Another tower collapse poses more questions about transmission
The sixth transmission tower failure within the NEM in almost four years, has prompted further questions about the physical network and its resilience to severe convective winds.
Eventful Days
High impact weather lashes Victoria, igniting fires and leaving 500,000 without power
Weatherzone meteorologist, Ben Domensino, reports on the extent of the severe weather conditions across Victoria yesterday.
Hiccup in return to service of Loy Yang A2
A follow up on the (bumpy) return to service for Loy Yang A2
Loy Yang A3 starts up, as the second (of 4) units to return to service
The start of a return to service for Loy Yang A3.
AEMO statement (at 20:30) about the 473,000 customers still off supply
AEMO reports (at 20:30) still 473,000 customers off supply.
544,000 lightning strikes around Melbourne on Tuesday 13th February 2024
Ben Domensino (from Weatherzone) provides useful information about the weather experienced in Victoria on Tuesday 13th February 2024
Still 470,000 customers without power in Victoria at 20:00 NEM time on Tuesday 13th February 2024
At 20:00 NEM time (21:00 in VIC) we see still ~470,000 customers without electricity supply.
Weird and wacky (erroneous?) transmission transfer limits for VIC1-NSW1 and Basslink on Tuesday 13th February 2024
A short article to record a question from a client that we did not have time to investigate further today.
Victoria’s Department of Energy reports *six* transmission towers down in Victoria
The Department of Energy* in Victoria confirms that six towers have been downed, on Tuesday 13th February 2024
Unit Trip at Callide B1 on Tuesday 13th February 2024
In amongst the frenetic challenges in Victoria today, the Callide B1 unit (in QLD) tripped ... probably unrelated to the VIC activity.
Towers down near Geelong on 13th February 2024
A photo of downed transmission towers near Geelong, reported in ABC News' blog, was observed on 13 February 2024.
Chronology of (300MW) load shedding in Victoria on Tuesday 13th February 2024
A chronological record of the (directed) load shedding in Victoria on Tuesday afternoon 13th February 2024
More network tripping on Tue 13th Feb 2024 – at Hazelwood terminal station
At 16:13:14 the AEMO published Market Notice 114643 about Hazelwood transformers
Loy Yang A2 unit the first (of four) units coming back online
About 3 hours after it tripped offline (due to transmission outage?) the Loy Yang A2 unit is making its way back online.
Network trips and loss of load in Tasmania as well!
it's not just Victoria experiencing issues ... Market Notice 114642 published at 16:14 highlights issues in Tasmania
Powercor distribution network *does* have distribution lines affected
A tweet from Powercor shows distribution lines down, on Tue 13th Feb 2024 ... no doubt also elsewhere as well.
Rumours of transmission towers on the ground in Victoria (Tue 13th Feb 2024) … but *not* yet confirmed?!
At 15:06 AEMO reported *rumours* of transmission towers on the ground in Victoria. Constraint Set data at 15:45 suggests these rumours are not (yet?) confirmed.
Grid Inertia in the Victorian Region drops with the coincident tripping of 4 x Loy Yang A units
With a trip of four large synchronous units in Victoria (all supplying large amounts of inertia) it’s no surprise to see that inertia levels fell significantly this afternoon...
Grid frequency on 13th February 2024
Grid frequency had dropped to 49.689 Hz. We take an initial look into the timeseries of grid frequency recorded on the day.
Load Shedding Direction in the Vic Region
At 14:35:00 the AEMO issued Market Notice 114607 requiring Load Shedding in the Victorian region: