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South Australia to restart diesel power plants
- 19 days ago (2024-12-02)
- David Flin
The South Australian state government is seeking to have two mothballed diesel-powered power plants restarted due to concerns that a new power cable with New South Wales will be delayed.
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Tom Koutsantonis, South Australian Minister for Energy and Mining, said that the situation is “materially worse” that that identified by the Australian Energy Market Operator because it has not taken into account further delays to the $2.3 billion Project EnergyConnect. This project involves a 900 km HV cable between South Australia and New South Wales, with a spur line into Victoria. The cable will have a capacity in excess of 2 GW. The connection was originally due to be completed by July 2026, but is likely to be delayed.
Transgrid has advised the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) of delays to the start-up schedule. Under the current plan, the first stage of the project, involving 150 MW of transfer capacity, in due to come online in December 2026, followed by 500 MW in March 2027 and 800 MW in July 2027. A Transgrid spokeswoman said the company and its construction partner Elecnor Australia remained committed to these timeframes.