Uncertainty over electricity will continue to spread across Australia.
Recently, the Australian Energy Market Dispatch Center (AEMO) warned that five states including Queensland, Victoria and other states may exceed the maximum load, requiring power companies to provide sufficient power supply.
Although there was no large-scale power outage, the cloud always hung over the sky.
It's winter in the southern hemisphere, cold weather has pushed up residential demand for electricity, and the recent shutdown of some coal-fired power plants on the east coast has sent electricity prices soaring in Australia.
After the outage warning was issued on the 14th, there were no large-scale blackouts, which AEMO attributed to it ordering power plants to make up for the shortage of power supply.
AEMO said there was "sufficient power to meet consumer demand" despite forecast supply shortages and encouraged power plants to continue generating electricity.
The power supply and demand relationship is different from other commodities. It must always be maintained in a "perfect match" state with a small margin of error. Too little or too much power supply will trigger the protection mechanism of the power system.
AEMO issued a similar power risk warning for Queensland, with power outages in some suburbs. Earlier, some coal-fired power plants on Australia's east coast announced they would be shutting down for a period of time. Nearly a quarter of Australia's coal-fired power plants are currently out of production.
Now that it is winter in the southern hemisphere, the cold weather, coupled with the shutdown of some power plants, makes it difficult for the power supply to match the electricity demand of residents, and suppliers have to cut off some power to restore the balance.
The Australian Energy Commission said while the power crunch would eventually ease, there was no immediate solution. If these coal-fired power plants on the East Coast resume production in the future, "should improve supply to some extent."
In response to the rapidly rising cost of electricity due to the imbalance between supply and demand, AEMO is calling on commercial and industrial power customers to reduce electricity usage and capping wholesale electricity prices in some power-strapped states. Currently, that price is at A$300 per MWh.
Although the cap has limited the surge in electricity prices, the cost of electricity is still high.
There are many reasons for the supply crunch. The first is the shutdown of some power plants on the East Coast.
Australia's largest electricity provider, AGL, has three coal-fired power stations in New South Wales and Victoria that are on shutdown or reduced output due to planned and unplanned maintenance issues. AGL revealed on Friday (10th) that its Loy Yang A Unit 2 in Victoria, the largest power station in the state, providing about 30% of its electricity, will not resume until "the second half of September". electricity.
There are also five power stations in Queensland that are shutting down for maintenance, including one natural gas power station, one hydroelectric power station and three coal-fired power stations.
In addition to unplanned maintenance due to aging power generation facilities, a further cause is the volatility of the global energy market.
Although Australia is rich in fossil energy, most of it is exported, and domestic manufacturers have a limited share. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has caused a surge in demand for Australia's energy exports, further draining potential surpluses that could have been used to fill vacancies at home. In addition, recent floods have also affected coal production in Queensland and New South Wales.
High fuel prices are unbearable for East Coast power plants. Another Australian power company, Origin Energy's Erring station, the largest in NSW, has been brought to a near standstill by a coal shortage.
And some coal and gas-fired power plants have also shut down their generating units following a cap on wholesale prices that struggled to cover the cost of generating their electricity.
Tristan Edis, director of green energy market analysis, said the $300 per megawatt-hour figure was lower than the cost of fuel for many gas-fired power plants.
If AEMO asks them to keep generating electricity, then the power plant may demand compensation to recover the cost.
According to calculations by energy market analysts, about 1 gigajoule of natural gas is required to produce 1 megajoule of electricity, which will cost $400, not counting other costs such as operation. "They are entitled to compensation".
Power stations that are required to continue generating electricity will apply to AMEO to recover the cost, but ultimately the cost will fall on the user's energy bill.
Fossil fuels provided about 71% of Australia's electricity last year, with coal accounting for 51%, according to Australian government statistics. As coal-fired power stations age, more power stations are needed to make up the electricity shortfall.
The Australian government hopes to get rid of its dependence on coal-fired power generation with the help of clean energy such as wind, solar, and pumped hydro.
But construction has been slow, with wind and solar installations in Queensland falling far short of expectations.
Transformation will take a long time.
