The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has released its 2023-24 Summer Readiness Overview in preparation for the upcoming summer, outlining preparations to maintain electricity reliability during high demand periods.
The AEMO works on an ongoing basis with generation and transmission businesses, Federal and State Governments, and key agencies to manage risks to the National Electricity Market (NEM) that serves the eastern and south-eastern regions of Australia, and the Western Australian South West Interconnected System (SWIS).
In August, the AEMO identified periods when electricity reliability thresholds were at risk in the NEM and SWIS this summer.
AEMO is currently in the process of procuring additional reserves through the Interim Reliability Reserve and Reliability and Emergency Reserve Trader (RERT) mechanisms in the NEM. In Western Australia, the AEMO is tendering for reserves through the Supplementary Reserve Capacity mechanism.
Compared to last summer in the NEM, an average 1,500MW of scheduled generation and an extra 2,000MW of generation capacity from new wind and solar projects will be available this summer. In the WEM, nearly 50MW of extra scheduled generation is expected to be available.
In addition to the AEMO’s collaboration with industry, governments and network businesses to identify and plan for relevant summer risk scenarios, extensive briefings and emergency exercises to test contingency plans and communication processes have taken place ahead of summer.
AEMO Executive General Manager Operations, Michael Gatt, said that months of planning with industry has gone into preparing the power systems for a possible summer of extreme demand.
“Our extensive planning with industry, governments and network businesses aims to have enough generation and transmission available year-round to meet consumers’ electricity needs,” Mr Gatt said.
“This year’s summer forecast is for hot and dry El Niño conditions, increasing the risk of bushfires and extreme heat, which could see electricity demand reach a one-in-ten year high across the eastern states and in Western Australia.
“The entire industry has been focusing and continues to focus on managing possible risks for the summer ahead, particularly during high demand periods.
“The increase in generation availability and additional reserves being procured will help navigate reliability pressures, should they eventuate,” Mr Gatt said.
