Destructive Winds disrupt (and damage) transmission network in South Australia on Thursday (evening) 17th October 2024

Worth a short note this evening starting with this snapshot from NEMwatch at 21:55 (NEM time), following storms that have rolled through South Australia this evening:

2024-10-17-at-21-55-NEMwatch-SA

 

What’s noted, in Market Notices?

I’ve highlighted a number of Market Notices published beginning 18:33 that we’ll read through each in turn, as follows (noting all times are ‘NEM time’  for those who are not so familiar with the lingo) …

At 18:33 the AEMo published MN118944 that said:

——————————————————————-
MARKET NOTICE
——————————————————————-

From :              AEMO
To   :              NEMITWEB1
Creation Date :     17/10/2024     18:33:15

——————————————————————-

Notice ID               :         118994
Notice Type ID          :         RECLASSIFY CONTINGENCY
Notice Type Description :         Reclassify contingency events
Issue Date              :         17/10/2024
External Reference      :         Reclassification of non-credible contingency event due to existence of widespread abnormal condition/s – SA region

——————————————————————-

Reason :

AEMO ELECTRICITY MARKET NOTICE.
AEMO has identified that a non-credible contingency event impacting the power system is more likely to occur and is considered reasonably possible because of the existence of widespread abnormal conditions namely destructive winds in the SA region.
AEMO has therefore reclassified the occurrence of a non-credible contingency event involving multiple plant due to these abnormal conditions as credible.

AEMO has taken the following action(s) to maintain power system security at 1830hrs 17/10/2024.
Constraint set(s) invoked:
I-VS_250
Duration: 1830 hrs until further notice

Need for further measures is being monitored and further measures may be implemented in line with the Power System Security Guidelines (SO_OP_3715).
Manager NEM Real Time Operations

——————————————————————-
END OF REPORT
——————————————————————-”

Note that these types of actions (downgrading interconnector capacity was one of the lessons learnt in the SA System Black … essentially providing a buffer on flow on the interconnector should some calamity prevail in South Australia … hence providing more resilience (albeit at a cost to ‘efficient’ dispatch outcomes).

At 19:13 (40 minutes later) the AEMO published MN118996 as follows:

——————————————————————-
MARKET NOTICE
——————————————————————-

From :              AEMO
To   :              NEMITWEB1
Creation Date :     17/10/2024     19:13:32

——————————————————————-

Notice ID               :         118996
Notice Type ID          :         INTER-REGIONAL TRANSFER
Notice Type Description :         Inter-Regional Transfer limit variation
Issue Date              :         17/10/2024
External Reference      :         Inter-regional transfer limit variation – Blyth West – Munno Para 275kV line- SA region – 17/10/2024

——————————————————————-

Reason :

AEMO ELECTRICITY MARKET NOTICE

Inter-regional transfer limit variation – Blyth West – Munno Para 275kV line – SA region – 17/10/2024

At   1848 hrs 17/10/2024 there was an unplanned outage of Blyth West – Munno Para 275kV line.

The following constraint set(s) invoked at 1855 hrs 17/10/2024
S-BWMP

This constraint set(s) contains equations with the following interconnectors on the LHS.
V-S-MNSP1

Refer to the AEMO Network Outage Scheduler for further information.

Manager NEM Real Time Operations

——————————————————————-
END OF REPORT
——————————————————————-”

Then at 19:18 (5 minutes later) the AEMO published MN118997 as follows:

“——————————————————————-
MARKET NOTICE
——————————————————————-

From :              AEMO
To   :              NEMITWEB1
Creation Date :     17/10/2024     19:18:47

——————————————————————-

Notice ID               :         118997
Notice Type ID          :         INTER-REGIONAL TRANSFER
Notice Type Description :         Inter-Regional Transfer limit variation
Issue Date              :         17/10/2024
External Reference      :         Inter-regional transfer limit variation – Hummocks – Bungama 132kV line – SA region – 17/10/2024

——————————————————————-

Reason :

AEMO ELECTRICITY MARKET NOTICE

Inter-regional transfer limit variation – Hummocks – Bungama 132kV line – SA region – 17/10/2024

At   1842 hrs 17/10/2024 there was an unplanned outage of Hummocks – Bungama 132kV line.

