power being supplied by coal to bring the power levels back to a point where the windmills can start generating again.

So, SAs expensive experiment with windmills has failed its first real test.

John Smith wrote on Sep 29^th, 2016 at 10:06am:



If that's what it takes to knock the bullsh1t renewable power on the head so they have their own base load power then so be it.

This delusion that Australian renewables can solve the worlds co2 problem; it solves nothing and only causes energy problems for the fools who do it.

just imagine if Victoria was on windmill power as well..

both South Australia and Victoria would have been shut down...

President Elect, The Mechanic wrote on Sep 29^th, 2016 at 12:31pm:

No, you are as wrong as can be, as usual. Windpower was delivering megawatts until the towers toppled and the network was shut down to protect infrastructure:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CtcrBIFVYAACORi.jpg

The thicker a poster is, and they do not get thicker and stupider than The Mechanic, the more garbage they spout.

What brought the network down was privatisation, new owners looking to make profits cut corners everywhere including the towers.

how is wanting reliable base load power pro-dumbfkk socialists?

So my not caring that once again the state government runs the power companies just like they did only a few short years ago if it guarantees reliable energy, make me a friggen socialist.

On many levels, the head-long rush to R/E has reduced the reliabilty of the SA power grid massively which giving us the highest prices in the western world..

Can someone explain why wind turbines don't have gearing, so they can produce electricity in high wind?

http://www.windpowerengineering.com/design/mechanical/gearboxes/gears-gearboxes-...

Is it due to the stress?

John Smith wrote on Sep 29^th, 2016 at 9:13am:



Or, this may sound outrageous, maintain their own base load power   

John Smith wrote on Sep 29^th, 2016 at 3:51pm:



Based on the actions of when Ol' Joh when he smashed the spine of the electrical trades unions to ensure continued power in QLD and the ending of power strikes as the basis of my happiness Im fine to have the government to take control.

I don't give a fkk who controls the power so long as there is power; the point is the power not the fkking control you dolt!


Pro fkking power NOT pro-dumbfkk socialist ideology, comprende'?

No problem.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2016/south-australias-electricity-price-woes-are-more...

The utter idiocy of the Greenies is on display yet again as Sth Aust Greenie windymills stop turning and plunge the entire state into darkness as dim as the technically obtuse Greenies.

More examples of Greenie sabotage of Australia.


Another one bites the dust!!!

(as a windmill gets blown over)


Total blackout: Bright sparks needed in South Australia
Australian Morning Mail 29/09/2016

Wind farms actually stop operating when it’s too windy.

SA Premier Jay Weatherill has confirmed severe weather destroyed a piece of infrastructure, a transmission tower, during the storm which led to the power-system protecting itself with a shutdown. “Essentially what happened is a massive set of power was removed and when that happens it trips the system,” he said in a press conference on Wednesday evening.

SA proudly leads the way in renewable energy. Massive price surges rather than power surges resulting from their ambitious renewable energy campaign has gained much media attention of late, none of it favourable to the consumer. Perhaps the most prophetic statement made in the wake of this total power failure is this, Wind farms actually stop operating when it’s too windy.
Source: ABC

SA power outage: how did it happen?
South Australia and its 1.677 million residents were left without power on Wednesday evening following severe storms.
So have recent events and a focus on renewable energy created the ‘perfect storm’ for a state-wide blackout?

First, what happened?
SA Premier Jay Weatherill has confirmed severe weather destroyed a piece of infrastructure, a transmission tower, during the storm which led to the power-system protecting itself with a shutdown.
“Essentially what happened is a massive set of power was removed and when that happens it trips the system,” he said in a press conference on Wednesday evening.

Earlier he told ABC radio in Adelaide the weather has caused damage to power infrastructure near Port Augusta.

“It appears there was a weather event that damaged infrastructure in the Port Augusta area. Energy generation assets remain intact. At this stage there does not seem to be any damage to the interconnector with Victoria,” he said.

SA Power Networks’ Paul Roberts said they were investigating whether a network shutdown as a protection was the cause.

“We believe — and this is only early information — that there may have been some issue with the interconnector but the state’s power system is shut down I think possibly as a protection,” he said.

“It means we’re not receiving any electricity supply from generators to be able to supply to generators.”
Surely South Australia has some sort of back-up power?

Well, it does, but it has to reset the system.
“There are a series of back-up generators,” Premier Weatherill said.
“Power is restored but the number of hours this may take is something that we don’t yet know.”

Where does SA’s power come from?
The state is powered by a mix of wind, solar and gas.

In May, Alinta’s Northern power station at Port Augusta closed, which means coal has been cut out of the electricity equation.

At the time, Australian Energy Council chief executive Matthew Warren said the power station’s closure meant the state would have less back-up energy available on days of peak demand.

He also said the state would have a greater reliance on renewable energy and on the interconnector from Victoria for base-load power. (pissoff parasites  )

“The reality for South Australians is that we’re in uncharted waters,” he said in May.

“There’s an increased level of risk that we really haven’t seen before anywhere in the world, so it doesn’t mean we’ll have more blackouts, hopefully if we’re smart we can sort out solutions so power supply can be the same as usual,  but it’s an increased risk.”

Did that impact Wednesday’s event?
The Premier says no.

“This would have happened with the Port Augusta power station in place,” he said.
“We have sufficient back-up baseload power.

“The interconnector is still up and running.”

So, surely SA can get power from this interconnector?

One of the two interconnectors between SA and Victoria has been down since July and works to fix it won’t be complete for months.
Once it is fixed it will increase capacity by 40 per cent.

Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg spoke to Sky News earlier and said questions would be raised over how the collapse of the entire SA power network could happen.

