Gee the South Australians are having a shocker weather wise. Apparently the entire grid is down due to the storms, and having to lock down all the wind turbines. Hope some have generators but without the Net maybe we won't hear from them until tomorrow.
Been watching that front move east lately; 'black coring' on the radar now, which generally means hail. She's Ramped up a grouse wall-line !
Would have to be some sort a Satellite internet after the system passes areas, ?
Breaking!! Whole of SA is currently without electricity. From 1600 megawatts demand to 22 megawatts. The state grid has collapsed!!!
Contrary to much of the talk on the radio the sky has not fallen in.
Power went off just before 4pm so we all packed up and headed home. My normal 45min drive took over 2hours, no surprise there given there were no traffic lights anywhere. But it was not a stressful drive home, everyone gave way took their turn etc, and we all got home.
Listening to the radio on the way home there were lots of "experts" with no one listening to the available info about what actually happened. How could this happen, we should have more redundancy, its the wind turbines fault. None of it relevant to the fact the storm took out some towers supporting high voltage power lines and the system shut down as designed to protect itself.
Got home and sorted out a few things. I was half way through cooking the BBQ and the power came back on.
A few hours without power just breaks up the monotony of 1st world life. Reminds me of Vicar of Dibley. no, no, no, no, twas the big storm of 2016. no, no, no, no, twas the big blackout storm of 2016.
Michael
PS. Just checked the rain gauge. 33mm today which is a lot by Adelaide standards.
In South Africa they call this Load Shedding, but currently there is no issue. In the summer of 2015 there was 2.5 hours every day a blackout. I noticed that most ATM's and supermarkets worked normally, due to backup diesel generators. So it is much more prepared than here in the EU.
But back to SA, it is completely powered by wind ? I thought that Australia is, like South Africa, addict to coal power stations, despite both countries have much more sunshine than the EU.
In South Africa they call this Load Shedding, but currently there is no issue. In the summer of 2015 there was 2.5 hours every day a blackout. I noticed that most ATM's and supermarkets worked normally, due to backup diesel generators. So it is much more prepared than here in the EU.
But back to SA, it is completely powered by wind ? I thought that Australia is, like South Africa, addict to coal power stations, despite both countries have much more sunshine than the EU.
No SA isn't powered solely by wind, but we have enough capacity to do so under the right conditions. As Michael pointed out, the supercell winds destroyed main HV trunk line pylons in 3 places (I think) and the shock of such a major instantaneous change to the load and capacity forced everything to automatically shut down to protect the remaining infrastructure and keep everyone safe. The interstate connectors were also withdrawn to stop the contagion from spreading.
The system did what it should have done, but of course it will all still be blamed on the wind power generators - even though they did not actually cause the power pylons to fall down.
Interesting effect here in northern Adelaide was that two LED downlights died about a second before the power went off - everything else came back on again at about 3 am. Took the power folks a while to isolate the damaged equipment and get extra thermal generation going, presumably to replace the wind power that was lost when the pylons failed. Was a bit of a mess though to have power go out completely in a biggish city at the end of the working day - no trams, no trains, no lifts, no traffic signals, no service stations, no cash registers, mobile phone towers running out of battery backup power etc..
Makes you realise just how vulnerable our way of life really is.
edit: More on the way Thursday. gale force winds on the west coast and sea swells up to 10m.
But back to SA, it is completely powered by wind ? I thought that Australia is, like South Africa, addict to coal power stations, despite both countries have much more sunshine than the EU.
Yes and no.
SA is addicted to coal stations, but they are Victorian ones and there is no direct connection to any other state. Hence when they lose their 275kV interconnector, they are stuffed.
When Victoria lost it's 330kV interconnector to NSW a few years back, a major load shed occurred, but there was no total blackout, and supply was restored soon after. SA is the only mainland state not to have a solid base load capacity.
SA is not self sufficient (not even close), so they are the most susceptible to this kind of event.
Contrary to much of the talk on the radio the sky has not fallen in.
Power went off just before 4pm so we all packed up and headed home. My normal 45min drive took over 2hours, no surprise there given there were no traffic lights anywhere. But it was not a stressful drive home, everyone gave way took their turn etc, and we all got home.
The family went out yesterday morning on a road trip toe the Riverlands.... long way for lunch, but we had fun.
Didn't know about the problem until we approached the city. But we sailed through back to the house with minimal delay (outskirts of northern Adelaide to Belair via the Gawler bypass, Fullurton Rd to Old Belair Rd).
I will say that I was very impressed with the police and their handling of traffic in some very high usage intersections. The police should be commended for their very organized deployment of officers. It made the trip through the city smooth considering there were no lights.
On a separate note, I don't understand the Australia free-for-all system at intersections with no power... there seems to be no rules on how to proceed.
In the US, it's a round robin system (by law) as intersections without power become 4-way stop be default. The round robin system allows everyone to get through. I've looked for a similar rule in the Australia driving manual, but can't find anything...
Yes OIC!, its by law, but like here, laws go out the window when people are stressed. Every intersection becomes mandatory 4 way stop, give way to the right, so in effect a square roundabout, supposedly with out "runners".
On a separate note, I don't understand the Australia free-for-all system at intersections with no power... there seems to be no rules on how to proceed.
In the US, it's a round robin system (by law) as intersections without power become 4-way stop be default. The round robin system allows everyone to get through. I've looked for a similar rule in the Australia driving manual, but can't find anything...
OIC!
Give way to the right is the rule.
I found the system in the US particularly confusing the first time I drove there, especially given how many 4 way intersections there are in the burbs. But I felt like a boss on the very rare occasion I came across a roundabout.
