I’ve not been posting about this type of frequency disruption in recent months (focused elsewhere) but worth a short note because of a 295MW drop in output from Loy Yang A3 just prior to 14:06 (NEM time) on Tuesday 20th May 2025:
Here’s a quick look at the live frequency trace for the mainland over the past hour:
Paul was one of the founders of Global-Roam in February 2000. He is currently the CEO of the company and the principal author of WattClarity. Writing for WattClarity has become a natural extension of his work in understanding the electricity market, enabling him to lead the team in developing better software for clients.
Before co-founding the company, Paul worked as a Mechanical Engineer for the Queensland Electricity Commission in the early 1990s. He also gained international experience in Japan, the United States, Canada, the UK, and Argentina as part of his ES Cornwall Memorial Scholarship.
Guest author (and power system control specialist), Kate Summers, looks at what’s changed since she published a paper on frequency control in the NEM back in January 2017.
To provide some more colour about what’s been happening on Thursday 17th October 2024, here’s a snapshot of NEM Mainland frequency at 15:07 (NEM time) looking back only 15 minutes.
Partly prompted by a comment yesterday from a WattClarity reader (Liam), and powered by ‘next day public’ data, we take a look at Yallourn Power Station on Tuesday 12th November 2024.
1 Commenton "Loy Yang A3 offline on Tuesday afternoon 20th May 2025 – small frequency drop"
If the NEM at the time was about 21GW then yes, the bump is about right for the loss of 300MW odd. Interesting the relatively slow recovery. Must be about the deadband setting. I thought the magic batteries were bidding in for small signal raise????
If the NEM at the time was about 21GW then yes, the bump is about right for the loss of 300MW odd. Interesting the relatively slow recovery. Must be about the deadband setting. I thought the magic batteries were bidding in for small signal raise????