We have enough thermal generation to power the state, but they are turned off when solar and wind power can provide cheaper and cleaner energy. The problem on Wednesday was that the full gas backup was not turned on for whatever reason (reports say because AEMO got the demand predictions wrong) and that's when load shedding started. Solar and wind power was still in the mix, even if they only provided a few hundred MW, and the situation would have been worse if they were not there.claybro wrote:You all keep blaming " the market" and Malcolm Turnbull, or some eastern states conspiracy to shut off SA power. This is not how it is being reported interstate, and actually is tarting to sound a bit unhinged. The fact is that in a region that derives almost half of its power from wind turbines, and those turbines stopped working during both events, last one because it was too windy, and this time no wind, then it comes down to thermal power stations to produce the power. There is not enough thermal power in SA to go it alone, so now Jay wants to build one. You can't absolve the unreliability of wind generation in either of these events, and it was the state government that encouraged and promoted wind over every other technology.
There was another report that said the Alinta coal power plant only had 4 years of coal left, so that was a big factor in it closing.