© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The Liddell coal-fired power station is pictured in the Hunter Valley north of Sydney, Australia on April 9, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Reed/File Photo/File Photo
SYDNEY (Reuters) – The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said on Sunday that a fire that engulfed a power station in New South Wales over the weekend would not affect power supplies, excluding a worsening energy crisis in the east. nation.
Supply has been tight in the densely populated east since mid-May, with about 25% of the 23,000 megawatts (MW) of coal-fired generation capacity going offline due to maintenance or unplanned outages. This has been exacerbated by disruptions to coal supplies and soaring world coal and natural gas prices.
AEMO, which manages the nation’s electricity and gas systems and markets, said on Friday there was enough power to meet forecast demand over the weekend, alleviating immediate concerns about potential blackouts on the east coast.
Late on Saturday, the agency tweeted (NYSE: ? ) that it was aware of a “substation fire” at the Tallawarra Power Station in Yallah, a Wollongong suburb about 80km (50 miles) south of Sydney, but said it expected a blaze There will be no further stress on the power supply.
“We want to reassure our customers (in NSW) that this will not affect electricity supply,” AEMO said.
Firefighters said the fire was caused by a mechanical failure of a redundant transformer and more than 60 firefighters were working to contain the blaze.
The Nine News website said more than 10,000 liters (2,600 gallons) of oil was on fire and it was expected to take several days to put out the fire.
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said conditions in the electricity market looked solid after another generator came back online on Saturday night.
“Supply is sufficient to meet demand for the foreseeable future, that’s AEMO’s view,” Keane told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.
On Wednesday, AEMO suspended the national electricity market in unprecedented measures to rein in supply and pricing, backed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who said it was necessary to curb the “game” of the system.
Since then, the capacity of coal-fired generators has been restored to 1,900 megawatts, reducing the risk of outages, the Australian Energy Commission said.