Large Power Users in Victoria, South Australia Could Suffer from Blackouts

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The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) warned on Thursday big power users in South Australia and Victoria of the possibility of massive blackouts due to the high demand for electricity caused by the heat wave.

The power shortfalls could possibly occur between 2 pm and 4:30 pm in Victoria, it announced on Wednesday afternoon, leading to load shedding which involves cutting electric supply of big industrial and commercial users to avoid hitting bigger areas with blackouts.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that electricity consumption reached a peak of 10,126 megawatts at 4:30 pm on Wednesday in Victoria and 3,122 megawatts at 6 pm in South Australia.

Although both peaks were not record highs, demand for power was still higher than the average demand level at this time of the year.

AEMO forecast electricity demand to go beyond 10,000 megawatts in Victoria on Thursday and Friday, much higher than the usual 6,600 megawatts.

For South Australia, on the same two days, demand is anticipated to reach about 3,200 megawatts from the average level of 1,980 megawatts.

In a statement, AEMO said, "Load shedding can sometimes be required when there is an imbalance between electricity demand and electricity supply ... When there is a shortfall in the electricity supply, there can be a need to reduce demand very quickly to an acceptable level, or risk the entire electricity network becoming unstable."

Besides large power users, homes are also the culprits when it comes to electricity demand because two continuous nights of the temperature exceeding 24 degrees Celsius would lead people to run their air conditioning units nonstop since the retained heat couldn't cool their homes down, an electricity expert explained.