The following constraint set(s) invoked at 1850 hrs 17/10/2024
S-HUBG

This constraint set(s) contains equations with the following interconnectors on the LHS.
V-S-MNSP1

Refer to the AEMO Network Outage Scheduler for further information.

Manager NEM Real Time Operations

——————————————————————-
END OF REPORT
——————————————————————-”

Then at 19:20 the AEMO published MN118998 as follows:

“——————————————————————-
MARKET NOTICE
——————————————————————-

From :              AEMO
To   :              NEMITWEB1
Creation Date :     17/10/2024     19:20:04

——————————————————————-

Notice ID               :         118998
Notice Type ID          :         INTER-REGIONAL TRANSFER
Notice Type Description :         Inter-Regional Transfer limit variation
Issue Date              :         17/10/2024
External Reference      :         Inter-regional transfer limit variation – Brinkworth- Red Hill- Bungama 132kV lines – SA region – 17/10/2024

——————————————————————-

Reason :

AEMO ELECTRICITY MARKET NOTICE

Inter-regional transfer limit variation – Brinkworth- Red Hill- Bungama 132kV lines – SA region – 17/10/2024

At   1846 hrs 17/10/2024 there was an unplanned outage of Brinkworth- Red Hill- Bungama 132kV lines.

The following constraint set(s) invoked at 1855 hrs 17/10/2024
S-BRBG

This constraint set(s) contains equations with the following interconnectors on the LHS.
V-S-MNSP1

Refer to the AEMO Network Outage Scheduler for further information.

Manager NEM Real Time Operations

——————————————————————-
END OF REPORT
——————————————————————-”

Then  at 19:52, the AEMO published MN119000 as follows:

——————————————————————-
MARKET NOTICE
——————————————————————-

From :              AEMO
To   :              NEMITWEB1
Creation Date :     17/10/2024     19:52:01

——————————————————————-

Notice ID               :         119000
Notice Type ID          :         RECLASSIFY CONTINGENCY
Notice Type Description :         Reclassify contingency events
Issue Date              :         17/10/2024
External Reference      :         Reclassification of a Non-Credible Contingency Event: Para-Templers West and Magill-Torrens Island A 275kV lines in SA due to severe weather warning.

——————————————————————-

Reason :

AEMO ELECTRICITY MARKET NOTICE.

Reclassification of a non-credible contingency event as a credible contingency event due to severe weather warning.

AEMO considers the simultaneous trip of the following circuits to now be more likely and reasonably possible. Accordingly AEMO has reclassified it as a credible contingency event.

Region: SA

Lines: Para-Templers West and Magill-Torrens Island A 275kV lines

Duration: 1950 hrs 17/10/2024 until further notice
Constraint set(s) invoked: Nil

Manager NEM Real Time Operations

——————————————————————-
END OF REPORT

——————————————————————-”

 

 

Electranet reports Transmission Damaged

I’m hearing stories of towers down in South Australia (only ~24 hours after towers were downed causing islanding of Broken Hill) but have not seen much detail (so the ‘towers down’ bit might be just a rumour).

However the Electranet website this evening here does talk of damage to the network:

Thursday evening’s significant weather event has damaged the high-voltage network in the State’s Far North. Power supply has been impacted and ElectraNet crews are working to restore power as soon as possible. Further updates will be provided as investigations continue.”

Here’s an image of what we see at this point:

2024-10-17-ElectraNet-TransmissionDamage


About the Author

Paul McArdle
One of three founders of Global-Roam back in 2000, Paul has been CEO of the company since that time. As an author on WattClarity, Paul's focus has been to help make the electricity market more understandable.

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