SA will continue to pay a price for a lack of Base load capacity, and a clear vision on power infrastructure. Surely there has to be some political fall out from yesterday's event, and recent decisions that increase dependence of connections to Victoria.
There is all that uranium sitting under the ground in SA, so they could be self sufficient in nuclear power. Expensive to build yes, but might be cheaper in the long run than paying peak premium megawatt prices to Vic generators. Crowing about the use of renewable energy is not going to do much for the state's economy if baseload cannot be maintained through those expensive initiatives.
Agree though Glen - we need to have a better plan for the future. Relying on ancient distribution networks, buying excess power from the Eastern States when the wind does not blow and having no local power storage seems like a recipe for further issues. The NEM was supposed to use the market mechanism to give us the best possible network - looks to me like the market has taken us down a cul-de-sac.
... In the US, it's a round robin system (by law) as intersections without power become 4-way stop be default. The round robin system allows everyone to get through. I've looked for a similar rule in the Australia driving manual, but can't find anything...
Quote:
Originally Posted by bugeater
Give way to the right is the rule.
I found the system in the US particularly confusing the first time I drove there, especially given how many 4 way intersections there are in the burbs. But I felt like a boss on the very rare occasion I came across a roundabout.
In the US, when the lights go out the intersection becomes a 4-way stop. A 4-way stop in the US means that when arriving at the intersection, a person must yield to the cars that were there before them. I.e. first in best dressed. It works well because everyone knows the rule. If arriving simultaneously a give way to the right rule comes into play. The only 4-way I've come across in AUS is in Artarmon in Sydney. No-one knows what to do (except me ). Can be a case of automotive roulette!
Quote:
Originally Posted by glend
SA will continue to pay a price for a lack of Base load capacity, and a clear vision on power infrastructure. Surely there has to be some political fall out from yesterday's event, and recent decisions that increase dependence of connections to Victoria.
There is all that uranium sitting under the ground in SA, so they could be self sufficient in nuclear power. Expensive to build yes, but might be cheaper in the long run than paying peak premium megawatt prices to Vic generators. Crowing about the use of renewable energy is not going to do much for the state's economy if baseload cannot be maintained through those expensive initiatives.
Couldn't agree more! Lack of base load can be a big problem with being "addicted" to renewable power sources (which at best can only be supplemental at this stage). And I agree we should go Nuclear!! Except for a bit of muck you have to bury from time to time - all other problems are minor (with modern Nuke plants that are not built on fault lines or sitting on the coast )
SA will continue to pay a price for a lack of Base load capacity, and a clear vision on power infrastructure. Surely there has to be some political fall out from yesterday's event, and recent decisions that increase dependence of connections to Victoria.
There is all that uranium sitting under the ground in SA, so they could be self sufficient in nuclear power. Expensive to build yes, but might be cheaper in the long run than paying peak premium megawatt prices to Vic generators. Crowing about the use of renewable energy is not going to do much for the state's economy if baseload cannot be maintained through those expensive initiatives.
Exactly right. I am all for nuclear power, however, I wouldn't trust the current mob of defects in the SA parliament with constructing a nuclear plant, one Chernobyl is enough.
Had one of the most epic lightning displays ever come through last night. After seeing a few thunderstorms in my time up here, when it storms here, it storms properly!
I did get to enjoy some good dark skies with an old pair of 12x50's lying around. M31 was nice and the LMC took on another whole dimension with the naked eye. Meanwhile, lightning was still flickering, now nearly 300km away! I was seeing flashes at the time when this radar screencap. I was even seeing the odd flash from that cluster north of Broken Hill!
just for interest, this is the level of planning for the future - it looks like Governments in the NEM have handed off the planning function to this incorporated body. https://www.aemo.com.au/Media-Centre...BA0E85BFA.ashx
To really put it in a nutshell, South Australia is Broke and the bunch of dweebs running the place have either shut down or sold off all their assets to try and pay for their mis-management. We are the most expensive state by a long shot for power in Australia and it is getting worse.
You bet there will be questions asked, but the idiot in charge of SA has about as much backbone as a wet sponge. To be totally reliant on other states for power if wind fails is ridiculous.
He will just blame everything else to cover his butt.
I spoke to a mate in Victoria this morning and asked what he is paying for power, and it works out with discounts, at least half of what we are hit here in SA. How can the greedy suppliers justify this?? The same company I am with gives him over 30% discount for pay on time, compared to 9% in SA, go figure
So not only are we being shafted big time for power, it is as reliable as a wire netting waterbag Since the main debacle yesterday, we have lost power twice. WTF is happening. I know we have had winds, but it is becoming the norm to lose power, hell it is worse than living in Darwin in the wet season.
If I could afford it, I would go battery and tell all the power wackers to go stuff themselves. Roll on cheaper batteries.
My rant ends
I wonder how much can be tied back to the longer term effects of privatisation, where profit trumps product, and maintenance by failure is assumed to be cheaper overall???
Ie This privatising process essentially broke apart the core groups of engineers ( mainly ) who planned and maintained the grid as an integrated grid. They were responsible for the lot, not just the bits they bought and profits went back into the maintenance. ( Not to mention the training of apprentices to keep it all going )
Now we appear to have hundreds of semi disconnected companies, all having to feed their own CEOs, managements, boards, advertising depts and shareholders first. Each one gets to blame someone else and collect a bonus if they avoid being blamed.
). Can be a case of automotive roulette! 
)
Since the main debacle yesterday, we have lost power twice. WTF is happening. I know we have had winds, but it is becoming the norm to lose power, hell it is worse than living in Darwin in the wet season.