“There are actually two interconnectors between Victoria and South Australia,” he said.
“One’s called the Murray Link and the other one is called the Heywood Interconnector and the recent spike in prices in the South Australian spot market for electricity was due in part to the upgrade to that interconnector.

“Now clearly, questions will be raised, serious questions will be raised, that need to be answered as to how this extreme weather event could take out the whole of the electricity supply across a major state such as South Australia.”


But Premier Weatherill said the interconnector played no role in the blackout. 

What about its wind power?

Wind farms actually stop operating when it’s too windy.

Some COMMENTS following Previous article (This for politically correct Bammy)

Cliff 29/09/2016, 6:31 am
How many converts did we get to nuclear power for SA’s base load last night? Fuelled by uranium mined in… South Australia?
Take a look at this (believe it or not), ‘greenie’ site: http://www.nuclearaustralia.org.au
These Greenies , unlike 99% of their soul mates, think clearly, make sense, and have come to the only conclusion that makes any sense for someone who wants to reduce carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels AND continuing to live a life bearing even some semblance to life as we know it today.

Riverine 29/09/2016, 7:07 am
The people of SA keep voting this bright spark back into office… No sympathy!

Ivan Ackeroff 29/09/2016, 7:13 am
So our smug little crow-eaters are delighted to chug along on their save-the-world renewables grid, but when things go wrong they’re happy to use power generated by burning filthy coal so long as it’s done 100s of kilometres away in the Latrobe Valley by those troglodyte Victorians.

luk1955 29/09/2016, 7:19 am
The looniest idiots run South Australia.

Lorraine 29/09/2016, 8:56 am
yes SA is a basket case , but Dan the man in Victoria is going down the same path. The left and their ideas have no base power and their electricity grid has no base power .The left loves new ideas of the unworkable kind especially if you can drag tax payer dollars into the mix.Will the greens stand up and take a bow

Robert TG 29/09/2016, 7:27 am
What a basket case South Australia is. They are the Tasmania of Mainland Australia, the home of people who elected Sarah Hanson Young.

Acolyte 29/09/2016, 8:27 am
The British power authorities saw this event coming years ago. Whilst investing in wind power, they secretly installed huge banks of diesel generators for standby when the wind blows too soft or hard
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2362762/The-dirty-secret-Britains-power-madness-Polluting-diesel-generators-built-secret-foreign-companies-kick-theres-wind-turbines–insane-true-eco-scandals.html

Topsy 29/09/2016, 9:03 am
what the hell is the matter with Western governments? Are they scared of the UN and its hangers on that they hide things from their constituents who pay the bills and have to suffer the consequences when something goes wrong?

Pensioner Pete 29/09/2016, 8:41 am
Not to worry, Queensland pollies are doing their level best to emulate South Australia.

Topsy 29/09/2016, 8:50 am
Surely the ideology of deindustrialising western nations has gone far enough. Something should be done immediately about restoring a semblance of commonsense on the subject commonly known as climate change. An immediate response should be the recommissioning of the recently closed down coal fired electricity generating station – Playford, I think it is called.
Do the people in government think of hospitals without power, although they have back-up generators, but how about the people at home with dialysis machines, or fridges full of expensive food? Do they think of them? Who is left to foot the bill for this political mess – ordinary voters like the dialysis users and people with fridges of food which will have to thrown out. Not good enough that our political masters lead us down this path.

Topsy 29/09/2016, 9:06 am
She had better not. It’s my belief that the order of the boot is waiting for her in the wings and that that boot will be helped along by Pauline Hanson and co who will be out and about speaking some plain commonsense.

Bushkid 29/09/2016, 9:26 am
We can only hope and vote, Topsy. Those who would govern us should remember that they’re there to serve us, not the other way around. I like the idea mooted on another site that pollies superannuation/retirement (Hah, when they can walk straight into another cushy “job” as a “consultant” or lobbyist it’s not retirement) funds should be docked for any detriment they impose on the state or nation while in power. For every major stuff-up like this the pollies responsible for the failed policy and/ore failure to provide for or protect the people of the state or nation they should lose a large portion of if not all of their so-called “entitlements”. It’s time the buggers understood that we, the people who pay them and for whom they “work”, are very angry and fed up with them.

Bushkid 29/09/2016, 9:20 am
It’s only when the lights go out and the power goes off that the dreamers and unicorn-fart harnessers realise that the electricity that comes out of the power socket to charge their smart phone (not so smart when it can’t be recharged!) actually has to be generated somehow, somewhere, and has to be transmitted from that generator to their power socket before they can use it to recharge their smart phone to make smart-arse comments on twitter etc.
As to the “extreme” and “cyclonic” weather event alone being the cause of the total state-wide blackout – spare me! If it was only caused by a weather event, then here in Queensland we’d have state-side blackouts every time a cyclone crossed the coast! Last year the eye of a cyclone passed within 50km of our house, and we had one, just one, solitary flicker of the lights! That “weather event” caused a fair amount of structural damage to areas directly in its path, and did cause power outages in those areas, but it did not cause a state-wide blackout. Blackouts were limited to areas directly affected, although they did last a long time due to the amount of damage done.

Can someone explain why wind turbines don't have gearing, so they can produce electricity in high wind?

http://www.windpowerengineering.com/design/mechanical/gearboxes/gears-gearboxes-...

Is it due to the stress?

miketrees wrote on Sep 30^th, 2016 at 6:59am:



Battery storage is a mature technology, I see no great gains there. It will be more like incremental gains.

cods wrote on Sep 30^th, 2016 at 10:56am:



We will just make the battery manufacturers repurchase their batteries aand re-form them. That would be cost effective and would work, wouldn't it? /sarc